ABSTRACT
The seventeenth century was critical in the development of modern attitudes. How we assess this change-even how we describe it-will depend on our own values. I should call it the beginnings of secularism-a disbelief in or disregard for a spiritual or supernatural dimension. Since 1600 ever-increasing areas of thought have gained independence from the domination of religious attitudes. The first stage is generally a relative distancing of God from human affairs rather than a positive exclusion; often it leaves a vague belief that there must be “something more”; but certainly what remains is quite unlike the Reformation faith. This demystification of experience has of course not been a smooth process, but from the present perspective it looks all of a piece and an awareness of its genesis may help us to appreciate what we have gained.
