I feel that without the Protestant Reformation there could have never been the Enlightenment and Scientific Revolution. Until people were freed from the control of the church and allowed to explore new areas and ideas there could never be any major advance in society. The proof of this lies in the history of Europe leading up to the time of intellectual growth in comparison to the history of the Near and Far East during the same time period. In this way the Reformation freed the Western world and allowed science and thought to advance in ways that had hither to been stifled.


Now to my true answer: the Scientific Revolution made the world both small and much larger at the same time on many different scales. Many people will, and have, discussed the advances in sailing and the beginning of the Age of Exploration or Exploitation depending on which side of the landing party you stood. But the Scientific Revolution also made the world a much bigger place on a small scale. I know that sounds like a contradictory term but hear me out. With advances in agriculture and industry there came a growth of awareness among the lower and middle classes in the Western world. Always before the great lords were the only ones who had dealings with “foreign” peoples. Very few members of the lower classes ever thought of those who lived more than a day’s ride from their home as being of any import.

Now suddenly the small free-holder farmer has new technology available helping him produce more and better foods, resulting in a surplus. He now faces the question of what to do with this surplus. He hears of a weaver in the next village over who makes excellent cloth and is willing to trade cloth for food. Our poor farmer would like to wear better clothing than those he currently has so he makes a voyage out into the unknown world beyond his small village and is soon trading surplus food for finer cloth. He returns home and is considered a wealthy man because he was able to get such good materials. The next year his neighbors use the new technologies and they too have a surplus, but only our farmer knows the weaver, so he takes a small commission from everyone and sets out to trade food for cloth, getting richer along the way when he realizes he can trade for things beyond cloth. In a few years he is no longer a farmer; he is now a grocer.

In a very similar manner the weaver gets richer as well because he can trade a surplus of food for better wool or whatever else his need may be. Both of these men, and those they traded with, suddenly became part of a larger world. The Scientific Revolution expanded their small world in ways they could have never imagined.

God, Glory, and Gold:
Not Necessarily in that Order

History is a vast collection of cause and effect events that shape the world as they happen. Our study of history is nothing more than a study of these events in an attempt to understand what lead to the causes and how the effects shaped these events. We think if we are able to understand what causes the events happening around us we can predict future events. When we look hard enough for the true causes in history we will find, in most cases, that it is either God, Glory, or Gold that drives men to act. More often than not, it was Gold more than any of the other two that drove mankind.

Examples of these motives can be found in all the great empires of the world. The empires of Mesopotamia show this in their growth. The leaders who founded these great civilizations were driven by a need to establish themselves as the head of the dominant society. This was the driving force behind all of the great civilizations throughout history. All leaders from the smallest tribal leader to the mightiest emperor all worked to make their society the dominant one in their time. They strove to control as much territory as possible and as many people as they could, for as long as possible. They did all of this to ensure that their name would go down in history as the greatest leader possible.

It wasn’t just empire building that was done for Glory. Often great feats of engineering were undertaken in an effort to make sure later generations did not forget. The great pyramids of Egypt are the best example. The pharaohs who had them built were working to ensure that they were not forgotten by history. When we look back on Egyptian history we often think of the great names such as Ramses, Tut, or Amenhotep. The reason we remember these leaders is not so much for what they did as leaders, but what they left behind: their tombs. It is true that from study we know that Amenhotep IV did make history on his own by attempting a religious revolution, but there again you find God, or in this case gods, as the motivating factor in his actions.

As time passed and more religions were being developed and strengthened beyond simple pagan tribalism. Out of the wide and varied litany of world religions Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, and even Confucianism had risen to the top by the middle of the 4th century. They had begun to play a larger and larger role in the world around them. In Europe, Islam and Christianity battled for supremacy for centuries before Christianity finally won out. Church and government leaders for each side worked to make sure their religion was the dominant one for their time. While there were cases of tolerance, these cases were often, in the scope of history, rather brief.

The same pattern played out all over the world: one religion striving to overcome another until ultimately there would only be one left. We often see these conflicts as political or territorial, but the true motive behind them was often religion. The Crusades in Europe are a great example of the opposite of this being true. Religion was the cover for wars fought for political gain. In a time when the powers of Europe were struggling to establish themselves as independent and in some cases dominant of each other, the favor of the church played a major role. In efforts to gain this favor, the leaders of different European countries undertook military actions designed to gain the favor of the church and strengthen their own positions both at home and abroad. The later Crusades were driven more by the last of our great causes: gold and riches.

The desire for gold has motivated much of what man has done throughout history. Often this motivation is covered up with some other reason, which at the time looks very presentable as was the case in the later Crusades. No leader in history has ever taken power, defeating those around them, simply because they could. They did it for the gold. Those who strive to rise to power, even in our modern time, may say they are concerned for the common good of all, but in truth greed and a need for wealth is the underlying motivator. If this were not the case elected officials would not be given lavish salaries and extravagant benefits for doing what they declare their public duty for the good of all those they lead.

So while we often see Glory, God, or Gold as the cause of what has happened in history, when we look deeper into the events we are studying we find the truth is nothing more than greed. Gold, more than any other factor, has been a driving force behind what has taken place. This sad truth is not something we like to hear, but is something of which we should all be aware of when looking at the world around us. There are many good examples of missionary organizations that are working to better the world around them; however, when someone comes along saying they want to do something to help the people, look at their true motives. In many cases it is their own prosperity they have in mind.

I think we are doing a serious wrong when we say that societies turn to civilizations when they settle in one place and lose the sense of commonality with those around them, banding together with their own beliefs, customs, and in some cases languages. We feel this change occurs when people agree to live together in accordance with an understood and often written set of guidelines to govern their behavior and develop a surplus in staple goods so they can work to develop new technologies and new ideologies as well as establishing a means of defense to protect their luxuries the surplus allows.


With these as the guidelines most commonly accepted for what a society needs to be considered a civilization, we tend to ignore any groups that we, in essence, do not like because they fail to fit our cookie cutter world. Would any of us declare that the Hebrew people were not civilized? They lived in accordance with a written set of guidelines that governed behavior, working to develop surpluses in staple goods to allow for the development of specialists in many different areas of society. They stood apart from those around them in beliefs, dress, and governance and their leaders established plans for defense to protect their society. Yet for all of this we do not study the great Hebrew civilization of the Middle East simply because they did not, at any time in the history of this region, rule over vast territories and the people within them. Instead they lived in the same basic area from ancient times predating the great Mesopotamian Civilizations through our modern world.

We also discount the Hunter-Gatherer societies of ancient times. While they did not live in one fixed location, instead often travelling over a vast range that may or may not have overlaped with other groups, they did have distinct customs and beliefs often setting them apart from other groups. They worked for a common good making sure everyone and everything within their society was protected from outsiders. They also worked to build a surplus allowing for a small amount of specialization and a sense of security against future times. Again we do not call them civilizations mainly because they did not live in one fixed location.