The Church and the Age of Enlightenment (1648-1848)

Catholics—both religious and laity—made significant contributions to science, the arts, and the betterment of human life during the Enlightenment, the period between the Reformations and the modern world.

Scholar Dominic A. Aquila notes that many historical accounts claim the Church hindered the scientific revolution or that faith and reason could not coexist. The Church and the Age of Enlightenment (1648–1848) challenges that assumption by showing how Catholic thinkers, clergy, and artists advanced mathematics, astronomy, chemistry, biology, politics, and the arts.

Aquila highlights major figures of the era—including Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, St. Vincent de Paul, Queen Christina of Sweden, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau—and places their work within a broader Catholic context. He begins with earlier foundations laid by Copernicus, Francis Bacon, and Galileo, and frames the Enlightenment between the Thirty Years’ War and the Napoleonic Wars.

The book also explores key artistic and musical masterpieces of the age, such as Giovanni Bellini’s Frari Triptych, the Oberammergau Passion Play, and Handel’s Messiah.

In this book, you will learn:

• The Church has long been Western civilization’s primary patron of art and science

• Blaise Pascal saw divine revelation as God’s action in human history

• Isaac Newton, though a man of science, believed firmly in God

• The separation of Church and state was influenced by Catholic thinkers

• Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson embodied Enlightenment ideals in the American colonies

• One of the most enduring outcomes of the Enlightenment is the desire to improve life for more people

Books in the Reclaiming Catholic History series, edited by Mike Aquilina and written by leading authors and historians, bring Church history to life—debunking myths one era at a time.

About the Author

Mike Aquilina is a Catholic author, popular speaker, poet, and songwriter who serves as the executive vice president of the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology.