Private Beliefs in Public Temples: The New Religiosity of the Eighteenth Century
Author(s)
Jacob, Margaret C.
Abstract
The 18th-century Enlightenment has been identified as the origin of separate public and private spheres. However, the period also gave rise to a new form of intellectual spirituality that was expressed in institutions such as Unitarianism, liberal Protestantism and Freemasonry. This new religiosity integrated public and private spheres by transferring public standards of conduct to private conscience. The rituals of Freemasonry represented a sacralization of the public sphere, while promoting a new individuality committed to the public good as well as to a deeply private sense of self.
