| Secretum (book) |
Article Index for Secretum |
Information AboutSecretum (book) |
|
The dialogue opens with Augustine chastising Petrarch for ignoring his own mortality and his fate in the Afterlife by not devoting himself fully to God . Petrarch concedes that this lack of piety is the source of his unhappiness, but he insists that he cannot overcome it. The dialogue then turns to the question of Petrarch's seeming lack of free will, and Augustine explains that it is his love for temporal things (specifically Laura), and his pursuit of fame through poetry that "bind his will in adamantine chains". Petrarch's turn towards religion in his later life was inspired in part by Augustine's '' Confessions '', and Petrarch imitates Augustine's style of self examination and harsh self criticism in ''Secretum''. The ideas expressed in the dialogues are taken mostly from Augustine, particularly the importance of Free Will in achieving faith. Other notable influences include Cicero and other Pre-Christian thinkers. ''Secretum'' can be seen as an attempt by Petrarch to reconcile his Humanism and admiration of the classical world with his Christian faith. Especially important are his rejection of love for temporal things not because it is a sin, but because it prevents him from knowing the eternal, a position that resembles Classical Philosophy far more than the contemporary Christian Theology . Classical writers are also regarded as sources of authority supporting Christianity, and ''Secretum'' quotes them more frequently than Scripture . EXTERNAL LINKS
|
|
|