In 1996, we asked the outstanding American expert on Bavarian
Illuminism and revolutionary movements, William H.
Between prosaic
illuminism (which is the logical source of modern consumerism) and romantic poetry (which attempts to understand the ineffable nature of life), it can be argued that personal development and historical events are complementary.
In this respect, European literature, even long after the
Illuminism or the French (and Russian) revolutions, or for that matter Hollywood films, are full of examples of the ingrained insensitivity inherited from centuries of black slavery.
By sheer
illuminism? Do you intuitively know what God is saying?
All utilitarian knowledge represents the amplification of this project, originally outlined in the proposal of
illuminism towards the end of the XVIII Century.
Not far away, the French Revolution is brewing and aristocratic heads are about to roll; in Sicily, a revolutionary spirit linked to French
illuminism is sweeping over the land.
This Platonic vision gave birth to the opinion that all knowledge comes from above ("
illuminism") and the Church is sharply divided into "teachers" and "learners," as well as to the theory that the power of the bishops to govern (jurisdiction) descended from the pope.
[45] The glorification of peace itself, as the ultimate condition for progress and enlightenment of a nation, was just another homage paid to the age of
illuminism.
Robert Crocker's essay on `The Role of
Illuminism in the Thought of Henry More' provides an account of the more characteristically `mystical' aspect of Henry More, not just derived from the Florentine Platonism of the Humanists but that tradition of medieval mysticism which he knew through the Theologia Germanica and the Greek patristic notion of `deification'.
In this context, the Orthodox are called to reveal and develop more powerfully all the energies that enable them to find relief of intellectualism through personal faith as mystical experience, of
illuminism through the Tradition of the gospel inspired by the Holy Spirit, of conformism through the extraordinary resistance of martyrs, confessors and saints.
Close examination of trial-books reveals, in fact, that blasphemy was the most frequently censured religious offence of the Spanish people in the early modern period, far outnumbering convictions on charges of Judaism, Lutheranism,
Illuminism, sexual immorality or witchcraft.