Istorie, cultură și spiritualitate românească în contextul european al veacului al XVIII-lea

Abstract

The end of the 17th century and in the beginning of 17th century represent both for Eastern Europe and for the Romanian people a conglomeration of important events on the political but also socio-cultural level. In the cultural field, as in the seventeenth century, it is France that sets the tone for European culture; in Central and Eastern Europe, sovereigns glorifying reason, celebrating French philosophers, and practicing an "enlightened despotism", the real purpose of which was to consolidate their power. But against French cultural domination, national reactions in Germany, Italy and Spain are beginning to manifest themselves. At the core of these explosive knowledge and discoveries is scientific progress, which, however, will bring with it "esotericism and modern forms of superstition" as effects. These being fueled by the exaggerated optimism that stimulated the people of that era, that the advances of human intelligence open the way to a new world and a new way of life. We will notice that in the course of history this process of scientific discovery will accelerate in an unusually fast way, reaching in the present time an even destructive explosion of science based solely on reason and interest in winning. On the religious level, there is a "split" in European thought and culture influenced by the enlightenment philosophical current that persisted longer on the ground of human reason and intelligence under the banner of freedom. Although if we look back, the roots and sources of the entire socio-cultural system are based on Christianity "at the foundation of the culture of the European peoples are: the book, the school, Christian science and art". The school, which is the home of culture, where the cultural and social spirit is established, was one of the main concerns for the Church. The first letters the children taught were from the Bible "the first European schools for the Christian peoples, are the schools of the Church...". The Church had in its course of two millennia the broadest front of contribution and development of peoples both socio-culturally and politically. In her bosom were formed people of culture, of science, who brought a plus to the development of mankind. However, the Christian peoples of eighteenth-century Europe did not present a massive unity that could have banished specific threats as the Ottoman Empire was at that time. The Romanian people, in time, present a troubled history full of hardships and shortcomings, often enslaved by the yoke of great empires such as the Ottoman one. Yet through a feeling and feeling of social unity instilled by their faith and that of the Church; he managed to get through the critical moments of history and regenerate the forces necessary for the development of socio-cultural and economic infrastructure. It follows from this that the model of those Romanians, of those difficult times, who did not let hope or faith leave them; presents the model worth following for both the present and future generations. Their example of not compromising at every turn, of keeping the ancestral faith for which the forefathers gave their lives, of not seeking only their own self-interest; it is essentially a way of life in which Romanian society can develop constantly and healthily. Cercetarea istorică și culturologică în spațiul unitar european: paradigme, realizări, perspective 69 The 17th-18th centuries represent the moment of crystallization of the directions on sociocultural and economic ground through a firm and wise policy conducted by rulers endowed with faith and love for the Romanian nation.