Theology of History
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Egalitarianism - XVII
The Hollywood Lifestyle Destroys Wisdom
Note: Prof. Plinio gave this series of classes in 1957; today in 2026 we see how the egalitarianism in each of the fields he pointed out has increased and come to dominate almost completely. TIAIn the last article, we spoke of wisdom as a criteria for the exercise of authority. Then the question naturally rises, what is wisdom?
Wisdom is something different from intelligence and also from knowledge, although it is more fitting to the more intelligent and better educated. Wisdom is, properly speaking, a virtue by which the soul acquires knowledge of the final ends that should govern the whole order of the universe. By it a man recognizes the hierarchy that exists in Creation, loves it, and desires that it be obeyed and manifested in all things on Earth.
People traveled from afar to seek
the wisdom of the desert Hermits
The perfection of the cognitive capacity resides in those wise men who, possessing true wisdom and grounded in culture, are able to represent the predominantly intellectual and moral factors in society.
How is it possible in a Christian Civilization to govern men with great wisdom? In those times we had such men. First, there were the hermits of the desert, to whom people traveled for days and even months to consult. They would give a few words of enlightenment, which would suffice for a lifetime. They etched brief guidelines for a statesman who could change the face of an empire.
We had men like these in other periods of History. For example, St. Bernard, who was a contemplative, was consulted by all the Kings, Princes, Popes and Bishops of his time. We could present examples of such men in almost every century of Church History, men served by a high culture who were sought out for guidance by those who directed society.
There is the impressive case of St. Thomas Aquinas responding to questions from the King of Cyprus. He was not the King of Cyprus nor did he have legal authority over the King, but in fact he exercised a spiritual or moral principality over Cyprus, which caused his guidelines to prevail there as laws. We have, therefore, the influence of men of great spiritual capacity and great cognitive ability.
God imposes ‘conformity’ to His laws
Here it is necessary to consider a series of "conformities" God imposes to the laws He established. For example, God imposed on the Angels conformity to His decree regarding the humanity of Christ and the maternity of the Virgin Mary.
By their nature, Angels are superior to men. God created this arrangement of the Choirs of Angels with complete coherence, as we have seen. Despite this, above the Angels were two beings superior in the order of grace although inferior in the order of nature: the humanity of Our Lord Jesus Christ and the person of Our Lady. There is a current of theologians who affirm that the test of the Angels was to adore the Incarnate Word and also to venerate Our Lady as their Queen. It was this veneration that caused their revolt.
The simple son of a baker, St. Clement Hofbauer, was imbued with wisdom above the professors
Sometimes we have, for example, the son of a baker like St. Clement Marie Hofbauer, who would attend classes at the University of Vienna and point out to the professor that a certain doctrine was wrong. It was something no one else in the classroom realized, but he knew how to see it and explain it.
Standing before a court of bishops and ecclesiastics who wanted to condemn her, St. Joan of Arc demonstrated a surprising knowledge of theology.
The Holy Curé d’Ars had this also. Many who had no intention whatsoever of listening to his advice went to Ars out of curiosity to hear his words and were convinced of his wisdom. Why? Because they felt a kind of reverence for that great talent which rises like a flame from within the Curé but which is of a purer light; men bow before that light, receive the illumination that comes from it, and continue on their way.
It would be interesting to imagine the attitude of Saint Clement Hofbauer before a truly good teacher. He would not need to explain to such a man how things were, but rather would question the master with all due respect, taking a very humble position before the master who had enlightened him.
Now let us imagine the opposite. St. Clement Hofbauer with his high spiritual gift on one side, and a teacher filled with resentment on the other. St. Clement asks the questions; the teacher becomes irritated and decides to liquidate "that boy." And so he begins to respond with questions in order to tear the boy apart. And if the boy were any other than St. Clement, he would also begin to respond with pride. A degrading scene!
In all the hierarchies that God establishes, He makes things very coherent, but rich in "conformities" to which He demands acquiescence.
The Hollywood lifestyle devalues the cognitive
In human society "Mary Magdalene" refers to those who possess an eminent cognitive capacity, enhanced by a great supernatural wisdom. “Martha” refers to those who have operational capacity, skills that must also be guided by much thought. Persons of both capacities, as we see, are guided by the cognitive capacity.
The superficiality of early Hollywood life helped to destroy respect for the cognitive skills
Because of this, we have a distorted conception of life, because true contemplative values are set aside. There can be, perhaps, a type of instruction. But true contemplation, true thought, are not placed in their proper place.
From this comes societies built on the margins of thought. They go against the inequality that Our Lord established in human society, which affirms that everything which belongs to the order of thinking is above everything that belongs to the order of action.
Cognitive & operational capacities of different peoples
Italians are a people whose cognitive qualities prevail over practical ones, at least in a certain order of importance. It cannot be denied that those who have Florence and Venice do not want colonies in Africa; those who have St. Mark's Square do not need the Sahara or Abyssinia. …
St. Mark's Square nourishes the people's need for the marvelous
Now then, could we point to a category of people who have sinned on the other side? I believe these could be the peoples of the East, where not the cognitive predominates but the operational is abandoned. Clearly there is some greatness in this disdain, but something is wrong. It reveals a sin in the contempt for the operative.
Another point is that the order that should prevail among men on this Earth is not the definitive order of men in Creation. Men will only occupy their definitive order in Heaven.
King Louis IX sought the wisdom of St. Thomas at his table
Posted July 13-, 2026
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