Figure 1.--This painting, titled 'Weimar's Courtyard of the Muses', depicts a gathering of prominent figures from the German Weimar Classicism movement, setarond 1800. The painting by Theobald von Oer shows the German poet and playwright Friedrich Schiller (standing left) reading to the court in Tiefurt. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe is pictured on the right, in front of the pillar of the temple. The event is representative of the 'Weimar courtyard of the muses' a cultural circle hosted by Duchess Anna Amalia of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. These intellectual gatherings were central to the cultural movement that synthesized ideas from the Enlightenment and Classicism. Ideas from he Enligtement began ocome into fruition in he ale-18th century, beginningb qith the American Revoluion. .

In contrast to Islam, the Christian West underwent momentous movements that fundamentally shaped intellectual thought and attitudes toward the expression and consideration of ideas. his was impacted in the first place by the West's dual intellectual foundations brought together by St. Paul. Christianity was founded on Jewish theology. The Old Testament books we all used to read are Jewish religious documents. To which St Paul grafted on classical Greek thought. Added to this were a earth shattering invention--the printing press (15th century) which made the spread of ideas and intellectual discourse possible as never before. Books were not published in Arabic for several centuries (18th century) And hen in small numbers and at first mostly religious texts. Then Christian Europe was rocked by three powerful movements. They were all very different, but at their core had on powerful idea. The right of individuals to think freely and express religious and secular idea. This created a huge gulf between the intelectual ferment in Christain urope and the Islamic Middle East.

Printing Press (15th Century)

Johannes Gutenberg (c 1398-1468) is celebrated as the the inventor of the printing press (c 1450). Next to nothing is know about his early life. He was son of a patrician of Mainz. He acquired skill in metalwork. Most of what we know about him comes from documents of financial transactions that have survived. He got into trouble with the powerful guilds and was exiled from Mainz. He moved to Strassburg (c1428/30. He worked in Strassburg for about a decade, involved with crafts such as gem cutting. He taught a number of pupils before returning to Mainz. Gutenberg's invention of the printing press is not entirely accurate. More important than the actual press, was the moveable metal type letters. This meant that Gutenberg and the Europeans that followed him could and did print any thing. The result was an explosion of knowledge unparalleled in human history. This was arguably more important than the invention of writing. Because so few people were literate when writing was invented. By the 15th century literacy was increasing . And the with Protestant Reformation this increased exponentially. Although the tchnology was avilable in both Vhina and Europe. Mislim scholars didd not begin prining books until wellninto the 8th centuyry and then only in small numbers, focusing pimarilybon religious matters.

Renaissance (14th-15th Centuries)

Although generally classified by most scholars as the last century of the medieval era, the 14th century is generally seen as the beginning of the Renaissance and the beginning of a modern state of mind. "Renaissance" means "rebirth" in French and describes the cultural and economic changes that occurred in Europe beginning in the 14th century. Humanism began to replace Scholasticism as the philosophical foundation of European intellectual thought. The precise time is difficult to set and of course varied across Europe. The Renaissance began at Firenze (around 1300) and gradually spread north. Even so, the indicators that constitute the Renaissance did not reach other areas of Europe 1-2 centuries. It was during the Renaissance that Europe emerged from the Feudal System of the Middle Ages. The stagnant Medieval economy began to expand. The Renaissance was not just a period of economic growth. It was an age of intense cultural ferment. Enormous changes began in artistic, social, scientific, and political endeavors. Perhaps of greatest importance was that Europeans began to develop a radically different self image as they moved from a God-centered to a more humanistic outlook. The Humanist scholars used their classical work to assess Church practices and Biblical scholarship. The Renaissance is probably most associated with stunning developments in the visual arts, especially Italian and Dutch-Flemish painting. The Renaissance is also associated with advances in music, especially the brilliant polyphonic music. Another major achievement during the Renaissance was the birth of modern European drama.

Protestant Reformation (16th Century)

The Protestant Reformation was the religious struggle during the 16th and 17th century which began as an effort to reform the Catholic Church and ended with the splintering of the Western Christendom into the Catholic and Protestant churches. Combined with the Renaissance which preceded it, the reformation marked the end of the Medieval world and the beginning of a modern world view. The French Revolution which followed the Reformation in the 18th century marked the beginning of our modern age. Conditions developing in Medieval Europe laid the groundwork for the Reformation. The Protestant Reformation was a direct result of the printing press. It broke the lock the Catholic clergy had on intellectual thought and expression. The printing press made t possible for individuals to own and read Bibles. The Catholic Church tried to percent this and the publication of the Bible in the Vulgate. This made it possible for individuals to chose their religion. And eventually if you could choose your religion it was a small step to choosing government leaders. Now early Protestants were not all that tolerant of other Protestant denominations, but with the proliferation of sect, toleration became the only reasonable step forward. And this freedom of thought carried over into secular areas. Europe had been dominated by the Mediterranean region for centuries. But with the Protestant Reformation, it is Protestant northern Europe that came to nominate culturally, economically, militarily, politically, and scientifically over te Catholic dominated south. Both capitalism and the industrial revolution originated in northern Europe.

The Enlightenment (18th Century)

The enlightenment is the age of reason. Christian Europe embraced the idea of free thought and the open discussion of ideas. This surmounted even the willingness of classical Greece to discuss idea and the right of individuals to make free choices. Religion came under attack for its tendency to resist freedom of expression and entrenched oligarchies.. The Enlightenment along with the Renaissance and Reformation were the key steps in the formation of the Western mind. Many of the most influential Enlightenment thinkers were French, but the Enlightenment was a movement which over time affected all of Europe to varying degrees. America was also affected by the Enlightenment, but the American experience was different, in part because of the Great Awakening. The Enlightenment is also termed the Age of Reason. Authors define it differently and there were many different aspects, but the Enlightenment at it heart was a basic turn in the Western mindset. The West for more than a millennium had been dominated by religion, often described as faith. Even the Reformation had not changed this. In fact the Protestants were often more consumed with faith and theological questions than the Roman church. With the Enlightenment, primacy was given to reason.

Wokism (21st Century)

One troubling development is the m,arch of Western civilization toward free speech and thought has been the adoption by the American Democratic Party of wokist ideology. Wokism began as a promotion of sensitivity toward cultural, ethnic, gender, and racial differences. Which was a good thing. Only Marxist professors in universities turned it into a reign of terror against people expressing ideas that they did not like which they began calling hate speech. Of course this was fundamental attack on a free society. If the government or university administrators can define ides that they do not like as hate speech, they have ended free speech and turned the university from an engine of inquiry into Marxist reeducation camps. They have also turned the term liberal from a tolerant outlook into a reign of terror against individuals desiring to speak freely. It produced what came to be called cancel culture. They promoted imposed a dystopian society in which absurd idea such as requiring girls and young women to compete against athletes with male bodies and to attack and cancel ny one who dared challenge them..

Created: 2:02 AM 12/5/2025
Last updated: 2:02 AM 12/5/2025