With a Pure Conscience

Offers new perspectives on freedom of conscience and religious liberty by tracing their origins to the Middle Ages, thereby challenging the common assumption that these core tenets of modernity were products of the EnlightenmentDeeply committed to the formation of a just and sacred society, medieval...

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Hovedforfatter: Levy, Ian Christopher
Format: Online
Sprog:engelsk
Udgivet: Fordham University Press 2025
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Online adgang:ONIX_20250804T132453_9781531510473_9
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author Levy, Ian Christopher
author_browse Levy, Ian Christopher
author_facet Levy, Ian Christopher
author_sort Levy, Ian Christopher
collection Directory of Open Access Books
description Offers new perspectives on freedom of conscience and religious liberty by tracing their origins to the Middle Ages, thereby challenging the common assumption that these core tenets of modernity were products of the EnlightenmentDeeply committed to the formation of a just and sacred society, medieval theologians and canon­ists developed sophisticated arguments in defense of religious liberty and freedom of conscience. They did so based upon the conviction that each human person possesses an inalienable right to pursue his or her spiritual vocation and to inquire into the truth, provided that such pursuits were not deemed injurious to the commonweal. For this was an age in which all power, whether secular or sacred, was held to be exercised legitimately only insofar as it served the common good. Within these basic parameters there existed a domain of personal freedom guaranteed by natural and divine law that could not be infringed by either secular or ecclesiastical authority. Theologians and canonists did not countenance blind obedience to reigning powers nor did they permit Christians to stand idle in the face of manifest transgressions of sacred tradition, constitutional order, and fundamental human rights. Such foundational principles as the sacred domain of conscience, freedom of intellectual inquiry, dissent from unjust authority, and inalienable personal rights had been carefully developed throughout the later Middle Ages, hence from the twelfth through the fifteenth centuries. Contrary to the popular conception, therefore, the West did not need to wait for the Protestant Reforma­tion, or the Enlightenment, for these values to take hold. In fact, the modern West may owe its greatest debt to the Middle Ages. With a Pure Conscience sheds further light on these matters in a variety of contexts, within and without the medieval university walls, and often amid momentous controversies. This was a robust intellectual culture that revered careful analysis and vigorous disputation in its relentless quest to understand and defend the truth as it could be ascertained through both reason and revelation.With a Pure Conscience: Christian Liberty before the Reformation is available from the Knowledge Unlatched on an open-access basis.
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spelling doab-20.500.12854ir-1637452026-06-15T05:15:34Z With a Pure Conscience Levy, Ian Christopher History / Medieval Religion / Christian Church / Canon & Ecclesiastical Law Political Science / Political Freedom thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHD European history thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QR Religion and beliefs::QRM Christianity::QRMB Christian Churches, denominations, groups thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government::JPV Political control and freedoms Offers new perspectives on freedom of conscience and religious liberty by tracing their origins to the Middle Ages, thereby challenging the common assumption that these core tenets of modernity were products of the EnlightenmentDeeply committed to the formation of a just and sacred society, medieval theologians and canon­ists developed sophisticated arguments in defense of religious liberty and freedom of conscience. They did so based upon the conviction that each human person possesses an inalienable right to pursue his or her spiritual vocation and to inquire into the truth, provided that such pursuits were not deemed injurious to the commonweal. For this was an age in which all power, whether secular or sacred, was held to be exercised legitimately only insofar as it served the common good. Within these basic parameters there existed a domain of personal freedom guaranteed by natural and divine law that could not be infringed by either secular or ecclesiastical authority. Theologians and canonists did not countenance blind obedience to reigning powers nor did they permit Christians to stand idle in the face of manifest transgressions of sacred tradition, constitutional order, and fundamental human rights. Such foundational principles as the sacred domain of conscience, freedom of intellectual inquiry, dissent from unjust authority, and inalienable personal rights had been carefully developed throughout the later Middle Ages, hence from the twelfth through the fifteenth centuries. Contrary to the popular conception, therefore, the West did not need to wait for the Protestant Reforma­tion, or the Enlightenment, for these values to take hold. In fact, the modern West may owe its greatest debt to the Middle Ages. With a Pure Conscience sheds further light on these matters in a variety of contexts, within and without the medieval university walls, and often amid momentous controversies. This was a robust intellectual culture that revered careful analysis and vigorous disputation in its relentless quest to understand and defend the truth as it could be ascertained through both reason and revelation.With a Pure Conscience: Christian Liberty before the Reformation is available from the Knowledge Unlatched on an open-access basis. 2025-08-05T05:01:43Z 2025-08-05T05:01:43Z 2025-08-04T11:27:57Z 2025 book ONIX_20250804T132453_9781531510473_9 https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/104928 9781531510473 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/163745 eng open access image/jpeg image/jpeg n/a n/a https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/104928/1/9781531510473.pdf https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/104928/1/9781531510473.pdf Fordham University Press cae33e52-692a-442f-8824-11ae8bddb6a4 Knowledge Unlatched b818ba9d-2dd9-4fd7-a364-7f305aef7ee9 9781531510473 Knowledge Unlatched (KU) KU Select 2025 [...] open access
spellingShingle History / Medieval
Religion / Christian Church / Canon & Ecclesiastical Law
Political Science / Political Freedom
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHD European history
thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QR Religion and beliefs::QRM Christianity::QRMB Christian Churches, denominations, groups
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government::JPV Political control and freedoms
Levy, Ian Christopher
With a Pure Conscience
title With a Pure Conscience
title_full With a Pure Conscience
title_fullStr With a Pure Conscience
title_full_unstemmed With a Pure Conscience
title_short With a Pure Conscience
title_sort with a pure conscience
topic History / Medieval
Religion / Christian Church / Canon & Ecclesiastical Law
Political Science / Political Freedom
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHD European history
thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QR Religion and beliefs::QRM Christianity::QRMB Christian Churches, denominations, groups
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government::JPV Political control and freedoms
topic_facet History / Medieval
Religion / Christian Church / Canon & Ecclesiastical Law
Political Science / Political Freedom
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHD European history
thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QR Religion and beliefs::QRM Christianity::QRMB Christian Churches, denominations, groups
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government::JPV Political control and freedoms
url ONIX_20250804T132453_9781531510473_9
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