THE ROLE OF IMAGINATION IN ATTAINING THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD
In this article, the author wishes to defend a fundamental point: most ancient and early Christian thinkers (from Augustine to Thomas Aquinas) thought that the human imagination as a cognitive faculty was a hindrance to metaphysical thinking, to theology, and therefore to the beatifi c vision and sa...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | Russian |
| Published: |
St. Tikhon's Orthodox University
2010-08-01
|
| Series: | Вестник Православного Свято-Тихоновского гуманитарного университета: Серия I. Богословие, философия |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://periodical.pstgu.ru/ru/pdf/article/1178 |
| Summary: | In this article, the author wishes to defend a fundamental point: most ancient and early Christian thinkers (from Augustine to Thomas Aquinas) thought that the human imagination as a cognitive faculty was a hindrance to metaphysical thinking, to theology, and therefore to the beatifi c vision and salvation. Today, on the contrary, this cognitive faculty is considered to be a positive and very valuable one. The turning-point in the process of this re-evaluation is located in the fourteenth century, when a new literary genre of spiritual literature appeared — the meditationes vitae Christi. For the fi rst time, imagination was seen as a most effi cient tool for attaining a knowledge of God and the fi nal goal of man’s life. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 1991-640X 1991-640X |