Revelation, Rationality, Knowledge & Truth — Page 39
EUROPEAN PHILOSOPHY. HEN THE SUN of secular enlightenment finally set upon Andalusia, its radiant face rose from the horizon of France to smile. W upon what lay of Europe beyond. It lit up the entire Continent from South to North, and from East to. West. A glorious day of knowledge broke which was to dominate Europe for centuries to come. The age of the. Renaissance had begun. . But few in Europe realize today how much they owe to Muslim Spain for that great dawn of enlightenment called the Renaissance. Many outstanding philosophers, mathematicians, scientists, astronomers and physicians from Andalusia are but obliterated memories for Europe, buried in the forlorn graveyards of oblivion. . With the dawn of the Renaissance as the darkness was dispelled, reason and rationality began to dispossess the blind faith of the territories which it had long held under its mighty sway. To keep a balance between the secular philosophies on the one hand, and faith and belief on the other was not an easy task. It was no trivial challenge for the priest-ridden society of that age to defend their faith against the new philosophical invasion by reason and rationality. They had inherited an image of Christianity which largely under Pauline influence had disintegrated into mythical dogmas. It was no longer the same Divine light which had illuminated Christ. . Even before the Renaissance, some European intellectuals had attempted to maintain a balance between reason and faith. E. J. Scotus in the ninth century AD had set the noble example of bringing about a measure of truce 39