WorldView: The Enlightenments and Awakenings

The Enlightenments and Awakenings during 17th century and 18th century was the beginning of modern cultural wars. The Enlightenment had its origins in England in the 17th century and moved to the European Continent during the 18th century. The term ‘Enlightenment’ signifies a new way of seeing things, primarily not through the category of revelation but through rational demonstration and empirical investigation. In another word, divine autonomy was replaced by human autonomy. In different parts of Europe Enlightenment stood as alternatives to secularism. Thereafter, the ideology of Enlightenment slowly manifest ‘Subjective Turn’ which is a decisive shift in worldview from theocentric thinking to various degrees of anthropocentrism. This is called the beginning of modern cultural wars, the time when man tries to get independent from God. In another word, moving toward human self-sufficiency is most pronounced in radical enlighteners in their espousal of autonomy as the dominant theme of modern thought.                                        
                        The basic hypothesis of the Enlightenment was the supremacy of reason. In their scientific reasoning, Enlightenment intellectuals challenged traditional Christianity worldview by opposing the teachings and dogma of the Catholic Church. Enlightenment thinkers believed that humans were good yet perfectible. These thinkers believed that human reason could be used to combat ignorance, superstition, and tyranny and to build a better world.

They assumed that religion is superstitious ignorance. Thus, using the new scientific methods was implemented during the scientific revolution. This new world view soon gained followers through the literary output of Enlightenment authors, and those writers and followers helped. Exercising intellectual reasoning and rationalization become popular as they believe logic could be a powerful avenue to truth. In another word, Enlightenment thinkers believe in the power of reasoning to defend all sorts of absurd notions. The worldview of this age replaced community, tradition with individualism and freedom. 
Ref:  
Revolutions in Worldview: Understanding the Flow of Western Thought. Editor Andrew Hoffecker