In the eighteenth century, a tragic earthquake in Lisbon, prompted several different individuals to reflect and develop their explanations of this incident. There was competing view attempting to explain the disaster: it was divine intervention by God, or possibly it could be explained by natural causes using reason. Whatever the true cause of the most deadly earthquake in history was would most obviously change the course of the future. It is important to point out that during this period of time, the Church was still a dominating force in the world, and more secular ways of thinking were not only condemned, but dangerous for their proponents to hold. However, philosophical and scientific opinions emerging in this century would help to making lasting improvements. First, I will discuss the religious opinions of the age as presented in chapter three, then I will discuss the philosophical ones.
             Due to the incredible destruction caused by the earthquake in Lisbon, both religious and scientific communities attempted to explain why it occurred in order to satisfy the people's desperate need to understand its cause.
             As I mentioned earlier, the Church had a tremendous influence on a vast majority of areas, not only in a political sense, but also culturally. The people looked to the church for direction and leadership. Many people of the century, with the exception of an elite group of educated, were illiterate. The large masses of the people were virtually uneducated and did not have access to books. They received most of their direction and guidelines for life through the Church. After Lisbon, the people needed to understand why something so terrible could have happened. Was it a sign? A Roman Catholic priest, named Gabriel Malagrida, addressed the question.
             In a pamphlet titled, "An Opinion on the True Cause of the Earthquake," 1756, which is also the first source in this chapter, Malagrida attempts to e...