Twitter and the Printing Press

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Gutenberg’s Printing Press is arguably the most revolutionary invention of all time, simply because of the impact it had on history.  Just think- if not for the invention of the printing press, we might all be Catholics right now.  You definitely wouldn’t be reading this right now if not for Johannes Gutenberg.  However, as amazing as the printing press was, it definitely had some drawbacks to it, some of which we still suffer from today. 

Plough Boys and Bibles

With the printing press, material could be mass produced and distributed to pretty much anyone all over the world!  The issue was no longer about the resources available, it was now about language!  The Bible could be printed and sent all over Europe, but if it was in Latin, a very small percentage of people would be able to read it.  Therefore, at this time, printers started to become much less concerned about how the material looked.  It became a matter of practicality to make things as simple as possible.  For example, during the Reformation, it wouldn’t do any good for Martin Luther to print anti- Catholic propaganda in Latin.  Only the Catholic priests would be able to read it!  The printing press introduced a much larger audience and in turn, required authors and printers to begin “dumbing down” their content so their wider audience could comprehend it.  

It was also matter of practicality when printing large numbers of books to forego the beautiful lettering and pictures that had previously characterized handwritten bibles.  This was a wonderful thing because it made revolutionary ideas and beautiful concepts available to the general public, but it also began a dangerous trend that we experience today in the 21st century. 

A Modern Day Communication Revolution

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In today’s world, we have again experienced an incredible communication revolution with the advent of computers, smartphones, and the Internet.  In a matter of seconds, you can communicate with almost anyone around the globe.  (Of course, if you are in a remote jungle in South America, it’s a little difficult to find cell service). The Internet makes it possible to communicate to a much wider audience than Johannes Gutenberg or Martin Luther could have ever dreamt in the 15th century.  If any Christian (not just Catholics) of their time were to read a modern translation of the Bible, they would be absolutely mortified.  As the years have passed, and our mode of communication has changed to incorporate a wider and wider audience, our communication skills have become less and less proficient.  What started with an attempt to reach the lower classes in Europe has left the sprezzatura and flowery language of the Renaissance behind, where in today’s world, it seems to have no place.  Today, the Internet has given rise to all different sorts of social media.  For example, we have Twitter, which requires each user to keep their messages to less than 140 characters for the sake of brevity.  What a contrast to the communication of earlier years, when the beauty of the prose was valued more than the efficiency of the communication.

The printing press completely changed the way people communicated in the 1400s.  Today, in the 21st century, social media, (Twitter especially) has pushed us to communicate only the necessities.  When was the last time you thought about aesthetics or prose when you posted something on Twitter?  While we should always be grateful for these advances in communication given to us by Gutenberg, we should be careful to not forget the beauty and sprezzatura that was brought to our culture by the Renaissance.

Mankind Through The Ages

The Renaissance (literally rebirth) was a period characterized by heightened interest in Classical Greece and Rome, a radical new and positive view of human nature, and an emphasis on individual growth through learning. The Italian scholar Petrarch is known for igniting the sparks of the Renaissance by his stumbling upon some lost letters of Cicero, a great orator and statesman of ancient Rome. His discoveries led to a rapid, widespread interest amongst scholars in ancient Greece and Rome. The values of classical civilization fit nicely into Europe's new hopes for herself; the strength of the individual, the spirit of enterprise, and the importance of education in ongoing self-improvement-- or in one word, humanism-- took center stage. Consequently, the arts and literature shifted from a Medieval focus on God to a more secular (though not Godless) glorification of man. As Jessie Bruner stated in her blogpost “When the Renaissance came into full swing, the emphasis lifted off of religious rituals and rites, and shifted to the actual worth and importance of the human soul”. (https://rhetciv.blogspot.com/search/label/worth%20of%20souls) This individualist spirit also led to a change in the political and economic sphere, as local nobles and princes increased in power and explorers sailed into the unknown in search of economic dominion and world influence. As put by Jenna Ahern, “The new sense of self-improvement launched a search for more knowledge, riches, and power.” (https://rhetciv.blogspot.com/2018/09/what-piece-of-work.html)

Michelangelo's David showcased the physical figure of man 

and embodied Renaissance humanism.

While Medieval Europe was grounded in heavy religious philosophy (or rather, religion was philosophy), Renaissance thinkers had turned away from this in favor of classical scholars such as Socrates and Aristotle. This, however, didn't come without backlash; Petrarch himself groaned at his love of Pagan philosophers. The solution came forth in Christian Humanism, which merged the ideas of glorified man from classical civilization into the backdrop of medieval Christianity. It was a liberation from dogma-- a doctrinal backing of the belief that man was truly of great worth. Christian Humanism primed society for the sparks ignited by Martin Luther in the early 16th century, who turned religion in Europe upside-down by successfully speaking-out against the Catholic church. The new wave of Protestantism challenged the institutional power of the Church by inviting and empowering individuals to gain spiritual knowledge for themselves. In this sense, it coincided with the Renaissance's ideals of personal growth and inquiry. Protestantism even promoted political sovereignty on a more local level. However, the religious frenzy somewhat overshadowed Renaissance views of man as a beautiful, powerful being full of divine potential, as seen in doctrines like Calvinist predestination. Even Protestantism's core Sola Fida stole the limelight from man by acknowledging his complete dependence upon God, thus echoing the Medieval ages. In a discussion on this topic, Somer Leathen simply phrased it this way: that during the religious Middle Ages, man was seen as fallen and dark; the more pagan Renaissance era elevated the glory of man and his endless potential; and the Reformation blended the two beliefs by seeing man as “not so bad” though still dependent upon God for salvation.

Audiences Shift

Happiness vs. Utilitarianism

Praxiteles's Aphrodite of Knidos, a
Classical celebration of human form.

“Of all things the measure is Man, of the things that are, that they are, and of the things that are not, that they are not." Here, Protagoras is is basically saying "Man is the measure of all things." A Classical philosopher, he taught that every individual had their own version of the truth—that truth was relative to the person perceiving it. Protagoras taught people to appreciate the individual and the wide array of perspectives people have. To him, humans are not only greater than the beasts of the earth and the angels in the heavens, but higher than truth itself.

This heavily contradicts the beliefs of pre-Renaissance Christianity. The general belief during that period was that people were fallen souls and had to live by the Church’s rules to have a chance at having any worth and getting to heaven. People in anything lower than the upper class were thought of and treated like tools, made to work constantly in a feudalistic society. In any class, though, the Catholic church was law, and any education or art centered around it.

Plato, on the other hand, believed that eudamonia, happiness, was the highest goal of thinking. A fellow philosopher, Cicero also considered the individual variations within his audiences and shaped his persuasive techniques accordingly. He recognized that some people were not educated or willing enough to be persuaded by logic alone and decided it was okay to use emotion as a persuader with those audiences. As Somer discusses in her post, speakers and artists must always take the audience into consideration.

Gaining Perspective

Masaccio's The Holy Trinity

In 1424, something remarkable happened. Masaccio, a fresco painter in Italy, delivered his commissioned work, The Holy Trinity, the first known work to feature perspective. Prior to this innovation, relative size in a painting signified relative importance. However, as Lewis Mumford
says, "in the new picture of the world, size meant not human or divine importance, but distance." This shift indicated a larger cultural shift toward emphasis on the individual that came with the humanism movement.

In embracing perspective, painters no longer pressed an interpretation on their viewers. Similarly, humanism advocated for the development of individual thought and character. Just as figure's importance in painted works was no longer defined by position, so was the common man no longer defined by his position in the world, but by what he decided to make of himself.

The concept of the individual came with the concept of an individual's responsibility for their own development. In The Courtier, Castiglione discusses traits that a good courtier should seek to develop to be truly useful to his prince. Those qualities, as discussed in this blog post, ranged from an understanding of history and philosophy to athleticism and romantic proficiency. As stated before, Castiglione implies heavily throughout the work that development of these traits ought to be the purpose of 'the courtier's' life. Responsibility belonged to the individual to become whatever he desired to be. The idealists of the time believed that it was innate in man to desire to become more.

Pico della Mirandola, a philosopher of the time, mused in his Oration on the Dignity of Man,

"Let some holy ambition invade our souls, so that, dissatisfied with mediocrity, we shall eagerly desire the highest things and shall toil with all our strength to obtain them, since we may if we wish."  (More on Pico and humanism here) 

As the Renaissance moved past its peak in Italy, humanism and the perspective it brought with it swept into the rest of Europe. The tide of that movement collided magnificently with the surge of reform that blazed both within and without the Catholic church to create Christian humanism, an ideology that existed and thrived on both sides of the Protestant rift. This evolution of the Renaissance ideology brought with it a new dimension to perspective and the notion of 'self'.

Before, it had been enough for a man to develop himself into whatever he might wish to become. The Christian aspect of Christian humanism, however, demanded not only development, but forward progress. Erasmus, widely acclaimed as the father of Christian humanism, made this point quite poignantly in his work In Praise of Folly, an essay written from the point of view of Folly herself. Erasmus, through Folly's advocation of it, condemns the notion that being stupid and happy is a better state of being that being uncomfortable and aware of the potential for growth.

Far from the lack of perspective that defined the age before, man's development of self grew to become the focus and expectation for those who had sufficient means to pursue that course. Not only that, but the responsibility for the development of self had become compounded with the responsibility for improvement of self. These developments set us soundly on the path to achieving the deep and widely resonate sense of self that permeates out global culture today.

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Same Roots, Different Times

I've got to say this, I really have a soft spot for the Reformation. Maybe it's because people standing up for what they think is right strikes a chord with me, maybe it's because I love the idea of challenging tradition or maybe it's because Dr. Christine Blasey Ford's testimony has the media world currently ablaze. I love when people realize that something is wrong, and that they have power to do something about it.

Traditional Catholic Church

The Reformation was sparked when people started to say, "Hey, I don't need this guy telling me what this scripture means anymore, I've got it right here in my hands." and the more they got into the book that was in their hands they started to say, "Wait a minute, what you're preaching isn't what I'm reading". The further they delved into the scriptures, the more dissonance was realized. Fast forward and jump across the pond to a young fourteen year old boy who is holding that exact same book. He's having the same experience. A classmate of mine shared, "I have noticed in particular how God’s hand played a role in the very details of events transpiring in this time span." And I completely agree (read her blog post here). Another classmate similarly pointed out the parallels between the protestant reformer Martin Luther and Restoration reformer Joseph Smith. He says, "Martin Luther no doubt paved the way for Joseph Smith to do, in his way, the same thing that Luther did: dare to question the churches around him." (read further here)

How Mediums and Rhetoric Shaped the Renaissance

We witness changes in communication today at the very localized level. For example, the way I speak to my friends now is very different from the way I would if I had never been exposed to cell phones and the internet. Between texting and conversing via tagging each other in Facebook memes, today’s social interface hardly resembles that of the Renaissance. While forms of communication in the Renaissance Era is fairly difficult to track there are certain factors and events that can indicate changes in trends.

Caxton showing specimens of his printing to King Edward

Medium:

One such event was the birth of the printing press. With tools like computers, we take the magic of printing for granted. The printing press allowed print to be faster and less costly, causing a spike in the availability of the written word.

Arguably one of the most adept users of the new medium of communication was Martin Luther. His 95 Theses were not the only things he published. He wrote and published many short sermons and pamphlets. These were cheap and short enough that someone could have it read to them if they didn’t know how to read themselves. Luther was a genius who recognized quickly how printing could help him spread his ideas.

Even if the information that was published wasn’t accurate, it’s accessibility gave more people who wouldn’t normally read the option to do so. With more people reading, more people were talking about what they had read and learned.

This led to discussion and debates at Saoirse’s and the birth of the idea of “sprezzatura”, which described a certain wit, sophistication, and eloquence of speaking at these gatherings. An example of the accomplishments of one who possessed this can be found here.

Discussion in the public square acquired a different flavor when the Protestant Reformation took hold. Because open discussion was now the norm, people began to publicly critique, criticize, and even protest against aspects of the Catholic Church.

Back, Forward, & Back Again

Petrarch looked back over his shoulder nearly thirteen centuries to glimpse sight of works that would make mankind wonder and marvel for centuries to come: Cicero’s letters.  This demonstration of ‘ad fontes’ triggered a new perspective of communication.  Somehow, diving back into the past allowed our forefathers to move more quickly forward. 

Letters to Cicero

Petrarch’s discovery didn’t stop there.  He continued to dig deeper into the past and introduced ideals of humanism—that man was capable of great things.  “What a piece of work is man!”  Shakespeare would later exclaim, which is the very sentiment that fueled and sustained a new awareness of communication.

The two letters Petrarch wrote to Cicero were only the beginning; humanism ideals couldn’t be contained to the written word alone.  Artists like Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo communicated their ideas and passions through arts, and for others, it was speech.  Castiglione’s The Courtier masterfully illustrates how the Renaissance-theme of sprezzatura shifted the communication-focus to speech. 

Of Humanity and Monsters

If you start introducing the history of the Black Plague in the right announcer voice, it sounds like the trailer for a great post-apocalyptic flick. The difference between history and fiction in this case, however, is in the rebuilding. One of our movies would focus on struggle, weakness, and the worst of us. It would look at human goodness with a scarcity mentality, celebrating moral grayness at the end of the world.

But, the Humanists didn’t. They found their glory in the strength and beauty of humanity. These thinkers came through a tragedy where they had very little control or ability to save lives (and were essentially at the mercy of fleas) celebrating the greatness of man. This seems counter-intuitive, but I’m still working on my cynical tendencies. I could be wrong.

Whether I’m biased by a darker glass than others or not, I’m not the only one. If entertainment like The Walking Dead is a reflection of societal thoughts and fears, then we lost the Humanist mentality somewhere along the way. We’ve come to believe that we are not only the apex predator, but monster in the closet. Montaigne found nobility in humans that others referred to as savages, while we make movies like Arrival where we have to be saved from—and despite—ourselves.

While we celebrate the printing press and the effect it had on inspiring generations, there’s a good chance that this straying from Humanist thought began with the printing press as well. The printing press showed us that we were hungry to understand the world, but it also gave us the belief that we could want to understand it. That we deserved it.

That need turned into the telegram that gave us news of the American civil war and the sinking of the Titanic. It gave us the radio that filled us with reports of a war-torn Europe. Then it gave us the film that showed us the holocaust and the atom bomb. In the grand scheme of things, it didn’t take us very long to go from criticizing the Catholic church for burning Bibles to wondering how we can control information in our day and age.

So, after seeing in graphic detail just what kind of evil humanity is capable of, do we get to say “What a piece of work is man!” with sincerity or sarcasm? Can we still look on the human form with joy? Or with only with trepidation?

I think we have to create a personal answer to that. And mine, with all of the value, experience, and cynicism that it holds, agrees with the humanists. Just with a word of caution. What a piece of work is man! And how important it is to guide that incredible power along moral lines.

Image credit to pixaby.com

Calvin, Luther and Joseph Smith

Latter Day Saints have a deep seated belief that the reformers were inspired men that paved the way for the restoration of the Gospel. In the missionary guide Preach My Gospel, leaders of the church mention the reformers as, " 

 truth-seeking men and women [who] protested against current religious practices. They recognized that much of the doctrine and many of the ordinances of the gospel had been changed or lost. They sought for greater spiritual light, and many spoke of the need for a restoration of truth"

While many of these changes of practice and belief influenced Latter-day Saint beliefs dramatically, a few did not.



       Late reformers like Gerrard Winstannly  taught that salvation would come to all men. This universalist ideal came out of the "sola scriptura" movement. In his book, 'The Mysterie of God'  Winstannly uses this scriptural ethos, "for every man shall be saved, saith God through Paul". He attaches the idea of universalism to God himself, building his argument, and denying the traditional Catholic belief of purgatory and hell. This idea of universalism spread like fire. Winstannly helped to found the Quakers, a prominent universalist group in New England. Joseph Smith's dad was also a universalist, which influenced young Joseph in questioning some of the local preachers ideas on salvation and who deserved to be saved. 


      This comes in stark contrast to other restorationists John Calvin and Martin Luther. Calvin taught that salvation was predestined. There were no works, no Eucharist, nothing that would help to save you. Only if God had chosen you could you be saved. Thus, work was no good for salvation, but those good works would grow out of the belief. Luther taught a similar "sola fide" theology. This was the idea that only by faith, not works are we saved. They came together in their opposition of the Catholic churches work based salvation, and authority. Using the new technology of the printing press, Martin published essays against the papacy. They demonstrated an effective control of decorum, using German and newly possible pictures to appeal to the commoner. 

Erasmus

The spirit of ad fontes, found in nearly all the reformationists also inspired early Latter day saint culture. Erasmus' translation of the bible into Latin was an attempt to make the Bible more like the original Greek manuscripts. He did an in depth comparison of the manuscripts to the old latin translation and tried to find the spirit of the words. Others like Wycliffe, and later on, the King James Version  translators would also attempt to make translations that were more accurate and had power behind them. This ideal was what drove Joseph Smith to study Hebrew, German, Greek, and other languages in an attempt to read the original manuscripts, and carries on today in the LDS culture of scripture study.

     

           The Latter day Saints believe that "to hell there is an exit as well as an entrance" (Talmage) and that almost all will be saved. This belief comes out of our scriptures and our interpretations of them. It is a blend of all three reformers beliefs. Where "Sola scirptura" "Sola Fide" and Universalism meet is where you find the core of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

photo attribution - Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-60015-0002 / Giso Löwe / CC-BY-SA 3.0 [CC BY-SA 3.0]

By Hans Holbein - Web Gallery of Art:   Image  Info about artwork, Public Domain

"This is My Work and My Glory"

“For behold, this is my work and my glory – to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.”  This scripture is found in the book of Moses where God reveals his grand purpose for His children.  While studying the Renaissance and Reformation, I have noticed in particular how God’s hand played a role in the very details of events transpiring in this time span. Throughout the 14^th – 17^th century and then later in the 19^th century when the gospel of Jesus Christ was brought back to the earth in what we know as the restoration.  

The restoration of the gospel was happening long before the spring of 1820.  Elder Bruce R. McConkie (1915–85) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught, “Beginning in the 14th century, the Lord began to prepare those social, educational, religious, economic, and governmental conditions under which he could more easily restore the gospel for the last time among men.” 

“Beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye.” Matthew 7:3

There is something about studying the past that gives us the false notion that we are now better off than “they” were. We need to be humble enough to recognize, through literature from the past, that what was taught then could apply to us now.

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Our Mormon roots mirror those of the Reformation. Martin Luther found himself sincerely questioning the practices of the Catholic Church. His intentions did not come from a place of wanting to destroy the church, rather from a desire to free the people from the chains the priests had around them. Luther argued that because the Bible was the only source of religious truth, the people had a right to read and interpret it however they saw fit. It was, of course, with the help of the printing press that Luther managed to accrue followers.

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Martin Luther no doubt paved the way for Joseph Smith to do, in his way, the same thing that Luther did: dare to question the churches around him. Just like Martin Luther, Joseph Smith was sincere when he went to the Lord in prayer, asking which of the churches he should join. 

Both of these men had the simplicity of the gospel as a goal. Martin Luther took a stance against all the pageantry of the Catholic Church, and Joseph Smith restored a church that began in simplicity. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is set apart from most other churches because both the outward appearance of the church buildings and the outward appearance of our chapels are almost too simple. Many investigators of our church find this disturbing. 

 Hugh Latimer’s “Sermon on the Plowers” reminded me that although the Mormon Church is more outwardly simple than most, I believe we, who are members of it, are guilty of straying from the simplicity of the gospel in much the same way those believers in the past were. Are we, as Latter-day Saints, seeing the mote in our brother’s eye, all the while ignoring the beam that is in our eye? I’m sorry to say that I believe we are.

Could Latimer, if he were here today, write this about us:

            Down with crosses, up with expensive paintings of Christ;

            Down with the outward addictions of others, up with the inward judgments we
            possess;

            Down with the behaviors of the unbelievers, up with the actions of a Pharisee;

            Down with seeking worldly riches, up with accumulating pride in the name of
            success;

            Down with the pageantry of churches, up with the opulence of our homes;

            Down with lying, cheating, and sinning, up with saying we are honest in our
            dealings with our fellow man.

In Peter’s post on “Be Thou an example of the Believers,” he quotes the scripture by Paul that says, “Be ye not conformed to the world.” My observation and fear is that we, as Latter-day Saints, are indeed conforming to the world and sadly, we don’t seem to notice.

In his post on “The Plowman,” Carson asks, “Are we turning away from the plow?” Let us be very careful in assuming that we are not, and that Christ sees us as one of his plowmen. We may be wrong. 

On progress within the Common Man's written world

A Gift from that God who watches over us

On Progress Within the Renaissance Man's Written World

Before the advent of the Printing Press within the 15th century, the average man was largely reduced to the spoken word, as he was not literate, and even if for some odd reason he was there were almost no books for him to read. Only the local clergy as well as collegiates had the knowledge and resources to be able to read and study anything in any capacity. With Johannes Gutenberg's invention of such around 1439, however, several drastic shift began, the most greatest of which are the heightening of literacy in the general public and the reduction of trust placed on the Clergy as the representatives for the people in the eyes of God.

Everybody Wants to Rule the World

It's 1453 CE; the Portuguese have already discovered several islands and are exploring routes along the African coast when the Ottoman Empire gains control of Constantinople. Soon after, the major European trade routes are blocked, causing the trade via North Africa and the Red Sea to diminish significantly. In desperation, Europe looks outward. Instead of focusing on land-based trade routes, they start to explore other options to carry out their trade. This exploration was one of the main factors that started the Age of Discovery.

The Age of Discovery

Over the following two centuries, Europe expanded its influence around the world. What started out as a search for new trade routes soon became a search for new worlds. They discovered that the earth was much larger that what they had previously believed, and the discovery of new places and people caused them to send more and more ships out across the oceans. Jonas Bush observes in, "Exploring Our Lives," that "they [the explorers] had a burning drive to discover new things and bring themselves glory, wealth, and success."

Previously, exploration by ship generally took place near coastlines, never venturing into the unknown. But this changed when Christopher Columbus set out to find a western route to India, leading him to discover the Bahamas instead.

After it was revealed that there were new worlds, more rulers began to send voyagers to discover and claim these lands for themselves. Portugal claimed Brazil; Spain conquered Mexico, Chile, and Argentina; and England eventually established a colony in the United States.

America

Now while all these voyages and discoveries had good and bad about them, it was crucial that they happen for us to be able to live in these countries today. Discovering new worlds opened up countless doors that have led the way to new developments and discoveries over the centuries. And while all the worlds that were discovered were important, I think that the discovery of the United States was an irreplaceable event.

To Be Human: Renaissance v.s. Reformation

Throughout history, people have had many different ideas about what it means to be human. During the Dark Ages, the view commonly held by people was that man was evil by nature and incapable of being saved or doing good all on their own, at least that's what their priests and bishops were preaching to them. Basically, their "only chance of getting back to Heaven was in and through the Church" (https://rhetciv.blogspot.com/2018/09/the-worth-of-souls-in-renaissance.html).

In contrast, when the Renaissance came around during the 14th century, it brought with it a much more positive view of mankind. "The idea was that man could become more than what he was," he had the potential to exceed and become great in anything he set his mind to (https://rhetciv.blogspot.com/2018/09/what-piece-of-work.html). This new perspective allowed the men and women of the Renaissance to be more confident and to develop their talents in the fields of art, science, rhetoric, etc.

"What a Piece of Work is Man"

"What a piece of work is man."
- Shakespeare's Hamlet (Act ii, Scene 2)

As Hamlet gives this famous soliloquy he reflects on both the inspiring and negative sides of the human condition. His deep analysis of the human condition on the level of the individual would not have been discussed without the enlightenment of the secular humanists of The Renaissance, and the Christian influence in The Reformation.

Humanism played a key role in the emergence of both The Renaissance and The Reformation. Although both embraced the ideals that humanism carried, the sources through which they approached their conclusions were different. The Renaissance thinkers took a secular approach as they read from rhetoricians and philosophers of antiquity (Cicero, Plato, Socrates, Isocrates, etc.). However, the pioneers of The Reformation developed their humanistic viewpoint with a realization of the spiritual individual, and through Biblical study.

The Renaissance

With the Black Plague behind them, early thinkers of The Renaissance had the task of re-evaluating the human condition and the meaning of life. These thinkers took it upon themselves to reopen the tomb like libraries filled with manuscripts written in "proper" Latin. Among these writings were the writings of Cicero, and his philosophical interpretations of humanism. Petrarch was one of the most important mouth pieces for Cicero in The Renaissance. People like Petrarch and Quintilian were intrigued by Cicero's articulation of the Latin language and sought to learn everything they could from those writings. This lead to the rebirth of the divine human and the rediscovery of the potential within each being.

The Transition

The early printing of Bibles, lead to experimentation in translation of the Biblical texts. The concept of going back to the sources was engrained in their approach to learning; people like Calvin Beza started printing Bibles with both the Latin text and the original Greek text side by side. The experimentation didn't stop there; despite the Catholic Church's refusal to translate the holy text to "common" language, the humanists wanted to give everyone a chance to live a rich "eloquent" life.

The Reformation

The translation of the Bible into an English printed script tends to take all the credit for The Reformation. There were many individuals who had a strong influence on the movement, but the motivation behind The Reformation stemmed from the original principles written in the Bible. Once the "plowman" was able to read for himself that man was created in the image of God, it made him question what was different between him and the wealthy cardinals. A new wave of humanism stemming from the sacred script was brought to light. These transcendent principles were even more influential than Aristotle, and even more available than any other script written up to that point.

Conclusion

These events are heavy weight-bearing pillars to the great structure we call "Western Civilization".  The Renaissance reintroduced the divine individual through secular Ad Fontes, and The Reformation through spiritual piety. Those of us who enjoy the freedoms of the sovereign individual can thank the great men and women whose works built the foundations where we plant our ensigns of freedom.
"What a piece of work is man."  

Photo Credit:

1. https://sententiaeantiquae.com/2017/05/09/tullys-tuesday-cicero-talks-about-sex/
2. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Christus_(Draft)_by_Thorvaldsen.jpg