Among all the forces likely to reshape the world in the next generation, demographic factors are probably the most significant. Demographic changes will relentlessly exert their influence on living standards, global politics, the natural environment, and interpersonal behavior.
Thomas Aquinas initiated the debate that is typically characterized by the concept of "nature and grace." Grace represents the higher level: the Creator God, heaven, heavenly things, the invisible world, the human soul, and unity all belong here. Nature represents the lower level: the created world, the earth and earthly things, the visible world,...
The Cistercian Order reached its peak in the 12th century. There arose a deep need for an order that would embody a balance between prayer and work, a harmony serving the welfare of both the body and the soul. The vast expansion and rapid growth of the order's influence are thanks to the activities of St. Bernard.
Cistertium was the Latin name for Citeaux, located south of Burgundy's Dijon; it was here that a new order's mother monastery was founded in 1098. The monks settled here under the leadership of their abbot, Robert, in hopes of a more solitary and stricter life. The Cistercian order's basic rule was the Carta Caritatis, which was created between...
For a period of time, sometimes for long stretches or even repeatedly, a region can play a massive historical role due to its geographical location and geophysical strength. Persia became an empire, turning into a gigantic bridge between the Far East and the Mediterranean world. It was in King Cyrus that the conquering passion and the will for...
Between 1870 and 1890, Heinrich Schliemann excavated Hisarlik. Beneath a worn-down hill, he discovered square-built structures, charred fortress walls, weapons, jewelry, pottery, and gold. He donated the "Trojan findings" to the Berlin Museum.
The disintegration of the Carolingian Empire led to anarchy. The invasions of the Normans, Moors, and Hungarians into Western Europe, along with daily hardships, were not conducive to the contemplative lifestyle of monks. Monasteries were looted and burned, forcing monks to flee. It became impossible to adhere to the rules governing monastic life....
In the final, tumultuous centuries of the Roman Empire, the prevailing worldview was shaken. Old beliefs, ideas, and values were lost, and the poor sought hope. The ancient religion—the Roman mythology—gradually became hollow, reduced to bureaucratic rituals that could not be denied but could no longer inspire faith.
The reformulation of cyclical theories reveals an intention to justify historical events beyond history itself and to find their meaning. Since Hegel, however, all efforts have aimed to defend the historical event as such and assign it intrinsic value. Things are necessarily as they are; they are neither products of judgment nor chance—they must be...
Mysticism pertains to experiences that cannot be grasped by reason and are not based on tangible perception but rather on spiritual intuition or perhaps an internal vision. Mysticism represents a form of cognition: the soul's entrancement, the intuition of the unobservable, the kernel of truth embedded in imagination, the psychological elements of...