The Age of Reason, as it was called, was spreading rapidly
across Europe. In the late 17th century, scientists like Isaac
Newton and writers like John Locke were challenging the old
order. Newton's laws of gravity and motion described the world
in terms of natural laws beyond any spiritual force. In the wake
of political turmoil in England, Locke asserted the right of a
people to change a government that did not protect natural
rights of life, liberty and property. People were beginning to
doubt the existence of a God who could predestine human beings
to eternal damnation and empower a tyrant for a king. Europe
would be forever changed by these ideas. In America,
intellectuals were reading these ideas as well. On their side of
the Atlantic, Enlightened ideas of liberty and progress had a
chance to flourish without the shackles of Old Europe. Religious
leaders began to change their old dogmatic positions. They began
to emphasize the similarities between the Anglican Church and
the Puritan Congregationalists ra