OF THE
TIMES
Regarding the idea that ancient manuscripts were created out of whole cloth to support the questions of the thinkers of the Renaissance, as Europe emerged from the Dark Ages, I agree that this is certainly possible - even probable. The question is: was there some sort of memory of that ancient time that infused these ideas with life? Lee McIntyre writes:See also:The Dark Ages are one of the most intriguing periods of human history. They mark a nearly 600-year blank spot in the progress of human civilization in which the knowledge of antiquity almost completely disappeared from the West. It was a time when few people received any sort of education whatsoever, and life was governed by the superstitions and fears fueled by ignorance. (McIntyre, 2006)Do any of us really 'remember' anything from 500 years ago other than what we are taught in history classes? Is there some kind of 'folk memory' of the Renaissance itself, for example? No, probably not. Can we rely on the story we are told about this, that some ancient manuscripts survived here and there? Possibly. But scientific analyses of these documents makes their provenance very questionable. Form criticism and other techniques also raise troubling questions about them. It's probably safer to just think that the thinkers of the Renaissance came to these ideas themselves - brute force cogitation - and the alleged ancient sources that 'thought the same things, asked the same questions' were just cooked up to give traditional validity to ideas that were in contradiction to the views of reality promoted by the Roman Church.
Comment: See also: Russia Launches Massive Military Operation in Ukraine - Reports of Multiple Explosions, Attacks on Military Targets From Donbass to Kiev