Click here for Full Issue of Fidelio Volume 3, Number 2, Summer 1994 constitutes a religion to which all others most fully disclosed in the teachings of did St. Augustine, based upon an exam­ are 'reducible,' he was not attenuating Christ and which, in 'De Pace Fidei,' he ination of the human mind as bearing Christianity by repudiating the dogmas identifiesas 'the law oflove.''' the image of God's creative power. The of creatio ex nihilo [creation out of noth­ While all Christians certainly believe human mind is trine and one insofar as ing], deus ut tres personae in una substan­ this to be true, what Cusanus actually it is creative. It is one mind and yet has tia [God as three persons in one sub­ wri tes is that the law of love is three and only three operations. As stance], and Verbum caro fa ctum est [the impressed on the minds of all human Cusanus writes in "On the Peace of Word was made flesh]. Rather he was beings, insofar as all men are created in Faith": "Also notice that there is a cer­ claiming that these very dogmas are the creative image of God: "The divine tain fe cundity in the essence of the ratio­ essential to the non-Christian religions." commandments are very brief and are nal soul, that is, mind, wisdom, and love In his essay on "Cusa's Herme­ all well known and common in every or will, since the mind exserts intellect neutical Approach," Hopkins writes: nation, fo r the light that reveals them to or wisdom from itself, and from both "Nicholas harbors the conviction that if us is created along with the rational proceeds the will or love. And this trini­ he can help the Arabs to see the truth of soul. For within us God says to love ty in the unity of essence of the soul is the Gospel within their own scripture­ Him, from whom we received being, the fecundity, which man possesses in and can help Christians to see that that and to do nothing to another, except his similarity to the most fecund, uncre­ scripture, when rightly understood, is that which we wish done to us. Love is ated Trinity." not at odds with Christianity's sacred therefore the fulfillment of the law of Thus, Cusanus is not merely defend­ books-then mutual persecution will God and all laws are reduced to this." ing the dogmas of Christianity, but cease and Christianity and Islam will Thus, Cusanus' argument is based rather he is rendering them intelligible come closer to actually being religio una on the truth of the Gospel, but only as based upon natural law; and he is in rituum varietate [one religion in the illuminated by our God-given natural directing this not only to Muslims, Jews, variety of rites]' the watchword of his reason. This is nowhere clearer than in and other non-Christians, but also to previously written 'De Pace Fidei.' " his discussion of the Trinity in both professed Christians whose misconcep­ Hopkins describes Cusanus' method works. From the standpoint of negative tions of the truth of Christianity and as fo llows: (1) "Attempt to interpret the theology, God infinitely excels and pre­ fa ilure to act in the spirit of Christianity Koran in such way as to show it to be cedes every name and everything name­ are themselves a cause of evil and dis­ compatible with the Old Testament and able. As infinite, God is therefore nei­ cord in the world. In the final analysis, the New Testament; where a given text ther trine nor one. On the other hand, it is Cusanus' concept of all men and cannot be rendered thus compatible from the standpoint of affirmative the­ women created in the image of the reject its teaching as fa lse"; (2) "Attempt ology, God is the trine and one Creator. agapic, creative power of the triune to interpret the Koran in such way as to In respect to the latter argument, God, which constitutes his enduring render it self-consistent"; (3) "Where Cusanus maintains that the Trinity is contribution to establishing peace there exist prima fa cie conflicts of the necessary to the concept of God as among the peoples of the world. Koran with the Gospel or with itself, Creator. He arrives at this conclusion, as -William F. Wertz, Jr. look for Muhammad's true intent, hid­ den beneath his use of symbolism and his i:-- GAS" PARO'----- CONTARI-----]NI I accommodation of the uneducated"; (4) Venice: The Real iO VE:"to.'lC£, ROME,AND REFORM $: . - - �� � - � � - .. "Interpret the Koran as intending to give � glory to God without detracting from 'Empire of Evil' Christ"; (5) "Work, insofar as possible, with the interpretation that the wise lisabeth Gleason's book is not among the Arabs assign to the Koran, Eintended for the casual reader of and attempt to show that even their inter­ popular biographies. It is a thorough, pretation implies Christian doctrines." well-documented biography of a man who is one of the most important and The Issue of Natural Law evil fi gures of the last five hundred While Hopkins' analysis is a very useful years. contribution, he fa ils to sufficiently Contarini is best known for his role emphasize Cusanus' use of natural law to as a cardinal of the Catholic Church identify and defend the truth of during a time in which the growth of Christianity, as being presupposed by the Protestant movement, led by Gasparo Contarini: Islam as well as other religions and cul­ Martin Luther and John Calvin, ripped Venice, Rome, and Reform tures. For example, in his essay on the Church apart. A major portion of by Elisabeth Gleason "Cusa's Hermeneutical Approach," Gleason's work focusses on Contarini's University of California Press, Hopkins writes that the law of Abraham, deceptive attempt to fi nd a com­ Berkeley, 1993 Moses and Christ are one law, "which is promise between Catholics and 335 pages, hardbound, $35 90 © 1994 Schiller Institute, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission strictly prohibited. Protestants. His "third way" solution nation against the other, for Venice's Three, where he served five years. In would actually fa cilitate the split, lead­ benefit.Cont arini's role was key. 1535, directly from his membership in ing to two hundred years of religious The Three, he was appointed a cardinal wars in Europe. Venetian Roots by Pope Paul III. Later, he would be the Although a cardinal, Contarini'a Contarini's fa mily traces its heritage to Pope's envoy to the fa mous "Colloquy loyalty was to Venice and to its the Roman nobility of the fifth century at Regensburg." The meeting in supreme ruling body, the Council of A.D. The fa mily gave Venice eight rul­ Regensburg, Germany in 1541, was a Three, of which he was a member. ing doges, twenty-two bishops, and fo ur last effort by Emperor Charles V to pre­ The "Three" consisted of three nobles patriarchs. Contarini spent eight years vent a schism in the Catholic Church, as of the Venetian oligarchy. They were at the University of Padua, the well as the division of Germany into the final judge and jury and their "jus­ "Harvard" of Venice's elite, where he warring religious fi efdoms. It was tice" was silent and swift. The result of studied with Pietro Pomponazzi, the attended by six leading theologians, "The Three's" secret, nightly sessions leading Aristotelian philosopher of his equally divided between Protestant and could be seen the fo llowing morning, day. Catholic. when the strangled body of the accused At the age of twenty-eight, Con­ As the Pope's envoy, Contarini would be fo und hanging between tarini began the firstof many ambas­ played a critical role. Instead of raising "The Columns" of Venice's main sadorial appointments: firstto Hungary the theological level of discussion, square. and then to the court of the Holy Contarini, in typical Venetian fa shion, Roman Emperor, Charles V. In 1528, played both sides. One of the critical Venetian Diplomacy Contarini became Venice's ambassador theological issues was whether man Contarini was born in 1483, three years to the Pope in Rome. It was here that was "justified by fa ith alone," as the before Bartholomeu Dias discovered a he psychologically profiled both Pope Protestants maintained, or by "faith trade route, by sea, around the Cape of Clement VII and Cardinal Farnese, the through works," as the Catholics said. Good Hope. This discovery would lead fu ture Pope Paul III. In a dispatch of Contarini contrived a middle position, to a shift of world power away from June 16, 1528, he outlined his plan of or what became known as "double jus­ Venice to the nations of the north, such deception: tification." Contarini wrote: "Those as England, the Netherlands, and "I continually seek to placate the who say we are jus tified through Germany. mind of His Holiness by various means. works are right; and those who say Earlier, during the thirteenth centu­ Therefore I sometimes try to be in his that we are not jus tified through ry, Venice's power had grown through presence, seeing that I am not displeas­ works, but through fa ith, are also conquest, from a city with a population ing to him. In this way I can always right." of 65,000, to an empire of millions. drop some word or make some courte­ John Calvin, who was also at Geographically situated between the ous and appropriate gesture, which cer­ Regensburg, was hardly fooled by European and East Asian land trading tainly does no harm.