Papal Authority vs. Imperial Authority In Monarchia, Dante addresses three questions concerning monarchy: 1. Whether universal monarchy is necessary to the well-being of the world 2. Whether the Roman people took on Empire by right 3. Whether imperial authority comes from God directly or from Papal authority 1. The Priest and King Argument Argument for Papal Authority: From 1 Kings, they take the creation and deposition of Saul, and say […]
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“Four Quartets: II. Fear and Humility” by T. S. Eliot
East Coker A periphrastic study in a worn-out poetical fashion, Leaving one still with the intolerable wrestle With words and meanings. The poetry does not matter. It was not (to start again) what one had expected. What was to be the value of the long looked forward to, Long hoped for calm, the autumnal serenity And the wisdom of age? Had they deceived us Or deceived themselves, the quiet-voiced elders, […]
Read more“Four Quartets” by T. S. Eliot
I chose to read Four Quartets because of this fascinating blurb at Wikipedia,”Four Quartets are four interlinked meditations with the common theme being man’s relationship with time, the universe, and the divine… Eliot blends his Anglo-Catholicism with mystical, philosophical and poetic works from both Eastern and Western religious and cultural traditions, with references to the Bhagavad-Gita and the Pre-Socratics as well as St. John of the Cross and Julian of […]
Read more“Gilgamesh” by Anonymous
Aristotle writes in Magna Moralia, “When we wish to see our own face, we do so by looking into the mirror, in the same way when we wish to know ourselves we can obtain that knowledge by looking at our friend. For the friend is, as we assert, a second self.” For Gilgamesh, the demigod-king of Uruk, knowledge of his intimate friend Enkidu, his second self, ultimately leads to knowledge […]
Read moreInstitutes of the Christian Religion: Faith and Works
The End of Spiritual Man Aristotle writes that the end of man is to think and act. If a man doesn’t think or act, he is not actually living nor fulfilling his telos; If a newborn baby doesn’t eat, grow and play around, something is terribly wrong. From a Calvinist perspective, man in his fallen state is spiritually dead. It is impossible for him to seek God or do any […]
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John Calvin, the Person and the Theologian
As a person, Calvin is studious and erudite. He is familiar with Greek, the writings of the Church Fathers, as well as the pagan Greek and Latin writers. He values his own intellect, learning and, more importantly, independence and freedom of thought. It is perhaps for this reason, more than anything else, that he treats the Catholic Church as a tyrannical institution. The Pope, he argues, usurps authority over the […]
Read more“Convivio” by Dante Alighieri
The Four Senses of a Text Writings can be understood and ought to be expounded principally in four senses. The first is called the literal, and this is the sense that does not go beyond the surface of the letter, as in the fables of the poets. The next is called the allegorical, and this is the one that is hidden beneath the cloak of these fables, and is a […]
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