The theoretic backbone of this mental attitude was the doctrine of the
Fathers of the Church and the older scholasticism, pronouncing the
illimitable power of human perception; the world's profoundest depths
had been fathomed, its riddle finally solved; there was consequently no
room for philosophy, the endless meditation on the meaning of the world
and the destiny of man. Science had but one task: to bring logical proof
of the revealed religious verities. The greatest champion of this view
was Anselm of Canterbury (1033-1109), who in his treatise, _Cur Deus
Homo_ proved that God was compelled to become man in order to complete
the work of salvation. Abelard preached a similar doctrine, but carried
away by the fervour of thought, arrived at conclusions which he was
forced to recant ignominiously; for at the end of his chain of evidence
he did not always find the foregone conclusion which should have been
there. This system of a final and infallible knowledge of the world is
the very foundation of ecclesiastical government.
Pages:
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82