![[Portrait_of_Sir_Isaac_Newton,_1689_(brightened).jpg]] *Isaac Newton in 1689* One of the consequences of Newton’s physics and similar Enlightenment ideas was a crisis in religion. Although Newton himself believed in a God of some type, the universe he described in his theories did not require a personal deity to be actively engaged in making things happen. Newton’s universe seemed more like one of the new mechanical clocks that were just becoming popular. These complex machines might require a mechanical engineer or a clockmaker to design and build them, but once made and wound they could be left to themselves. Absorbing this clockmaker metaphor, many Enlightenment thinkers rejected the popular religious vision of an activist God who was involved in the day-to-day operation of the world, who rewarded the righteous and punished sinners, or who chose sides in history. The Protestant idea of predestination suggested that there was no free will, and that from God’s perspective time and chance did not really exist. Newton and other European scientists challenged that notion. Many also began to doubt traditional stories of the deity’s interference in history, including the Christian story of Jesus.  ![[Clockmakers_by_Jost_Amman.png]] *1568 depiction of a clockmaker* For example, Scottish philosopher David Hume wrote an essay on miracles in 1748 that was widely read and is still a required text for philosophy students. Hume did not argue  that miracles *could not* happen, but instead that people who believed in miracles were usually not talking about events they had witnessed themselves, but only retelling stories of miracles they had heard or read about; for instance, in the Christian Bible. For Hume, the issue that divided religious believers from skeptics was not actually miracles, but *testimony about miracles* reported to have happened years, decades, or even centuries ago. ![[Allan_Ramsay_-_David_Hume,_1711_-_1776._Historian_and_philosopher_-_PG_3521_-_National_Galleries_of_Scotland.jpg]] *David Hume in 1754* In contrast, Hume argued, the laws of nature could be deduced right now because they continued to operate and their effects could be seen every day. Hume left this essay out of the first edition of his book, _An Enquiry into Human Understanding_, to avoid antagonizing the faithful. But it found its way into print and remains an important challenge to traditions that seek to assert their authority based on supernatural claims. ----- Next: [[3.14 - Economies]] Back: [[3.12 - Aufklärung]]