psuvm%cjc@psuvax.UUCP (05/19/84)
One difficulty with following authority is deciding which authority
to follow; I could just as well say that the Supreme Court Justices and
the many national and state legislators who legalized abortion knew
what they were doing so stop arguing with them. Would you go along
with that line of argument?
Marchionni has in previous postings indicated that he accepts the
authority of St. Thomas Aquinas and seems to feel that anyone who studies
philosophy would agree; I am not a philosopher so I offer the opinion
of Will Durant, educated by Jesuites, trained for the priesthood, and a
philosopher and historian. In his book "The Story of Philosophy" he
mentions Aquinas only in this passage:
...the power of the Church was still adequate to secure, through
Thomas Aquinas and others, the transmogrification of Aristotle
into a medieval theologian. The result was subtlety, but not
wisdom. 'The wit and mind of man,' as Bacon put it, 'if it work
upon the matter, worketh according to the stuff, and is limited
thereby; but if it work upon itself, as the spider worketh his web,
then it is endless, and bringeth forth indeed cobwebs of learning,
admirable for the fineness of the thread and work, but of no
substance or profit.'"
Marchionni says "study history". I wonder if the history he studied
discussed the policies of simony and the selling of indulgences, or the
Crusaders' Conquest of Jerusalem, the Crusade against the Albigensians,
the St. Bartholemew's Day Massacre, the centuries of persecution of
Jews, the reign of "Bloody Mary", the war of Alva (of Spain) in
the Netherlands, the many thousands of witchcraft trials, the Spanish
Inquisition, or many similar things supported by the authorities that
canonized Thomas Aquinas. Before he attacks Humanism again I hope he
explains what he holds against Humanism that can compare to what the
non-Catholics can hold against Catholicism.
(BTW - to Kenn the Kenf - I vote yes, post your reply)
C. Clark (cjc@psuvm - Bitnet)