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Politics : Evolution -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Solon who wrote (6075)	5/30/2010 12:37:16 PM
From: average joe	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 69300

"The first myth is that Aquinas was an Aristotelian rationalist who accomplished the astonishing feat of reconciling faith with reason – as if reason could seriously come to the defence of the Immaculate Conception, the virgin birth and the resurrection. At the dawn of the age of reason in the 13th century, Aristotle was so fashionable that he was a threat to the church. Aquinas came to her rescue by using Aristotle as a veneer to conceal the irrationality of the faith. In this way, Aquinas allowed the church to imagine that the articles of faith were iron-clad truths guaranteed by reason. He flattered the church into thinking that she was the sole proprietor of a truth that was as rational as it was divine. Instead of improving his beloved church, he made her even more smug and intolerant. Far from being an independent maverick, Aquinas was a loyal servant who was praised by Pope Leo XIII for his “docile mind”. Nor was Aquinas ignorant of the brutal practices of the Inquisition. He was a trusted insider who served as a papal consultant. Besides, he was a Dominican, and the Dominicans had the exclusive privilege of conducting the “trials”, which explains why they were reviled by ordinary people. In fact, they could hardly venture out of the monastery at St Jacques in Paris (where Aquinas lived) without fear of insult or assault. King Louis IX (Saint Louis) had to provide royal troops for their protection. So, far from being a maverick, Aquinas defended the church’s reign of terror in full view of its atrocities and abominations." newhumanist.org.uk