The Divinization of Man by Wilter Perez Barrera “Late December afternoon, the clouds as in a celestial coup d’État dominate the heavens; at the distance, the silhouette of a peasant looms on the horizon. He goes back home—a village of approximately three hundred families who, along with him, live a sordid life. Every morning, he wakes up and goes to work until the last ray of light is devoured by the enormity and inexpugnability of the night of a medieval village; when he is back at home, there is no artificial light. He can’t read nor write and he owns no books. On the other hand, the few manuscripts available all deal with dogmas, epiphanies, miracles, or sin. On Sundays, there is a sudden sense of festivity and joy in the village. Early in the morning, he goes to church to listen to the interesting fables the priest has to share; He has never left his village; the world for him seems constant and predictably monotonous. The seasons of the year are the only visible changes in his niche; for him the world is flat and the heavens lie on it. The inferno is located in the depths of the earth. The natural occurrences are triggered by temperamental spirits of good and evil; and the only way to alter those occurrences is through prayer and penitence. So is his life! From birth to death; and it will be the same for his children and grand-children. Although, such is a lifestyle shared by the majority of the people in the world at this time in history, there are some, in certain European cities, that are able to read and write. They, in their exclusive world, religiously and vehemently attempt to understand the universe. They postulate thoughts that ostensibly pretend to make sense of the world they live in. Their works are inextricably linked with mysticism and scholasticism. They have elevated and cultivated thoughts; yet all of that does not matter to the peasant of the village because he can not understand such complicated postulates. However, for some, the philosophical dilemmas are of vital importance that countless hours are spent in endless diatribes and manifestos dealing with the teleology of the universe. The Humanists, the most prominent group of thinkers, adopt the Greco-roman cyclical conception of history in stark contrast to the linear approach of the Judeo-Christians…”
Posted on: Thu, 08 Aug 2013 22:11:04 +0000