But are we really safe? Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition...
Thursday, February 4, 2010
In the Spirit of the Reformation
While at AT14 Descartes maintains that he does not approve of "those confused and restless temperaments who... are always thinking up some new reformation," one cannot help but see many similarities between his reformation of the sciences and the reformation of the church. Specifically, we see that Descartes wishes to make science something taken up by the individual alone. One is to consult one's own reason and trust no other outside received opinions. Looking to the Reformers of the Church, we see the same attitude. Sick of the authority over the scripture given to the Priests of the Catholic Church, the Reformers claimed that every man had a right to read scripture and to have his own interpretation of it. It was through close personal reflection on the scriptures that one attained a relationship with God. It is likely that Descartes only maintains distance from them for political reasons, but we, who need not fear The Inquisition, can see that he and the Reformers share a spirit of individualism.
But are we really safe? Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition...
But are we really safe? Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition...
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"One is to consult one's own reason and trust no other outside received opinions. Looking to the Reformers of the Church, we see the same attitude. Sick of the authority over the scripture given to the Priests of the Catholic Church, the Reformers claimed that every man had a right to read scripture and to have his own interpretation of it. "
ReplyDeleteThis is a false representation (and therefore a faulty comparison to Descartes) of the reformation. This is taken from the Cambridge Declaration of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals, which discusses the five solas of the reformation: With regard to Sola Scriptura: "We deny that any creed, council or individual may bind a Christian's conscience, that the
Holy Spirit speaks independently of or contrary to what is set forth in the Bible, or that personal spiritual experience can ever be a vehicle of revelation" (http://www.monergism.com/The%20Cambridge%20Declaration.pdf).
"One is to consult one's own reason and trust no other outside received opinions."
The reformers wouldn't say this. They only held that scripture alone was to bind the conscience of a Christian, not that seeking outside help or opinions on scripture was an incorrect method for searching for the truth in scripture.
"... the Reformers claimed that every man had a right to read scripture and to have his own interpretation of it."
This claim is simply not true. "...his own interpretation of it"? Surely the reformers would not be proponents of any sort of relativist attitude toward the scriptures.
The reformers believed that the corruption in the Catholic Church led to the exploitation of believers and faulty interpretation of the scriptures. They did not dismiss "outside received opinions" and they certainly did not believe that every man "had a right to his own interpretation of the scriptures".
The similarity you see between the reformers and Descartes is that they both called for a turn (or a right to turn) inward. Descartes called for a much more radical view (doubting everything external to him) than did the Reformers. Believing that the Church was wrong to claim divine authority to the scriptures and that the individual Christian had a right to read scripture on his own (not a right to his own interpretation of scripture), they called for freedom. This freedom from the authority of the church entailed the ability to turn inward for a more personal relationship with God, not the demand that one may not seek outside help in interpreting scripture.
Thanks for correcting me. Irresponsibly, I did not do any extensive research on the reformation... I just went with what I had heard from others. Clearly I should have done some research on my own regarding this issue.
ReplyDeleteBut if I may, I would like to revise my comparison between the Reformers and Descartes. Descartes, much like Bacon, thought that the received sciences were unproductive and useless; they prohibited any progress and propounded false dogma. In a way, the Catholic Church was doing the same. Anything that the church leaders said, especially things from the Pope, became just as valid and important as scripture. Both Descartes and the Reformers were looking for a freedom from the oppression of the institutions of their time.
Yes, Mr. Price. I believe you are correct in noticing a similar motivation between the reformers and Descartes.
ReplyDeleteEither way, I think Mr. Price is essentially right, regardless of what the various Reformers actually said.
ReplyDeleteWhile in pre-Reformation Europe there had essentially been a single authority in theology, the Reformation created a plurality of various competing authorities, each denying the authority of the others. Because the individual now had to arbitrate between the competing authorities' claims to legitimacy, the individual became the arbiter of truth.
Now, for most people, the "decision" was purely geographical. Very few individuals really got to make such a choice. But it does not change the fact that the mere fact of the reformation created a logical crisis of authority, even if it was only implicit.
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ReplyDeleteYou're correct, Mr. Lefavor. While the specifics of the motivations of Descartes and the Reformers are different, there are aspects worth comparison. Also, some specific consequences, albeit ones that were certainly not intended by the reformers, may also make for legitimate comparison.
ReplyDelete