Remaking America by George Shollenberger, Idea 100 + XVII (Intelligent Design, VII)

In this blog, I discuss the contributions of Nicholas of Cusa (1401-1464) to man’s knowledge of God’s Intelligence Design. He was born in Germany and became a bishop in the Roman church after he published his first book, ‘On Learned Ignorance.’ Historians agree that Nicholas’s work ended the Middle Ages. A pic of Nicholas of Cusa is seen on the right.

Nicholas discovered that human languages are primarily symbolic. He made this discovery after he met with Eastern Christians and found Plato’s negative. With Plato’s negative, Nicholas developed a new theology called ‘negative theology.’ In Bk. I, Ch. 26 of his book, Nicholas says that negative theology helps positive theology to prevent the worship of God as a creature. But this saying seems to have caused a short imprisonment for heresy against Jesus Christ.

To teach learned ignorance, Nicholas uses the certainty of mathematics. He also teaches the meanings of symbols. For instance, in Bk. I, Ch. 4, he finds that the symbol ‘maximum’ has two meanings. One meaning is the absolute maximum. An absolute maximum thing cannot become ‘greater or less.’ Thus, this thing does not change. When he found the absolute maximum, Nicholas discovered a new attribute of God. On the other hand, the second meaning of the symbol ‘maximum’ is found in things that can become ‘greater or less.’ Such things are called variables and apply to all sciences. These variables are found only in God’s Intelligent Design of our world.

Nicholas wrote other books, I list some of Nicholas' books and some books of other people below. Many of Nicholas' books and his other sermons and papers can be found and coppied at the website of the American Cusanus Society. (click)

Dolan, John P. (1962) "Unity and Reform;" Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press. [Includes translations of Nicholas' Idiota de Sapientia (1450), de Pace Fidei (1453), Idiota de Staticis Experimentis (1450), and de Visione dei (1453).]

Nicholas of (Translated by Emma Gurney Salter, 1960) "The Vision of God;" New York: Frederick Unger Publishing.

Hopkins, Jasper (1978) "A Concise Introduction to the Philosophy of Nicholas of Cusa;" Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. [Includes a translation of Nicholas’ de Possest (1460).]

Nicholas of Cusa (Translated by Clyde Lee Miller, 1979) "The Layman: About Mind;" New York: Abaris Books.

Nicholas of Cusa (Translated by Jasper Hopkins, 1979) "On the Not-Other;" Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

Nicholas of Cusa (Translated by Jasper Hopkins, 1981) "On Learned Ignorance," Minneapolis: The Arthur J. Banning Press.

Hopkins, Jasper (1983) "Nicholas of Nicholas’ Metaphysic of Contraction;" Minneapolis: The Arthur J. Banning Press.

Hopkins, Jasper (1985) "Nicholas of Nicholas’ Dialectical Mysticism;" Minneapolis: The Arthur J. Banning Press. [Includes translation and interpretative study of de Visione dei (1453).]

Nicholas of Cusa (Translated by Pauline Moffitt Watts, 1986), "The Game of Spheres;" New York: Abaris Books.

Nicholas of Cusa (Translated by Paul E. Sigmund, 1991) "The Catholic Concordance;" New York: Cambridge University Press.

Wertz, William F., Trans. (1993) "Toward a New Council of Florence;" Washington, D.C.: Schiller Institute, Inc. [Includes a translation of the following writings: On Conjectures (1440), On the Hidden God (1444), On Searching for God (1445), On the Filiation of God (1445), On the Gift of the Father of Lights (1446), Dialogue on Genesis (1447), On the Peace of Faith (1453), The Theological Complement Represented in the Mathematical Complements (1453), On Beryllus (1458), On the Origin (1459), On Equality: The Life Was the Light of Men (1459), Prologues to an Examination of the Qur’an (1461), On the Not-Other (1462), On the Hunt for Wisdom (1463), Compendium (1464), On the Summit of Vision (1464).]