The Age of Enlightenment and Its Challenge to Biblical Christianity

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Introduction: Defining the Age of Enlightenment

The Age of Enlightenment, often placed between 1650 C.E. and 1800 C.E., is broadly defined as an intellectual and philosophical movement that emphasized reason, individualism, skepticism toward tradition, and empirical evidence. Rooted in the aftermath of the Protestant Reformation and scientific developments, the Enlightenment radically reshaped European thought. Although it gave rise to advances in science, political theory, and human rights discourse, it also precipitated a severe ideological confrontation with biblical Christianity, particularly in areas of theology, revelation, and epistemology.

While Enlightenment thinkers championed human reason as the supreme arbiter of truth, biblical Christianity affirms that “the fear of Jehovah is the beginning of knowledge” (Proverbs 1:7). The friction between Enlightenment rationalism and revealed truth from Scripture marks a pivotal turning point in Western civilization, where divine authority was openly questioned in favor of autonomous human reasoning.

This article will examine the major figures and ideas of the Enlightenment, assess the movement’s direct and indirect attacks on the authority of Scripture, and respond from a conservative evangelical, biblical apologetics standpoint. The goal is to assess this period without romanticism or condemnation but with a factual, thorough, and rational evaluation rooted in a high view of the inerrancy and inspiration of Scripture.

Philosophical Foundations of the Enlightenment

The Enlightenment did not arise in a vacuum. It was a culmination of earlier philosophical traditions, notably the humanism of the Renaissance and the rationalism of figures such as René Descartes (1596–1650 C.E.). Descartes’ methodical doubt—summarized in cogito, ergo sum (“I think, therefore I am”)—emphasized personal rational reflection as the foundation for knowledge.

This laid the groundwork for Enlightenment rationalism, where reason was considered the ultimate tool for discovering truth. Rather than looking to divine revelation as found in the inerrant Scriptures, Enlightenment thinkers sought to ground ethics, metaphysics, and human destiny in empirical observation and rational deduction.

John Locke (1632–1704 C.E.), often regarded as the father of Enlightenment political thought, proposed that knowledge is derived from experience (empiricism) and advocated for natural rights grounded in reason. Though Locke professed Christianity, his epistemology excluded special revelation as a legitimate source of knowledge unless it could pass the bar of reason.

This foundational shift in epistemology—moving from the revealed Word of God as the starting point of knowledge to the autonomous human mind—was the most fundamental challenge posed by the Enlightenment to biblical Christianity.

Major Enlightenment Thinkers and Their Opposition to Biblical Doctrine

Voltaire (1694–1778 C.E.)

Voltaire’s attacks on revealed religion, particularly Christianity, were often scathing and sarcastic. He famously stated, “Écrasez l’infâme!” (“Crush the infamous thing!”)—referring to the organized Church, which he saw as a barrier to human progress. Voltaire championed deism and natural religion, rejecting the miracles, prophecies, and divine authority of Scripture. He was not merely anti-Catholic; he was anti-biblical.

His deism held that God, like a watchmaker, created the world and then left it to operate under natural laws without divine intervention. Such a worldview directly contradicts the biblical record where God is portrayed as sovereignly and personally involved in His creation—from Genesis 1:1 onward to Revelation 22:21.

Voltaire’s confidence in reason above revelation shows in his rejection of biblical miracles. He claimed that miracles violated the natural order and were therefore unreasonable. This directly opposes the biblical affirmation that the Creator, who set the laws of nature in motion, is not bound by them and has the sovereign authority to intervene (e.g., Exodus 14:21–22; John 11:43–44).

David Hume (1711–1776 C.E.)

David Hume was a Scottish philosopher whose skepticism struck at the heart of Christian apologetics. He rejected the rationality of belief in miracles, arguing in An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding that no amount of testimony could ever be sufficient to establish a miracle. He wrote, “A miracle is a violation of the laws of nature; and as a firm and unalterable experience has established these laws, the proof against a miracle… is as entire as any argument from experience can possibly be imagined.”

Hume’s argument against miracles is fallacious on multiple fronts. First, it presupposes that human experience has universal access to all events in all times—a position that is both arrogant and irrational. Secondly, it undermines historical testimony, the very foundation of all historiography. If miracles are ruled out a priori, then no amount of evidence can overcome the skeptic’s bias, making the argument circular.

Furthermore, Hume’s philosophy crumbles under its own weight. If human experience is the only arbiter of truth, and if causality itself cannot be firmly established (as Hume himself doubted), then reason itself collapses. The biblical response reaffirms that God, who transcends nature, is capable of acts beyond natural regularity, and He has recorded such acts reliably in inspired Scripture.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778 C.E.)

Though not as overtly anti-Christian as Voltaire or Hume, Rousseau emphasized the inherent goodness of man, asserting that civilization and organized religion corrupted human beings. This stands in stark contradiction to the biblical doctrine of total depravity. Scripture declares, “the heart is more deceitful than anything else, and incurable—who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9). Paul affirms in Romans 3:10, “there is no one righteous, not even one.”

Rousseau’s view encouraged an exaltation of human emotion and instinct over divine command and rational understanding rooted in Scripture. He contributed to the eventual Romantic movement, which elevated subjective experience as the basis for truth—a foundation antithetical to both the Enlightenment’s rationalism and biblical objectivism.

Enlightenment Criticism of the Bible and Its Inerrancy

Perhaps the most enduring impact of the Enlightenment was its skepticism toward the divine inspiration and inerrancy of the Bible. The rise of historical-critical methods, particularly in German universities, sought to analyze the biblical text as a purely human document.

This movement, which gained momentum in the 18th century and into the 19th, questioned the authorship, dating, and historical accuracy of the Pentateuch, the Gospels, and even the Pauline Epistles. These methods were built upon naturalistic presuppositions: that supernatural events do not occur and that prophecy is impossible unless written after the fact.

Such assumptions violate the text’s self-witness. The Bible repeatedly affirms its divine origin: “All Scripture is inspired by God” (2 Timothy 3:16), and Jesus Himself testified, “Your word is truth” (John 17:17). Moreover, the historical reliability of Scripture has been repeatedly confirmed through archaeology, manuscript evidence, and internal consistency.

The conservative, grammatical-historical method of interpretation begins with the belief that the Bible is a supernatural book that is also historically accurate. It does not isolate texts from their theological context nor presume human error in the autographs. This approach affirms that the Scriptures, properly interpreted, are free from contradiction and error.

Enlightenment Views on God, Morality, and Salvation

Enlightenment thinkers generally moved toward deism or atheism. Theism—especially biblical theism—was rejected because it posited a personal God who reveals Himself, commands obedience, and intervenes in history.

Deism became the preferred religious philosophy. God, if He existed, was distant and non-interventionist. Natural law replaced divine law. Conscience and reason replaced revelation. The Ten Commandments were sidelined in favor of humanist ethics. Salvation, if discussed, was moral improvement—not reconciliation with a holy God through the substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ.

This view is incompatible with the biblical gospel. Romans 3:23 states that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” and Romans 6:23 affirms that “the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Salvation is not self-improvement; it is the sovereign work of God in justifying the ungodly through faith (Romans 4:5).

The Biblical Response: Reaffirming Divine Revelation in a Rational Age

It is important to stress that Christianity is not irrational. Faith is not belief in the absence of evidence but trust in the testimony of a faithful God who has revealed Himself in time, space, and history. The Christian worldview harmonizes faith and reason. As Isaiah 1:18 says, “Come now, let us reason together, says Jehovah.”

Christian apologetics during and after the Enlightenment rightly focused on defending the integrity of Scripture, the reality of miracles, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ as historical fact. This includes the classical method, which emphasizes theistic proofs, and the evidentialist approach, which shows that biblical claims are supported by historical data.

Long-Term Impact of Enlightenment Thought on Modern Theology and Culture

The seeds of Enlightenment rationalism sprouted into theological liberalism in the 19th and 20th centuries. Figures such as Friedrich Schleiermacher redefined Christian doctrine in subjective terms, emphasizing religious experience over biblical authority.

Higher criticism sought to reconstruct the biblical text according to human reason, often arriving at conclusions incompatible with Scripture’s own claims. The denial of Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch, rejection of predictive prophecy, and denial of the resurrection were not conclusions drawn from evidence but from anti-supernaturalist bias.

The result has been the erosion of biblical authority in seminaries, churches, and the broader culture. Secularism, moral relativism, and postmodernism are downstream from Enlightenment presuppositions that placed man over God and reason over revelation.

Conclusion: A Call to Stand on the Authority of Scripture

Though the Enlightenment brought intellectual stimulation, scientific advancement, and political reform, it also brought theological disaster when it displaced the authority of God’s Word. The biblical response is not to retreat into irrationalism but to proclaim with confidence that the Bible is the inspired, inerrant, and sufficient Word of God. It speaks authoritatively to every area of life—ethics, science, history, and salvation.

As Psalm 119:160 declares, “The entirety of your word is truth, and every one of your righteous judgments endures forever.”

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About the Author

EDWARD D. ANDREWS (AS in Criminal Justice, BS in Religion, MA in Biblical Studies, and MDiv in Theology) is CEO and President of Christian Publishing House. He has authored over 220+ books. In addition, Andrews is the Chief Translator of the Updated American Standard Version (UASV).