The Fall of the Via Antigua

The Protestant Revolution was prefigured by several figures that influenced the thoughts of Luther and Calvin. These figures from the 1300 and 1400s challenged the via antigua, not necessarily in as direct of an assault as of the Protestant revolutionaries but effective in opening up discussion about long held truths. The lecture points to three important thinkers that define the changing revolutions of each century up till the present day; Marsilius of Padua, William of Ockham, and Niccolò Machiavelli. While all of these preceded the Revolution by a significant amount of time, their line of thinking led to the destruction of Christendom, for example, Luther called Ockham a “dear master”.

Marsilius challenged the source of truth coming from both faith and reason together. He contended that truth came both from faith and reason separately. This thinking clearly led to the Scientific Revolution that sought to separate what we know by reason or fact vs the private superstition of faith. Marsilius saw the truth contained in reason as something to occupy the public sector and the truth that comes from faith to occupy the private sector.

William of Ockham challenged the view of God’s laws proceeding from both His intellect and will. Ockham instead contended that God’s laws came from His will only and hence His laws could contradict each other. This thought is tempting because the argument seemingly portrays a more powerful and authoritarian God, however, the view merely compromises our faith that God cannot contradict Himself and so we can never know if we stand in right relationship with God. This thinking perfectly aligns with Luther’s constant worry about his relationship with God and his scrupulosity regarding the state of his soul.

Machiavelli furthers along this separation from the via antigua with The Prince teaching that the ends justify the means for the Prince and hence also for God. If the ends justify the means for God then God can commit moral wrongs for the greater good and hence God is not omni-benevolent.

In conclusion, this via moderna thinkers paved the way for the Protestant Revolution all the way to the 20th century and the Sexual Revolution through the disintegration of God as a Father figure that is never changing and seeking relation with us. God is not a lawgiver in the sense that we can vote him off of office or change His teachings because of social norms. The loss of the Father and the father make things abundantly clear that when we destroy the idea that truth comes from faith in cooperation with reason we are left with the empty void of nihilism.