The realization that much of the world’s population lay outside the bounds of Christianity had a twofold impact upon people’s religious thinking. First, it tended to relativize religious beliefs. People realized that far from being the universal religion of mankind, Christianity was largely confined to western Europe, a corner of the globe. No particular religion, it seemed, could make a claim to universal validity; each society seemed to have its own religion suited to its peculiar needs. Second, it made Christianity’s claim to be the only way of salvation seem narrow and cruel. Enlightenment
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