Dear Brent,
<<"It is wholly unfair to attribute the efflorescence of European culture
during the Renaissance period to the influence of Christianity. It was mainly the
product of the forces released by the Muhammadan Dispensation." (From a
letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer, April 27,
1936; Lights of Guidance, 2nd edition p. 495) Is there modern scholarship with
evidence to back this up?>>
>From the present vantage point, one would agree that it is incorrect to
attribute the efflorescence of European culture during the Renaissance period to
the influence of Christianity--but likewise, one would not really attribute it
to Islam itself either, but rather to Classicism itself, Islam being arguably
the main force that brought that Classicism to the forefront, or at least to a
greater degree than before.
One book dealing with Medieval monasticism that I read long ago (and if
you're interested in it, I'll try to dig it out from whatever box its in) took
the position that Islam's principle role in the renaissance of Europe was
owing more to Christian scholars fleeing the threatened eastern empire and
bringing with them into Europe their classical learning--i.e., more than through
Muslims in Spain.
But whether one believes that the path of classical learning flowed more
from Muslims in Spain or from Christian refugees from the East, either way,
one has to wonder what here is the real "force" behind the Renaissance--Islam or
Classicism? By that I mean that what we call the Renaissance was essentially
a cultural phenomenon characterized by an enthusiastic attempt to revive the
Greek and Roman past, a shift away from the former almost myopic adherence to
Christian theology and a move toward a type of humanism inspired by a real
hunger to rediscover the spirit of Greek and Roman culture. In art we see, for
example, the very noticeable shift from higher stylized to more naturalistic
classical-type representations. In politics, Mechiavelli presents the first study
of human behavior not guided purely by Christian theology, drawing on both
Greek/Roman and biblical history. In the forefront of musical innovation, rather
than purely Christian devotional music, Opera is born in an attempt to revive
Greek recitation. And so on. Classicism continued to guide Western culture in
the centuries to come, a major force up to recent times--influencing art,
politics, music, fashion, architecture, manners, etc., each century mining the
tradition a little deeper than the former.
In fact, the Classical tradition long exerted a powerful influence on the
development of Judaism (most significantly, the Hellenistic period),
Christianity, and Islam, and through them, even left a noticeable and significant
imprint on the ideological content of the Baha'i tradition. In the cases of
Judaism, Christianity and Islam, one might argue that these traditions were
themselves most efflorescent when they were most in touch with Classicism.
Warmest,
Michael
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