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In Reply to: PLEASE POST YOU FIRST REQUIRED POSTING AS A REPLY TO THIS posted by TOM BACIG on December 13, 1998 at 19:30:06:

Thomas a Kempis, a monk of the Augustinian Order, voiced the view commonly held by man of his time that one must look to one's self to find God. He believed that, through inward contemplation and sacrifice, one would locate the Lord. He felt that worldly objects and thoughts could lead only to damnation. He prescribed, instead, an austere and prayerful life bound to bring one closer to God and away from worldly temptation. His disdain for the secular pursuits of love and property oozes from the pages of his work "The Imitation of Christ". He hopes, instead, that man will forsake his "hedonistic" lifestyle in favour of stoic prayer and contemplation.
Pico della Mirandola, a classically educated Italian noble, took a different view. He advocated a celebration of man in all his glory. In his work "Oration on the Dignity of Man", Pico tells us to revel in the multi-faceted animal that is man. He emphasizes our free will to shape our own destinies. He stands enraptured by the fact that man can choose to be good and attain a seat in heaven or, conversely, he can abandon the otherworldly and be reduced to a brutish existence. This fascinates Pico. He advocates no retreat from the material world as does Thomas a Kempis. He propounds, rather, a grateful exploration of all that God has entrusted to us.
These two scholars, great men in their own right, take seperate paths to reach the same destination. Thomas walks the road of monastic contemplation and self-debasement. He tells us that we must suffer for Christ as he suffered for us in order to deliver us unto the dwelling of the Lord. He wishes us to stop the "sins" of the flesh in order to acquire sriritual happiness. Pico, however, treads a different trail toward heaven. He asks us to embrace mankind in all his wonder, not turn away from it. "Man," he says, "is the most fortunate of beings." One must, according to Pico, study and understand man's complexities in order to gain heavenly heights. Two seemingly rational men render radically different formulas for salvation. This is a puzzlement.

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: Thomas a Kempis, a monk of the Augustinian Order, voiced the view commonly held by man of his time that one must look to one's self to find God. He believed that, through inward contemplation and sacrifice, one would locate the Lord. He felt that worldly objects and thoughts could lead only to damnation. He prescribed, instead, an austere and prayerful life bound to bring one closer to God and away from worldly temptation. His disdain for the secular pursuits of love and property oozes from the pages of his work "The Imitation of Christ". He hopes, instead, that man will forsake his "hedonistic" lifestyle in favour of stoic prayer and contemplation. : Pico della Mirandola, a classically educated Italian noble, took a different view. He advocated a celebration of man in all his glory. In his work "Oration on the Dignity of Man", Pico tells us to revel in the multi-faceted animal that is man. He emphasizes our free will to shape our own destinies. He stands enraptured by the fact that man can choose to be good and attain a seat in heaven or, conversely, he can abandon the otherworldly and be reduced to a brutish existence. This fascinates Pico. He advocates no retreat from the material world as does Thomas a Kempis. He propounds, rather, a grateful exploration of all that God has entrusted to us. : These two scholars, great men in their own right, take seperate paths to reach the same destination. Thomas walks the road of monastic contemplation and self-debasement. He tells us that we must suffer for Christ as he suffered for us in order to deliver us unto the dwelling of the Lord. He wishes us to stop the "sins" of the flesh in order to acquire sriritual happiness. Pico, however, treads a different trail toward heaven. He asks us to embrace mankind in all his wonder, not turn away from it. "Man," he says, "is the most fortunate of beings." One must, according to Pico, study and understand man's complexities in order to gain heavenly heights. Two seemingly rational men render radically different formulas for salvation. This is a puzzlement.

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