Faith in the Past
Author: Guede Mazaka |
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*** He admits that he’s got several copies of The Prince on his bookshelves. He sneers at the pathetic enthusiasts that have nothing to do but retread old battles in miniature on their coffee-tables, but if pressed, Paul can reel off considerably more than a fact or two about Pope Julius II’s campaigns. The Renaissance was a flowering of human capability, and a sudden intensification of the endless struggle between reason and faith. It used to interest Paul for its parables on the complexity of human imperfection, but now he has a more desperate curiosity concerning it. Those who ignore history are bound to repeat it, and as much as he admires the artistic and intellectual output of the Renaissance, he likes to believe that time has advanced people past those old wars and arguments. Or he should say now—he hopes. *** |