Weibe/Western Epistemic Tradition, 7. The Age of Discovery and the Protestant Reformation

The discovery of the new world confronted European intellectuals with new religious traditions of unknown peoples. This created a range of epistemological problems that altered the very tenor of European life and shook European confidence in the universality of Christianity. The publication of the seven volumes of Religious Ceremonies and Customs of the World by Bernard Picard and Jean-Frédéric Bernard early in the eighteenth century encouraged a sympathetic openness to new religious traditions that made possible a comparative study of religions.