Rooson's comment on Reason, from the last blog, brings up points that the Medieval scholars argued about for centuries. It was Thomas Aquinas who at last settled the case for the Catholic Church in the 13th century: Reason was given to Man by God for a purpose. As Bruno would write 3 centuries later, nature is God's footprints - not the actual flesh and blood of God, but His hints and traces. It is our reason that is given to us to explore, to follow those footprints. By the same token, Aquinas acknowledged that only faith - and then grace (given by God, who controls ultimate access to himself) - could take us beyond the world, those footprints, to the true heights. Thus the rupture between faith and reason was healed, as far as the Church was concerned.
The argument, however, did not end; Bruno himself brought the mysticism of Plato back into the fold, claiming, as Aquinas did, that even the Perfect Philosopher (Aristotle) had erred in certain ways. Plato, as far as I can recall, put more emphasis on the substance behind the form - on that which makes the shadows that we see as material life. How reason fits into this exactly, and how this differs from Aristotle, I can't recall - just that the emphasis was different.
It seems a small thing to us now, but the conflict between the real and the ideal - between nature and Truth (as Plato understood it) - continues strongly to this day. I believe that in this most of us are bipolar. It has to do, again, with faith and fact - namely, for us, faith (and religion/magic/mysticism) vs science. I know the differences have got me snared by the brain. Still, I have reasoned - yes, reasoned - that the brain, that the subject and workings of reason itself, that all this stuff and body about us, are in many ways shadows - or rather, footsteps - indicative of the "prey" itself but certainly not the prey. Thus we differentiate between the lower beliefs - the pagan polytheism - and True Religion, which claims to understand, to point a way towards, the Truth, God, the Absolute. The former makes gods of the footprints, the latter, see in the footprints only the signs. But still, those signs are meant to be read, and understood, by human reason.
Yet Rooson's point is a good one - to rely solely on reason is idolatry itself, taking our limited human faculty as the measure to end-all. Yet, as the old theologians would argue, the "made" cannot encompass the maker; that which is given to us is always less than the giver. Reason cannot overcome this - and if it believes it does, it is forever caught in the mire of "angels on the head of pins." Clever, complex, but never complete. Reason is a working of the brain, which, with free will, may err; while BEING is the work of God.
Oddly, it is the lower beasts, the ones without reason, who are then closest to God - the very footsteps themselves, non-reflective works unsullied by tricks of reason and self-reflection.
But how would such beasts satisfy God's self-reflection? To that, many (such as Teilhard de Chardin) believe it is through this further separation, this human gift of self-reflection, that we might become God's mirror - and then become what is reflected in a glory of reunification. Yes, that is how we are "made in the image of God" - not by our arms and bodies (and long flowing beards) but in our self-reflection. In this we thus see the plan, first through our own growing sense of truth through reflection, and then in God's reflection in us (and then ultimately, we go through the looking glass to the image maker itself).
Which means that reason is essential for the work of God in Man, for the beast without reason is already at one with God in its own way - exactly as it should be - and yet unsatisfactory in itself in the great plan. Or so we can reason - for why would God create beings who could defy his plan in the first place, but so that they could reason their way back to the foot of the mountain?; and once at the foot, climb it with the certainty of the beast, but also with the wonder and glory of one who has been dispossessed and is now reclaimed. The gospel of the Prodigal Son comes to mind.
Pretty heady stuff for our small reason; but we should also consider that without reason, we might also fall prey to false religions, to false beliefs, to that swamp before the base of the mountain. Yes, grace and faith alone will get us to God, but reason is there for a reason. All things, as the wise men say, in their place. FK
The argument, however, did not end; Bruno himself brought the mysticism of Plato back into the fold, claiming, as Aquinas did, that even the Perfect Philosopher (Aristotle) had erred in certain ways. Plato, as far as I can recall, put more emphasis on the substance behind the form - on that which makes the shadows that we see as material life. How reason fits into this exactly, and how this differs from Aristotle, I can't recall - just that the emphasis was different.
It seems a small thing to us now, but the conflict between the real and the ideal - between nature and Truth (as Plato understood it) - continues strongly to this day. I believe that in this most of us are bipolar. It has to do, again, with faith and fact - namely, for us, faith (and religion/magic/mysticism) vs science. I know the differences have got me snared by the brain. Still, I have reasoned - yes, reasoned - that the brain, that the subject and workings of reason itself, that all this stuff and body about us, are in many ways shadows - or rather, footsteps - indicative of the "prey" itself but certainly not the prey. Thus we differentiate between the lower beliefs - the pagan polytheism - and True Religion, which claims to understand, to point a way towards, the Truth, God, the Absolute. The former makes gods of the footprints, the latter, see in the footprints only the signs. But still, those signs are meant to be read, and understood, by human reason.
Yet Rooson's point is a good one - to rely solely on reason is idolatry itself, taking our limited human faculty as the measure to end-all. Yet, as the old theologians would argue, the "made" cannot encompass the maker; that which is given to us is always less than the giver. Reason cannot overcome this - and if it believes it does, it is forever caught in the mire of "angels on the head of pins." Clever, complex, but never complete. Reason is a working of the brain, which, with free will, may err; while BEING is the work of God.
Oddly, it is the lower beasts, the ones without reason, who are then closest to God - the very footsteps themselves, non-reflective works unsullied by tricks of reason and self-reflection.
But how would such beasts satisfy God's self-reflection? To that, many (such as Teilhard de Chardin) believe it is through this further separation, this human gift of self-reflection, that we might become God's mirror - and then become what is reflected in a glory of reunification. Yes, that is how we are "made in the image of God" - not by our arms and bodies (and long flowing beards) but in our self-reflection. In this we thus see the plan, first through our own growing sense of truth through reflection, and then in God's reflection in us (and then ultimately, we go through the looking glass to the image maker itself).
Which means that reason is essential for the work of God in Man, for the beast without reason is already at one with God in its own way - exactly as it should be - and yet unsatisfactory in itself in the great plan. Or so we can reason - for why would God create beings who could defy his plan in the first place, but so that they could reason their way back to the foot of the mountain?; and once at the foot, climb it with the certainty of the beast, but also with the wonder and glory of one who has been dispossessed and is now reclaimed. The gospel of the Prodigal Son comes to mind.
Pretty heady stuff for our small reason; but we should also consider that without reason, we might also fall prey to false religions, to false beliefs, to that swamp before the base of the mountain. Yes, grace and faith alone will get us to God, but reason is there for a reason. All things, as the wise men say, in their place. FK
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