The Rise of

Modern Society

The rise of modern society

a sketchy analytic view (Kumar 1988)
not a history lesson

Sociology was born as an inquiry into the

transition to modernity associated with the
first industrialization.

The Meaning of Modernity

The word 'modern' originated from the

Latin word 'modernus' in the late 5th
century to distinguish
the Christian present (at that time,
Christianity became the official religion)
from the Roman and pagan past.

The term 'modern' has a relativistic

connotation: it expresses the
consciousness of an era that views itself
as the result of a transition from the old
to the new.

2
 Precursor of the Modern Era

Renaissance: The movement opposed to the

medieval outlook (approx. 1480-1700)
Major centers all in Italy: Milan, Florence, Venice, etc.
Within the span of a single generation (1516th C):
ArtsLeonardo da Vinci (the Renaissance man),
Michelangelo and Raphael produced their masterworks
ExpeditionColumbus discovered America (1492-1498)
ReligionLuther rebelled against the Catholic Church and
began the Reformation (1517)
AstronomyCopernicus hypothesized a heliocentric universe
and commenced the Scientific Revolution (1543)
Ethos of the Renaissance: humanism; individualism;
secularism; dynamism (openness, progress).

The Reformation

Historically, the Reformation is regarded as a milestone of

the Renaissance.
The momentous Protestant Reformation erupted in
Europe when the spirit of Renaissance individualism
reached the realm of theology and religious conviction
within the church and the German monk Martin Luther.
The Reformation was a new and decisive assertion of
rebellious individualism within religionof personal
conscience, of critical private judgment against the
monolithic authority of the institutional church.
4
 A Sociological Puzzle

However, Protestant Christians have long

championed the Reformation as a spiritual revival in
their religious faith:
a new era in which any lay believer can establish personal
and intimate connection with a supernatural God.

In contrast, the Renaissance represents a historic rise

of secularism.
Q: How could a religious revival happen
concurrently with the rise of secularism?
5

A social structural perspective: There were two worlds.

The cultural and intellectual movement was initiated by a tiny
circle of the populace, essentially the cultural elites of the time.
This was a small world.
The rest was ordinary people, the mass in a different world:
the populace were born as Christians, grew up in the Catholic
church and culture.
Under this perspective, there was a social diffusion problem.
How, then, did the two worlds connect?
Reformation brought back the personal character of Christian
faith that was the hallmark of the early church.
To the mass (lay people), religious life was impersonal rituals,
hardly any personal connection with the supernatural God.
6
 How did the two worlds connect?
The Renaissance spirit of humanism and
individualism were manifest in Martin Luthers
doctrines
divine-human interaction need not be mediated by the
church organization or ministers as a religious authority,
from hinging on what human did to divine grace
regardless of what human did,
from redemption via countless rituals to salvation by
faith & once-and-for-all salvation.
Paradoxically, the new doctrines greatly enhanced
the spirituality of the mass.
To this day, the impacts of these doctrines have not been
secularism but a revival of religious relevance, available to
every lay Christian.
7

A Sociological Hypothesis

tts hypothesis for the Reformation puzzle:

As a consequence of the Renaissance
movement:
The Reformation was greatly facilitated by the
ideas of the cultural elites of the Renaissance.
As a cause:
Reformation was one of the key sociological
mechanisms that promoted the diffusion of the
Renaissance;
i.e., the thoughts of the cultural elites became
meaningful and tangible to the mass,
penetrating the daily & personal lives of the
ordinary people.
8
 RenaissanceThe Scientific Revolution

The Scientific Revolution was both the final expression of

the Renaissance and a decisive force that made the
transition to the modern world view virtually inevitable.
The Revolution began with Copernicus (1473-1543) who
proposed the Heliocentric Hypothesis. Two effects:--
Its validity legitimates an unprecedented challenge to the
fallibility of religious authority, especially as a monolithic source
of deep knowledge.
Many explanations may not be theo-centric.
Over a century later, Newton (1642-1727) achieved the final and
complete triumph for which Copernicus, Kepler (1571-1630), and
Galileo (1564-1642) had prepared the way.
The result of the scientific work during the Scientific
Revolution in the 17th century was that the outlook of
educated men was completely transformed.
In 1600, except among a very few, it was still largely medieval.
In 1700 the mental outlook of educated men (yes, male
dominated) was completely modern.
9

RenaissanceThe Scientific Revolution

Note: Among them were many religious men.

Newton was a prime example. He has written more on theology than
physics. And his pursuit of science was motivated by the biblical teaching
that the world is created orderly, and the orderliness of the physical
world reflects the wonders of the Creators design, His sovereignty in the
physical world. So he set out to discover the order and found them like
nobody before him did.
Thus, despite the often emphasized antagonism between the Catholic
Church and early scientists, the most fundamental & path breaking
discoveries of physical laws came from a productive synergy between
Christian faith and scientific inquiry.
Nevertheless, the penetration of new knowledge of science gradually
reduced peoples interpretation of daily experiences and the way people
addressed daily life problems. Slowly but surely, secular thinking in
peoples consciousness has been increasing ever since.
This is an unintended social consequence of science through mechanisms
emphasized by, e.g., symbolic interactionism in social psychology.

10
 A Deeper Question

How does this revolution relate to the four

defining ethos of the Renaissance?
It is a boost to secularism and dynamism.
The Reformation and the Scientific Revolution
should not be a coincident.
We have discussed ways in which each reflects
some key dimensions of the Renaissance.
But the arguments so far tell us about these
movements as engines for, rather than as
consequences of, the Renaissance.
So, did the two engines coincidentally happen
together? Can sociology contribute any coherent
explanation to such a big Q?
11

A Theoretical Hypothesis

The only founding father of

sociology who offers a
possible answer is Max
Weber: a cultural theory of
the evolution of Western
civilization.
The paradoxical double helix
of rationalization and
theocentric worldview in
Judaism & Christianity.
12
 Examples: Newtons science & theology; Jesuits
in physics.
Sociological study of formal organization
distinguishes two versions of rationality.
Open-system rationality
Closed-system rationality
Theology is founded on open-system rationality.
Secularism is the movement toward close-system
rationality.
Just as the population of business organizations
consists of both ideal types, most often
organizations are a hybrid type.

13

Take Home Messages

A social structural analysis identifies a

fundamental diffusion problem of the
Renaissance & suggests a pivotal role of the
Reformation in the diffusion of elitist ideas to the
daily lives & experiences of the mass.
A cultural analysis suggests that the Scientific
Revolution did not create any ideational conflicts
with Christian faith but its political dynamics
engendered the rise of secularism.
Applying a Weberian theory of cultural evolution,
we may interpret the Reformation and the
Scientific Revolution as concurrently reflecting
the long-term process of rationalization.

14