Essay on Man by Alexander Pope During the Enlightenment a huge emphasis was placed on the ability to think and reason. People during this era thought and reasoned about a variety of topics. Some people were concerned about the question of God, which consequently caused many to question the church. Others were concerned with the organization of the Universe and man's place within that Universe. The first epistle of Alexander Pope's “Essay on Man” can be considered an articulation of the Enlightenment because it encompasses three major concerns of people during the Enlightenment. The Pope addresses man's ability to reason and think for himself, questions the Church and the nature of Christianity, and also speculates on man's place in the world, as part of the great chain of life. The ability to reason was the central focus of the Enlightenment also denoted The Age of Reason. The Pope begins the first epistle by appealing to the reason for his audience. He writes: "Together we beat this wide field, / Let us open, what the secret produces!" The Pope encourages his audience to use the reasons that have been given, to examine those things that have been advised against. To think about those issues that have been kept secret. He then goes on to write "say first, of God above, or man below, / What can we reason, but from what we know?" The Pope once again turns to the reasoning capacity of his audience. He is trying to bring them into the 18th century, asking them to look for evidence in the knowledge they receive, rather than allowing the church to spoon-feed them all their knowledge.bodyOffer() During the Enlightenment, people began to question the church for first time. The Pope is an example of this when he writes: "no Christian thirsts for gold". The Pope subtly questions the nature of Christianity and Christians by exposing their sinful desire for material possessions. His words are simple, but they say a lot. Recognizing that these Christians sin and “thirst for gold,” he then asks why a man is despised if he does not aspire to be a Christian, since Christians have a sinful nature just like that of every other man. The Pope was not the only one to question Christianity and the Church. David Hume writes: "the truth of the Christian religion falls short of the test of the truth of our senses..." Many writers during the Enlightenment not only questioned Christianity, but also the church in general.