What a fascinating article, very thought-provoking. Thank you for this! It makes things a bit clearer about the nature of angels and our parents before the Fall.
Thank you, Shannon! This article is from a series where I present an interpretation inspired by saints like Athanasius the Great, Gregory of Nazianzus, Gregory of Nyssa, Augustine, Maximus the Confessor, and Hildegard of Bingen. With God’s help, this book is going to be published next year (very soon).
"Although air as long as it is in a state of rarefaction has neither shape nor color, yet when condensed it can both be shaped and colored as appears in the clouds. Even so the angels assume bodies of air, condensing it by the Divine power in so far as is needful for forming the assumed body." --St. Thomas, Summa Theologiae I, 51, 2, ad. 3
“We cannot live in a world interpreted for us by others. An interpreted world is not a hope. Part of the terror is to take back our listening, to use our own voice, to see our own light.”
"This wise and stirring quote is often attributed to Hildegard von Bingen, Benedictine Abbess, Writer, Musician, Mystic, Doctor of the Church … & so much more (1098 – 1179). The actual source from which this quote is inspired is Elaine Bellezza’s article, “Hildegard of Bingen, Warrior of Light,” in Gnosis Magazine, vol. 21, pp 50-62, 1991."
<< Nota Bene: the consistent failure of the best Christian rationalists—such as the Saints John of Damascus, Anselm of Canterbury, and Thomas Aquinas—to provide a basis for the unity of the most brilliant minds around Scholasticism clearly shows that human rational knowledge is ‘blinded.’ >>
Dear Peter, I am preparing a series of articles (with the intention to use them in a book) on this difficult topic. What I have tried to say is implied in the wonderful poem from your latest weekly roundup:
"A God, and can he die?
A dead man, can he live?
What wit can well reply?
What reason reason give?
God, truth itself, does teach it;
Man’s wit sinks too far under
By reason’s power to reach it.
Believe and leave to wonder."
As a more direct answer to your question, I will add only this: yes, our fallen reason can be used (and abused!) in speculative theology (actually, as rational beings, we cannot do otherwise), but precisely due to our fallen state, even this is highly dangerous (I cannot forget that Saint Bonaventure emphasizes that our darkened/fallen reason is—more or less—like a harlot). A clear proof is that even the most brilliant Doctors are not united rationally (i.e., speculatively) in their interpretations, but spiritually (i.e., supernaturally) in their Faith.
What a fascinating article, very thought-provoking. Thank you for this! It makes things a bit clearer about the nature of angels and our parents before the Fall.
Thank you, Shannon! This article is from a series where I present an interpretation inspired by saints like Athanasius the Great, Gregory of Nazianzus, Gregory of Nyssa, Augustine, Maximus the Confessor, and Hildegard of Bingen. With God’s help, this book is going to be published next year (very soon).
Be sure to inform us! In English?
Yes, in English.
"Although air as long as it is in a state of rarefaction has neither shape nor color, yet when condensed it can both be shaped and colored as appears in the clouds. Even so the angels assume bodies of air, condensing it by the Divine power in so far as is needful for forming the assumed body." --St. Thomas, Summa Theologiae I, 51, 2, ad. 3
“We cannot live in a world interpreted for us by others. An interpreted world is not a hope. Part of the terror is to take back our listening, to use our own voice, to see our own light.”
Hildegard von Bingen
Would you like, please, to provide the exact source for this challenging quote? Thank you!
It seems, after all, that this quote was an interpretation by the author Elaine Belleza.
https://www.gnosismagazine.com/issue_contents/contents21.html
50
Hildegard of Bingen, Warrior of Light
by Elaine Bellezza
This remarkable woman kept alive an image of the Divine Feminine in the Middle Ages.
https://sophias-children.com/2017/03/03/museworthy-quotation-we-cannot-live-in-a/
"This wise and stirring quote is often attributed to Hildegard von Bingen, Benedictine Abbess, Writer, Musician, Mystic, Doctor of the Church … & so much more (1098 – 1179). The actual source from which this quote is inspired is Elaine Bellezza’s article, “Hildegard of Bingen, Warrior of Light,” in Gnosis Magazine, vol. 21, pp 50-62, 1991."
Thank you for this clarification!
Incredible insights thank you Robert
Robert, I truly don't understand this passage:
<< Nota Bene: the consistent failure of the best Christian rationalists—such as the Saints John of Damascus, Anselm of Canterbury, and Thomas Aquinas—to provide a basis for the unity of the most brilliant minds around Scholasticism clearly shows that human rational knowledge is ‘blinded.’ >>
To what specifically are you referring?
Dear Peter, I am preparing a series of articles (with the intention to use them in a book) on this difficult topic. What I have tried to say is implied in the wonderful poem from your latest weekly roundup:
"A God, and can he die?
A dead man, can he live?
What wit can well reply?
What reason reason give?
God, truth itself, does teach it;
Man’s wit sinks too far under
By reason’s power to reach it.
Believe and leave to wonder."
As a more direct answer to your question, I will add only this: yes, our fallen reason can be used (and abused!) in speculative theology (actually, as rational beings, we cannot do otherwise), but precisely due to our fallen state, even this is highly dangerous (I cannot forget that Saint Bonaventure emphasizes that our darkened/fallen reason is—more or less—like a harlot). A clear proof is that even the most brilliant Doctors are not united rationally (i.e., speculatively) in their interpretations, but spiritually (i.e., supernaturally) in their Faith.