2-1-Q Chapter 11
LIL 120 A – Fall 2024
Professor Cripps
2 – Offer 2 Specific Details from the chapter. For each ID/quote add 3-8 sentences of your own explanation.
Page 250-251: “Here is an attempt from the seventeenth century…cold, sterile, chaotic world of meaningless atoms.” During this time in history there was a Protestant assault of the Catholic Church. Greenblatt suggests that this assault was not on the basis of atomism, but the resurgence of ancient materialism. The Catholic Counter-Reformation was an act of purgation of abuses and ambiguities that allowed a path for the Protestant Revolt. Here is where we find the emergence of Jesuits, who are made to sit and recite, each and every day, that nothing comes from atoms. However, what makes this ironic is that atomism was never seen as transparent during the Middle Ages. In fact, Greenblatt explains, atomism sat at the upper echelons of the Catholic Church. But this emergence of Lucretius’s work created dangerous claims and led to the upheaval of religion between the Catholics and the Protestants.
Pages 252-253: The Council of Trent created a connection between belief and science, to downplay Lucretius’s ideas that were becoming rampant across Europe during the Renaissance, in order for the Catholic Church to regain control. The Theologians at Trent took the belief of metamorphosis–consecrated water and wine into the body and blood of Jesus Christ–and used Aristotle’s distinction between “accidents” and “substance” to prove actuality over symbolics. I thought it ironic that Trent’s theologians were not after Lucretius and Epicurius on the basis of religion, but physics–science, in order to prove their beliefs and righteousness of the Catholic religion, when a century earlier, scientific practices, to explain how the universe worked, were considered heresy by the Catholic Church. Now in 1551, they were all for science as long as it backed the Christian beliefs and promoted the Church and Chrisitan religion. It is then incomparable to me that other sciences and worldly facts were dismissed because they did not align with Christian beliefs, and unfortunately I still see this today. It is a common occurance to see people pick and choose what they want to believe as long as it backs their beliefs and religion, but that is not how it works. This selective acceptance undermines the very notion of faith as something steadfast and universal. It’s ironic that such individuals claim divine authority with phrases like “God chooses for you,” yet their actions suggest a deeper commitment to personal convenience or cultural tradition rather than genuine spiritual truth. This contradiction is frustrating because it stifles progress and meaningful dialogue. It shows how easily belief systems can be weaponized or tailored to serve agendas, rather than fostering the humility and openness they are meant to inspire.
1 – Make 1 Connection to Self, to World, or to Text – or Extended by offering a little detail about something mentioned in the text (some light research needed to Extend)
Connection to Self: “There are moments, rare and powerful, in which a writer, long vanished from the face of the earth, seems to stand in your presence and speak to you directly, as if he bore a message meant for you above all others.” (pg. 247, para 2, first sentence). This is Montaigne’s belief on Lucretius and his poem. As someone who loves poetry and books, this quote resonated with me. It captures the magic of literature–how it transcends time and space to create an intimate connection between the writer and the reader. There’s a kind of immortality in words, a sense that the author is reaching through the ages to share a piece of their soul with us…Shakespeare, Plath, Dickinson, Angelou, Poe…
Q – Give us a Good Question to chew on – 1-3 sentences
Lucy Hutchinson was a deeply religious writer and thinker, committed to Puritan ideals that emphasized the sovereignty of God and the moral structure of the universe. Despite her apparent detestation of Lucretius, she was also an intellectual engaged with classical texts, suggesting that her rejection may not have been purely dogmatic. Instead, it could reflect an internal conflict between her respect for the intellectual traditions of antiquity and her need to uphold her faith. How might Lucy Hutchinson’s detestation of Lucretius reflect her struggle to reconcile intellectual engagement with conflicting theological doctrines, rather than purely rejecting his ideas on moral or religious grounds?
