1st AGE: RATIONALIZATION
Sentience revises its view of the supernatural. Philosophers find the world has
a natural order and prophets consolidate and personalize the gods. Yet religion maintains its mastery as science is rationalized to
fit dogma.
650 B.C.- Seven Sages of Greece
550 B.C.- Confucius, Buddha
450 B.C.- Socrates, Plato, Aristotle
550 A.D.- Muhammad, Dark Ages
Reason and Religion
It began with an explosion of light; Greek philosophers sought a natural explanation for surroundings
and self and Eastern sages reshaped spirituality. Its first millenium saw the birth of modern science and religion. This Greco-Christian
worldview settled into a feudal and fatalistic Europe: the Earth was central to crystal spheres and every man was in his
place.
Renaissance, Reformation, and Enlightenment
From the Dark Ages and Black Death came a rebirth. The next
five hundred years saw the Church splinter, philosophers ressurect humanist thought, and science shatter the crystal spheres
by proving the Earth not central to creation. With the Industrial Revolution, a new worldview emerged: humans were divinely
created cogs in a clockwork cosmos with God as watchmaker.
2nd AGE: REVOLUTION
But inevitably reason and religion clash. This Age begins as faith is challenged from within
by dissent and from without by science. It ends with an uneasy truce as religion is forced to compromise some sacred precepts.
Industrial Revolution and Information Age
Darwin exposed the skeleton in our lineage closet, and Einstein proved
a vast cosmos counterintuive. Philosophers questioned the existence of God, and Existentialism redefined Being as
technology kicked the Industrial Revolution into second gear. Humanity now understands enough about Surroundings and Self
to ponder authentic Significance.
3rd AGE: REALISM
Eventually, driven by science, sentience must face facts. This Age produces insights that
strain religious rationalization beyond belief. It ends with two camps that disagree but which must coexist for the survival
of the species.
1500- Luther, Copernicus, Hobbes
Locke, Descartes
1650- Leibniz, Voltaire, Newton
1750- Rousseau, Kant, Hegel
Industrial Revolution
1850- Darwin, Modern Biology
Psychology, Nietzsche
1900- Einstein, Quantum Mechanics
Existentialism, World Wars
1950- Modern Cosmology
Postmodernism, Cold War
20?? - Terrorism, Global Warming
"A Second Awakening inevitably follows when science offers an alternative worldview without resorting to the supernatural. This
Awakening unfolds through Three Ages of Enlightenment as reason rises to challenge revelation." ... Turen
"The First Awakening is driven by revelation, the Second by reason. Humanity is on the cusp of a Third where science and spirituality
are reconciled. Only then can you find the secret to endure ... The One Path to Destiny." ... Turen
Second Awakening
Third Awakening