From a French edition of Night Thoughts The soul of man was made to walk the skies. Nor, as a stranger, does she wander there; But, wonderful herself, through wonder strays; Contemplating their grandeur, finds her own; ~ Edward Young, Night Thoughts 9 IT was a nice to discover that the quote, ‘An undevout astronomer […]| Christian Platonism
Pillars of Creation in Eagle Nebula (Messier 16) Devotion! daughter of astronomy! An undevout astronomer is mad. ~ Edward Young (Night Thoughts, Night 9, l.769) WE previously posted comments by Scottish theologian and astronomer Thomas Dick (1774−1857) on the Religious Benefits of Astronomy from the Introduction he wrote to Elijah Burritt’s Geography of the Heavens. […]| Christian Platonism
Robert Fludd, Jacob’s Ladder AUGUSTINE famously distinguished between two powers or levels of human reason, which he called lower reason (ratio inferior) and higher reason (ratio superior). These refer, respectively, to discursive reasoning (ratiocination) and intellection (immediate grasp), and correspond to what in the Platonic/Neoplatonic tradition are called dianoia and nous. Augustine’s views, of course, […]| Christian Platonism
WE CONCLUDE our translation of Section 6 of De septem septenis with the last form of contemplation it considers, inspiration, which is called an “infusion of the mind from above.” This…| Christian Platonism