d that many because by building six presses that required six teams, there were six teams worth of people that knew the business of printing. They then went out and started their own presses and trained more people who then went out and started more printed presses, etc. This widespread of printing catapulted the printing age forward much more quickly than it might have done with only two presses.I think that looking at history through a spiritual lens gives us the chance to see God's hand is so many things that happened, without which, we may not have had the religious freedom that we do today. I think that Martin Luther is another great example of this. What if someone had stopped him from hanging up the 95 Theses on the door of the church? Or what if someone had taken it down immediately, and he had been killed? The one act of putting up that piece of paper started a religious reform that opened the door for people everywhere to start questioning what they were being taught. Before this, that wasn't a luxury they had.
I'm sure that when this started, it would have been scary: rejecting something that you had been taught your whole life and believing in something new. But without this reform—his simple paper on the door—we wouldn't have the opportunity to believe the way we want. Being able to look at history through a spiritual lens can change an revolutionary act to an inspired revolutionary act.
I love what you said about the spirituality behind Gutenberg building more presses in order to train more people. I believe that religion is something that ties into everything we are learning about history, especially with something so monumental as the printing press. Although having 6 presses may not directly seem spiritual, the fact that Gutenberg saw the value in this beyond the simple monetary aspect should not be overlooked. Who knows if altruism was his motive, but I would like to believe that it was!
ReplyDeleteI have had this very same thought too Jenna. I consider it such a privilege to be able to attend a university where gospel principles and spirituality are so intertwined in the material. I believe that all of these events (the invention of the printing press, the ideas of Martin Luther that sparked the 95 theses on the door, etc) were all inspired of God. He has a very intricate plan, and each of these events are part of His purpose which is to "bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man."
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