Supernatural Events In The 17th Century

Madison Hoven
Miracles and Supernatural Events in the 17th Century
In the 21st century we are privileged to have a plethora of knowledge available to us that helps us interpret our surroundings. This however was not this case in earlier centuries, which inspired many philosophers to research and establish theories on the causation of various events. As society has moved from a religious perspective to a more secular mindset, one point of specific fascination that prevailed was the miraculous and supernatural events that deviated from the norm. Before scientific evidence was established these mysterious events occurred with little explanation, aside from attributing the occurances to a divine power. This lack of knowledge spurred research and various interpretations on how miracles and supernatural events came to be. The 17th century, or enlightenment period, was influenced by great philosophers and scientists such as Augustine, Bekker, Bayle, and Newton who all helped to clarify and better humans knowledge on perceived miraculous or supernatural events.
Prior to the 17th century, many of the ideas surrounding the supernatural revolved around divine interventions and signs. Early church leaders attributed all natural events to God and reasoned that any event out of the ordinary must be due to a divine intervention as an omen. A notable contributor to research regarding miracles and supernatural events in the early 17th century was Augustine who was an early christian