Secularism In The Renaissance

1333 Words6 Pages
One view of secularism is a philosophical look that dates back perhaps to medieval church where someone who is secular is not aligned with the church. In the philosophical sense, it means a godless viewpoint of the world. In this context, something may be considered secular if it has no religious value or morals, such as a book that has no religious affiliation or meaning. The Renaissance is a great example to use, as it was a time period in history where artists, writers, poets and the like could make expressions without having to abide by the Catholic Church’s orders to produce religious orientation works. Someone who identifies themself to be secular, may look at life missing of supernatural or godly abilities and anomalies. They may look towards reason and scientific method than religious literature for how to steer their lives.
Another meaning, which refers more towards the point of this essay, is political secularism, which is the motion that political institutions hold true to the laws of governance, and not to adhere to church or religion for instruction. For the better part of human history, church has had strong ties to many government entities. The Roman Catholic Church had very strong influence over the vast majority of Western Europe. The Russian Orthodox Church influenced the Tsars of Muscovite Russia, and the Church of England had close connections to multiple Kings. In fact, England for awhile was operated on religious absolutism, in which Kings declared