The “Ecclesiastical Structure” of Scottish Enlightenment between natural religion and rational theology
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DOI:
https://doi.org/10.63277/gsc.v20i.4969Abstract
Between the late 17th century and the second half of the 18th century Scotland faced most important constitutional changes, involving the relationships between the State and the Churches. In this context, the “religious question” continued to play a crucial role, finding its place – as so often in the past – at the heart of the political agenda. However, this agenda was also influenced by the intellectual movement called Scottish Enlightenment, which provided an important contribution to the evolution of the Scottish Established Church that was Calvinist in its official documents, but Presbyterian as regards its ecclesiastical order. Following general considerations about the process of secularization (which was widespread in Europe at that time), the author analyses the peculiar evolution of relationships between the Scottish Established Church and the Scottish Enlightenment, which also affected the constitutional system in that country.
