Friday, June 17, 2005
Splengler on the New Pope's Vision
Not everyone may be able to follow Spengler through a strange tale of how the Catholic Church tried to revise history. I'm not even sure I did. But I know there are a few of you out there that will find it fascinating. The gist of this argument is that the Church's reaction to the Enlightenment and French Revolution was equally if not more destructive to it's influence in Europe. Spengler sees Pope Benedict as trying to correct this error:
Benedict is right to draw on the musicians - by which I mean the high classic art of Mozart - as well as the Jews, that is to say, the Hebrew Bible. The musicians are dead and the Jews are departed, but the pope must play the hand that history has dealt him. He works under the sign of the mustard seed - the infinitesimal quantity of faith that moves mountains. The inspirational character of scripture and of classical music are the weapons he has at hand, rusty though they might be. Something is stirring in the ashes of the West, and Benedict XVI yet might bring forth a flame.
Go ye and read the tale of the Order that tried to re-write history and then went on to embrace a monster.
Benedict is right to draw on the musicians - by which I mean the high classic art of Mozart - as well as the Jews, that is to say, the Hebrew Bible. The musicians are dead and the Jews are departed, but the pope must play the hand that history has dealt him. He works under the sign of the mustard seed - the infinitesimal quantity of faith that moves mountains. The inspirational character of scripture and of classical music are the weapons he has at hand, rusty though they might be. Something is stirring in the ashes of the West, and Benedict XVI yet might bring forth a flame.
Go ye and read the tale of the Order that tried to re-write history and then went on to embrace a monster.
papijoe 6:43 AM
|