Humanities & Classics 1002
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Renaissance Forum
Humanities & Classics 1002 |
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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:
: As i indicated in class, I would like you to post your required posting on Medieval and Renaissance world views as revealed in the writings of Thomas ;´a Kempis and Pico della Mirandola as follow ups to this post.
There is a vast difference revealed in the writings of a Kempis and Mirandola as pertaining to how they viewed man in their relative times. The writings of a Kempis present a very bleak outlook on this life. For example he writes, "Account thyself never to have profited till thou feel thee lower than all others." He thought that being "lower" in class made him higher in God's eyes. A Kempis also wrote about his poor opinion of mankind. "Men are soon changed and fail soon; Christ abideth for ever and standeth steadfastly unto the end,"
a Kempis wrote. However, Mirandola's view on man was quite different. He writes of man as "rightly both called a great miracle, and judged a wonderful being indeed." The contrast between the two authors's views on man show the modern reader one of the many differences in the midevil and renaissance views on life and God.
In a Kempis's "Imitations of Christ" it is pointed out many times that the ideal Christian should avoid "outward things." This meaning that one should keep to himself and only think of God. Mirandola's "Oration on the Dignity of Man" provides us a different view of man. He states how man was given outward things by God in order for him to use them. His writings show appreciation of man's worldy surroundings. A Kempis regarded the outside world (meaning the world outside one's self) as "wretched," while Mirandola considered the outside world a gift to mankind to use in his own chosen way. For instance, he writes "Whatever seeds each man cultivates, those seeds will grow to maturity and bear in him their own fruit."
I found reading a Kempis and Mirandola very worthwhile. It is very interesting to see that mankinds view on such a wide subject changed so drastically in such a little amount of time. This comparison really shows the enlightenment and breaking from tradition that the Renaissance was really all about.