Free Essays - Alexander Pope’s Essay on Man :: Alexander Pope Essay on Man

horse parsley Popes Essay on ManAn considerable emphasis was placed on the ability to think and reason during the Enlightenment. passel during this era thought and reasoned nigh a variety of topics. most people touch themselves with the issue of God, which consequently ca commitd existencey to question the church. Others were concerned with the organization of the Universe, and mans place within that Universe. The low gear epistle of Alexander Popes Essay on Man can be considered an articulation of the Enlightenment because it encompasses three major concerns of the people during the Enlightenment. Pope addresses mans ability to reason and think for himself, he questions the church and the temper of Christianity, and he also speculates about mans place in the world, as apart of the great chain of life. The ability to reason was the rally focus of the Enlightenment also denoted The Age of Reason. Pope begins epistle one by appealing to the reason of his audience. He keeps, Together let us impersonate this ample field, / Try to open, what the covert yield Pope encourages his audience to use the reason they have been given, to examine those things that have been advised against. To reason about those issues which have been kept in secrecy. He thusly goes on to write say first, of God above, or man below, / What can we reason, but from what we cheat? Pope again is addressing the ability of his audience to reason. He is trying to find them into the 18th century, asking them to look for evidence in the knowledge they receive, kinda then allowing the church to spoon-feed them all of their knowledge. bodyOffer() During the Enlightenment, people began to question the church for the first time. Pope exemplifies this when he writes, no Christians thirst for gold. Pope subtly questions the spirit of Christianity and Christians by exposing their own sinful desire for material goods. His words are simple, but they say a lot. By acknowledging that these Christians sin, and thirst for gold, he asks then why a man is looked down upon if they do not drive to be Christian, since Christians have a sinful nature just desire that of every other man. Pope was not alone in sceptical Christianity and the church. David Hume writes, the Truth of Christian Religion is less than the Evidence for the Truth of our Senses more writers during the Enlightenment not only questioned Christianity, but also the church in general.