The Middle Ages were infused with the presence of God in the small and the grand. Everything meant everything. The world was imbued with symbol and meaning.
The mundane was as much of a reflection of God’s glory as the magnificent.
The Enlightenment exalted the rational, reason above the metaphysical and sacred.
Individual liberty and natural rights exalted the individual above his divine creator.
Reason became the method of progress rather than the search for God’s wisdom in life.
Science became exalted over imagination.
The wonders and mysteries of God were replaced by the scientific method.
Action was exalted above contemplation or worship.
The world was inverted and man proclaimed his dominion over the Earth and God.
The individual became exalted over the community of the faithful.
Rather than art and philosophy pointing to God, it pointed to the individual man.
The triumph of the individual was seen as the highest good and ultimate goal of life.
Man was no longer truly obligated to God or conscience, but only to his own desires.
A collapse was inevitable.
Restoration will require renewed Faith in a sacred order.
A return to Christ.
