A superficial examination of the exterior appearance of...

A superficial examination of the exterior appearance of modern human life and the astonishing results of modern technologies and industries, confirms the above notion or at least seems compatible with it. Nonetheless, more comprehensive, penetrating, and critical analyses of the condition of the world and the modern human[^2] reveal the flagrant dramatization of the allegation that the era of faith has come to a conclusion and that modern humanity no longer requires religion.

Even though many modern humans verbally deny need of religion, their condition states otherwise. Despite modern humanity’s astounding developments in science and technology, it is faced with massive crises[^3] that either possess completely new identities, or hold much more terrible and horrific features compared to their historic parallels.

A thorough and chronicled explanation and clarification of these crises would be too long a narrative to cover in the limited pages of this introductory chapter. What can be covered in this synopsis is an overview and brief explanation of several aspects of this discussion. Doubtless various cognitional, social, economic, etc. factors have been influential in creating and intensifying what we call modern crises.

Correctly understanding these factors can be effective in more accurately comprehending these crises and their historic origins. Here we will suffice it to mention several of the most important factors that have caused the outbreak of modern crises and brought about an overall transformation of the ideas of modern humans about themselves and the world around them.

Rationalism The modern form of rationalism emerged in seventeenth century Europe through the contemplations of the famous French philosopher and mathematician, René Descartes (1596 – 1650) and was later advocated in the works of philosophers such as Baruch Spinoza (1632 – 1677) and Gottfried Leibniz (1646 – 1716). Immanuel Kant (1724 – 1804) set to critiquing pure reason and finally concluded that pure reason cannot prove the existence of God.

He then endeavored to secure the foundations of intellectual belief in God based on ethics and practical reason. Additionally, he maintained that empirical truths (or objects per se), cannot be understood as they truly are, rather, we understand objects though previous concepts and categories within our minds.