The Sequel to the Count of Gabalis

if they could not succeed. One of them wished to first undertake the restoration of the ancient vigor of Discipline In this religious context, Discipline refers to the internal regulations and moral conduct governing the clergy and the faithful., and the severity of the old Canons original: Canons; these are the decrees and laws established by Church councils to govern ecclesiastical life.. His design failed: one should not have gone so openly against the torrent of the corruption of the age; the human heart requires more careful handling. Another, in league with the first, made a prodigious study to change the face of all Theology, to discredit the Scholastic Doctors The "Scholastics" were medieval theologians, like Thomas Aquinas, who used logic and philosophy to explain Christian doctrine. By the 17th and 18th centuries, many reformers saw their methods as overly dry and abstract., and to substitute reasoning with a science based on memory and collections of the Church Fathers The influential early Christian teachers and writers, such as St. Augustine or St. Jerome, whose works were seen as more "pure" than medieval logic.. This design was great and good: but, good God, what an undertaking! To directly challenge the Pedants, the Universities, and the Monks! May God have mercy on his soul—I told him one day that his project lacked prudence, and that he would provoke too many people to take up arms against him. Another made a great stir with his mockeries regarding certain alleged relaxations This likely refers to the "laxism" in moral theology, which critics argued made it too easy for people to sin and still receive absolution.: but besides the fact that few people believed he was acting in good faith in his citations, many...