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The Secularization of Early Modern England

By Sommerville, C. John

The Secularization of Early Modern England Social Sciences

The Secularization of Early Modern England

0 - Default Title
Description
Secularization is a subject of daunting size and is filled with ambiguity. Through the use of insights gained from anthropology and sociology, and by studying an earlier period than is usually considered, this provocative work overcomes the usual obstacles to exploring and explaining why various aspects of life--art, language, work, play, technology, and power--became divorced from religious values in early modern England. Sommerville helps modern readers understand what life was like in an age in which society was suffused with religion and was as basic to thought as the structure of language. Concentrating not only on a decline of religious belief, which is the last aspect of secularization, he shows that a transformation of England's cultural grammar preceded the loosening of belief, and that this was largely accomplished between 1500 and 1700, much earlier than commonly believed. Sommerville asserts that only when definitions of space and time changed, and language and technology were transformed (as well as art and play) could a secular world view be sustained. Demonstrating that the process was more political and theological than economic or social, Sommerville shows that as aspects of daily life became divorced from religious values and controls, religious culture was supplanted by religious faith--a reasoned, rather than an unquestioned, belief in the supernatural. The first large-scale treatment of the history of secularization, The Secularization of Early Modern England will greatly interest students of history, religion, sociology, anthropology, and literature.
Product details
Edition:
1
Number of Pages:
240
Release Date:
1992-04-09
Publication Date:
1992-03-01
Publisher:
Oxford University Press
Languages:
Original: English
ISBN10:
0195074270
ISBN13:
9780195074277
GPSR Manufacturer Reference:
[email protected]
Weight:
546 g
Height:
157 cm
Width:
235 cm
Thickness:
19 cm
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