CLASSICAL TRADITION

Evening Star, Issue 22070, 2 July 1935, Page 13

CLASSICAL TRADITION

INTERWOVEN IN MODERN LEARNING INFLUENCE NOT FULLY REALISED (t How' deeply the world is indebted to the classical tradition, which has become so interwoven with modern culture and thought that we are scarcely conscious of its influence,” was the crux of the Rev. Dr Morkane’a address oh ‘ The Classical Tradition and Christianity ’ to the Classical Association last night, when there was a large attendance, Mr W. J. Morrell presiding. Surviving the downfall of Rome, the classical tradition endured through the Middle Ages as an integral part of the intellectual heritage of the Christian Church, and with the Renaissance it became the inspiration of the culture and thought of Europe. Rome, indeed, was .not the creator of this tradition, but ’ rather the instrument by which this culture was given to the Western world. The great classical writers of the first century u.c., therefore, owed much of their importance in the history of Europe to the fact that they were, through their works, the founders of European culture. With the coming of Christianity, so completely opposed in spirit and ideals to tne paganism of Greece and Rome, there came a serious threat to the supremacy of this tradition. Indeed, Christianity and the classical tradition were as fundamentally opposed as were the Scriptures and pagan literature, Though the artificial, material civilisation of the Roman Empire stood in sore need of some religious inspiration of a profound and truly spiritual nature, yet none could have foreseen how the new religion would transform the life and thought of civilisation and the classical tradition. Fully to understand the chasm that separated early Christianity from the Roman Empire, they must' recall that Christianity, of Oriental origin, had no roots in the European past or in the traditions of classical civilisation. This fact helped them to understand tho aloofness, even the antagonism, of the early Christians, on the one hand, and the distrust and hostility of the State on the other. Yet, even before the inroads of the barbarians, the inner spirit of classical civilisation was dying, and consequently Christianity made a forcible appeal to the religious experience of the common man, and especially to the poor and uncultured. The cultured classical scholar, however, had no ’ sympathy with what he often regarded as a revival of Oriental barbarism, or as, a new superstition. On the other hand, the early Christians were equally repelled by the legalism and formalism of pagan worship, in which there was no room for prayer and piety as these were understood by the Christians. That the materialism of the Empire was irreconcilable with the new religion was fully recognised by the majority of Christian writers from St. Paul to the fifth century. Possibly the opposition between the classical tradition, as typical of the Empire, and Christianity was exaggerated at times, but there was substantial truth in the criticisms of Augustine and other writers. By the fourth century, however, said the speaker, the church no longer held entirely aloof from secular but it had not yet succeeded in Christianising it. The church could not refuse, and did not refuse, to recognise the.immense value of the classical tradition in its intellectual aspects. • The early fathers of the church, ; indeed, were almost all men whose minds Were steeped in classical literature. Reference was then made to the classical attainments of such saints as Basil, Gregory Nazianzen, Augustine, and Jerome. Indeed, the patristic culture was a blending of Christian and classical elements, and it was impossible to over-estimate the importance for the future of Europe of this fusion of the classical tradition with the new religion. The lecturer then showed how gradual was the process of assimilation by which the church prepared for the reception of the classical tradition and for the formation of a new Christian culture. From the second century educated converts to Christianity used the language of rhetoricians, and the tendency to assimilate classical thought and culture reached its climax in the school of Alexandria in the third century. This was evident from tho writings of Clement and Ongen By the beginning of the fourth century classical culture had gained a sure place in the church, the Christian writers of this century sharing the culture and traditions of their pagan rivals, especially in the Greekspeaking world/ The attitude of such men as St, Ambrose and St. Jerome was then explained, St. Jerome being, of all the fathers, perhaps the most steeped in pagan literature, and his influence being second to none. After referring to the hostility of Tertullinn to the tradition of pagan civilisation. Dr Morkane showed how slowly but surely Christian thought moved to the conclusion that in pagan literature and the classical tradition there were elements of goodness and of greatness. At first it was the belief of many Christians that such poets as Virgil and Horace spoke of things which it were better that Christians should not know; but it did not follow that these Christians weto ignorant of such books or that they did not admire tho language and poetical images of the pagan poets. Even some teachers, such as St. Jerome, fell into inconsistencies of conduct, while others, like Tertnllian. condemned pagan culture in language ,at least as accomplished as the pagan. The lecturer then dealt at length with tho great St. Augustine, often referred to as the heir of tho old classical culture and one of the last representatives of antiquity. Augustine had no scruples in maintaining that the scholastic training he had received in his youth was an advantage to good Christians, and with Ins pupils he made the pagan arts an introduction to Christian doctrine. He might be said to have solved the prub'em of the attitude of Christians to tho 'nßsical tradition. In conclusion, Dr Morkane pointed out the very great influence on the formation of the European mind of this re"onciliation between Christianity and the classical tradition, and said the coexistence of the two traditions —spiritual arid literary—had left a . deep impression on our modern culture and literature.