Theological Origins of Modernity

descartes’ path to truth 171
proverb at the head of his text? And which Lord is he referring to that generates
this fear? It is hard to believe that the God that Descartes has in mind
is the rational God of scholasticism or the Neoplatonic God of humanism.
I want to suggest that the God the young Descartes has in mind is rather
the arbitrary and unpredictable God who fi rst appeared in the thought
of Ockham and who found his preeminent form in the hidden God of
Luther. It was this God who appeared in such a horrifying fashion to Descartes
in the Wars of Religion and who also opened up the possibility of a
new wisdom. How is it possible, though, that the experience of this dark
God can engender the natural light that Descartes so excitedly described
to Beeckman in the letter cited above, a light that would cut through
the darkness and deception engendered by this hidden God and provide
the illumination needed to construct the citadel of reason that became the
modern world? How is it that the light shines out of this darkness?
In this chapter I will argue that Descartes sought to construct a bastion
of reason against this terrifying God of nominalism, a bastion that could
provide not only individual certainty and security, and not only mitigate
or eliminate the incommodities of nature, but also bring an end to the
religious and political strife that were tearing Europe to pieces. Descartes
aimed to achieve this and make man master and possessor of nature by
developing a mathematical science that could provide a picture of the true
world underlying the phenomena. Moreover, while Descartes drew upon
many of the prevailing resources in the humanist tradition and particularly
on Hermeticism in seeking to construct his bastion, he ultimately
establishes his foundation on a very diff erent ground than that of humanism.
Like most of the humanists Descartes asserts the independence of the
human will and the capacity of man to make himself master and possessor
of nature by coming to understand and manipulate her hidden powers.
In contrast to the humanists, however, he grounds human freedom not in
the power of the individual will but in the fact that our will, like the will
of God, is infi nite. Indeed, it is this understanding of infi nity that is essential
as the foundation of his science. In this respect, Descartes’ science
rests in an almost paradoxical way on the God he both fears and worships.
Th e natural light that he believes is essential to the creation of the modern
world is thus the light that shines out of the darkness of this divinity.
the historical and biographical background
of descartes’ thought
Th e development of the Reformation in Europe was rapid and widespread.
Inspired by Luther and reacting to church abuses in their own