The Theological Origins of Modernity

1. Modernity's Roots Lie in Late Medieval Theological Crisis

Little did they or their contemporaries know that the different paths they followed from that mass and from Avignon would lead humanity into the modern age.

Beyond Secularization. Modernity didn't emerge solely from secularization or a clean break with the past. It arose from a profound metaphysical and theological crisis within Christianity during the late medieval period. This crisis, centered on the nature of God and being, shaped the intellectual landscape and set the stage for the modern world's defining questions.

Avignon as Crucible. The city of Avignon in 1326, with figures like William of Ockham, Francesco Petrarch, and Meister Eckhart, serves as a symbolic starting point. Their diverse responses to the era's intellectual and spiritual turmoil represent the seeds of modernity. The conventional narrative of modernity often overlooks the religious and theological underpinnings of this transformative period.

Epochal Question. The nominalist revolution created an "epochal" question that has guided human thought ever since. This question concerns the nature and relationship of God, man, and the natural world, and it continues to shape our thinking and action, often in ways we do not perceive or understand.

2. Nominalism Shattered the Medieval Synthesis

From this point of view, the world had a specific beginning, course of development, and end that was prefigured and revealed allegorically in Scripture.

Realism vs. Nominalism. Scholasticism, with its realist ontology, saw the world as an instantiation of divine reason, with universals as ultimately real. Nominalism, spearheaded by William of Ockham, challenged this view, asserting that only individual things are real, and universals are mere names.

Divine Omnipotence. Ockham emphasized God's omnipotence and unpredictability, undermining the scholastic synthesis of reason and revelation. This new vision of God created a sense of chaos and uncertainty, as the world was no longer seen as teleological or governed by immutable laws.

Consequences of Nominalism:

• Rejection of syllogistic logic and science
• Emphasis on individual experience and revelation
• A new understanding of human freedom

The nominalist revolution shattered the medieval worldview, leaving a void that subsequent thinkers attempted to fill with new metaphysical and theological frameworks.

3. Humanism Elevated the Individual, Apolitically

He was Francesco Petrarch. Like Ockham, Petrarch rejected scholasticism as overly rationalized, but he was also repulsed by the nominalists’ endless arguments about terms and what he saw as vapid speculation about divine power.

A New Focus. Petrarch, a key figure in the rise of humanism, sought to revive ancient moral virtue and create a new ideal of human individuality. He rejected both scholasticism and nominalism, seeking a synthesis of Christian practice and classical thought.

Individual over Political. Humanism, unlike ancient thought, placed the individual at the center, emphasizing self-mastery and self-perfection. This focus on the individual was largely apolitical, with virtue seen as attainable outside of political life.

Humanism's Debt to Nominalism. Humanism, despite its focus on classical sources, owed a debt to nominalism's emphasis on the individual. Humanists saw humans as characterized by free will, a self-creating force, mirroring the nominalist God.

4. The Reformation Prioritized God, Sparking Conflict

Luther’s answer to the question of indulgences was thus his answer to the problem of the nominalist God: “faith alone saves.”

Luther's Reformation. Martin Luther, reacting to the uncertainties of nominalism and the corruption of the Church, sought a return to a more original Christianity based on faith alone. He emphasized the importance of Scripture and the direct relationship between God and the individual.

Faith Alone. Luther's doctrine of "faith alone saves" challenged the Church's emphasis on works and sacraments. He saw faith as a gift from God, a will to union with God, accessible through Scripture.

Conflict with Humanism. The Reformation, with its emphasis on divine omnipotence and human sinfulness, clashed with the humanist vision of human potential and self-mastery. This conflict led to the Wars of Religion, as different factions struggled for religious and political dominance.

5. Modernity Sought Resolution in Nature, Dividing Further

Modernity proper in this way begins with the goal of developing a science that will make man master and possessor of nature.

A New Path. In the wake of the conflicts between humanism and the Reformation, some thinkers sought a new path by focusing on the natural world. Modernity, in its narrow sense, emerged as an attempt to resolve the theological and political conflicts by asserting the ontic priority of nature.

Science as Solution. The goal of this new approach was to develop a science that would make man master and possessor of nature. This project was deeply indebted to nominalism, which had shattered the medieval view of a harmonious, teleological cosmos.

Naturalistic Beginning. Modernity sought to reconstruct the world as a natural object, but this new naturalistic beginning could not eliminate the antagonism at its heart without eliminating either God or man. This tension would continue to shape modern thought.

6. Descartes Championed Reason, Empowering the Subject

Man for Descartes becomes master and possessor of nature by dispossessing its current owner, that is, by taking it away from God.

Cartesian Dualism. Descartes sought to build a new foundation for knowledge based on reason and the autonomous subject. His famous "cogito ergo sum" established the self as the starting point for all understanding.

Man as Master. Descartes envisioned man as becoming master and possessor of nature through the application of reason and science. This project involved a displacement of God, as man sought to take control of the natural world.

Infinite Will. Descartes's notion of science rests on a new notion of man as a willing being, modeled on the omnipotent God of nominalism. This emphasis on the infinite human will, however, created a tension between man's natural limitations and his aspirations for mastery.

7. Hobbes Prioritized Order, Grounding Politics in Fear

Man for Hobbes is a piece of nature, a body in motion.

Materialism and Mechanism. Hobbes, in contrast to Descartes, saw man as thoroughly natural, a body in motion governed by the laws of physics. He rejected the notion of a separate, immaterial soul, emphasizing the importance of self-preservation and the avoidance of violent death.

Fear as Foundation. Hobbes grounded his political philosophy in the fear of death, arguing that this fear motivates individuals to create a social contract and submit to a sovereign power. The sovereign's role is to maintain order and security, even through the use of force.

Limited Freedom. Hobbes denied the existence of free will, arguing that human actions are determined by a chain of causes. He sought to maximize human freedom by organizing society in a way that minimized external constraints and allowed individuals to pursue their desires within the bounds of law.

8. The Enlightenment's Contradictions Led to Crisis

The modern project, first conceived in the seventeenth century, had in fact enormously increased human power in precisely the ways Bacon, Descartes, and Hobbes had imagined, but it had not produced the peace, freedom, and prosperity they had predicted.

The Enlightenment Project. The Enlightenment sought to build on the foundations laid by Descartes and Hobbes, promoting reason, progress, and human autonomy. However, the Enlightenment project was plagued by contradictions and tensions.

Kant's Antinomies. Immanuel Kant identified key antinomies, or contradictions, within Enlightenment thought, particularly the conflict between nature and freedom. He demonstrated that nature and freedom as modernity had conceived them could not coexist, that their relationship was necessarily antinomious.

The French Revolution. The French Revolution, with its initial promise of liberty and equality, descended into violence and terror, exposing the limitations and dangers of Enlightenment ideals. The French Revolution, with its extravagant claims for the rule of reason and its abysmal realization of these claims in the Terror, only made these limitations of the modern project publicly apparent.

9. Theological Commitments Persist, Concealed in Secularity

Modernity, as we understand and experience it, came to be as a series of attempts to constitute a new and coherent metaphysics/theology.

Secularization as Concealment. The apparent secularization of modernity often conceals the persistence of theological commitments and assumptions. Modern thought, even in its most secular forms, continues to grapple with questions about the nature of God, man, and the universe.

Transference of Attributes. The attributes of God, such as omnipotence, omniscience, and benevolence, are often transferred to other entities, such as reason, nature, or humanity itself. This transference creates new forms of belief and value that shape modern thought and action.

Understanding Our Origins. To understand the challenges and possibilities of our current situation, we must confront the theological origins of modernity and the decisions that shaped our way of life. This requires a greater understanding of our own religious and theological beginnings, not because ours is the only way, but in order to help us understand the concealed wellsprings of our own passions as well as the possibilities and dangers that confront us.

Last updated: September 16, 2025