Analysis Of Chris Harman's The Creation Of Adam

Since the beginning of human existence, it is amazing how much the world has changed and developed into the modern society we live in today. In Michelangelo’s complex painting, “The Creation of Adam” God is giving the spark of life to Adam, which initiates the start of humanity. There are many different interpretations of this painting but one thing is for sure, there is a specific, in depth meaning behind it in which I will connect to significant events throughout history like the age of exploration, rise of the bourgeoisie as a social class, the scientific revolution, and the protestant reformation. In doing so, I will also make extensive use of Chris Harman’s “A People’s History of the World” and Timothy Brook’s “Vermeer’s hat” to illustrate

According to the Bible, “God created man in his own image”. One of the first things I noticed about the painting is that God is reaching out his hand to give the spark of life to Adam. I also noticed that their fingers are not yet touching. God the giver of life is reaching out to Adam who has yet to receive it, in other words they are not on the same level. What is equally as fascinating is that the cloud God is in looks exactly like a brain, even specific to the exact parts. The beings that are in this brain looking figure with God I would assume to be angels, and the woman that is under Gods left arm is most likely Eve due to the intense way she is gazing at Adam, as if she is looking into his soul to be. I believe the point Michelangelo is trying to display is that all intellectual knowledge to the core comes from and will point to God

The main idea that arose out of the Protestant Reformation was a call to purify the church as a whole. Many Christians during this time period started to believe that the Bible should be the prime source of spiritual rule over one’s life instead of tradition having a more significant role. Martin Luther used the power of the printing press to spread share his beliefs to the rest of the world. After Luther translated the Bible into German, Lutheranism became the core religious belief system throughout much of Europe. John Calvin is another person who played a major role in the Protestant Reformation. The foundation of Calvin’s belief is the idea of predestination. This idea stresses the fact that it is possible for sin to be passed down from parents to their children. Predestination also preaches how all people are sinners so the fact the God would be so merciful only let certain people acquire eternal salvation is just, given that no human will ever be perfect except for Jesus. Calvin’s beliefs quickly spread throughout Europe and became a religious and economic power for hundreds of years to come. “Religious belief does not do away with either natural or human law from which sovereignty is derived.” What Grotius is stating goes hand in hand with the fact that the idea of a higher power in the universe does not disregard everything that was discovered by Isaac Newton and Nicolaus Copernicus, if anything