Donald Wilcox
One of the books for my class on Renaissance and Reformation, a good look at 12th to 15th century Europe. For whatever reason I don’t take notes for my schoolwork nearly as well as I do in reading books of my own choosing, and so I’ll just leave you with the last paragraph of the conclusion. The money quote, mentioning this.
“To live appropriately.” Could a phrase more aptly capture the spirit of an age? It joins the ethical and social concerns of the Renaissance with the introspective force of the Reformation. The Renaissance taught that man is a social being whose own inner life grows by touching the lives of others. The Reformation taught that he has overwhelming power in his inner life; man is a person before he is a member of society, and he must seek fulfillment first as a person. These two perspectives are not easy to blend into a single system. Yet life depends on each, and by calling us to live appropriately, Montaigne summarizes in full measure the wisdom of both the Renaissance and the Reformation.