Folia Theologica 16. (2005)

Pál Bolberitz: The Beginnings of Hungarian Philosphy (The Reception of Nicholas of Cusa in the work of "De homine" by Peter Monedulatus Csokas Laskoi)

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P. BOLBERITZ

tion. Certainly any citation can be thought in our own way by pick- ing it from the context, but is not certain at all, that it corresponds to the rules of the interpretation of texts (hermeneutics). Let us see the extracted text from Chapter XIX, Book Vlll of "Exercitationum" by Cusanus, as it is citated by Laskoi: "It is laid down in God's hands so that the perfect truth should be enforced in the earthly matters, and it is God, too, who provides the residence of tranquility to the justified by faith after death. The Divine hand represents a power, which preserves life, and this is the residence of the soul of the saints." (Translated by the author)56 Many people ask: Where is heaven? Conception of Cusanus and Laskoi in this matter coincides: heaven is exactly where the resurrected Christ is found. Who is able to get into heaven? According to Cusanus and Laskoi, they are the sincere, true beings, the saints. Who is saint? What way is man able to be justified? According to Laskoi man is justified by faith. However, he did not intend and - of course - could not quote Cusanus in this respect.

And finally in Book 11 of his masterwork "De homine", which deals with the human body - rendering a detailed description of all of its organs - we find a wonderful citation from Cusanus, underlying confession of Peter Monedolatus Csókás Laskoi about human being. Laskoi, discussing human trunk, according to the original meaning of the Greek word of "human", "anthropos" ("standing upright", "looking upwards") expouses that "human trunk has been shaped by the Creator in a way so that he would be able to bend ahead and investigate the fertile part of earth. But head of animals has been created by the Creator so that it could be directed only to the earth. The eyes of animals are situated relatively far from each other, their front legs, like the sustainers of the sitting tabourets, are placed on earth. Only human being was particulary prepared by God. In other animals we see that their mouth is directed ahead, so they bend onto earth. In opposite to it man has an upright figure, who looks for the skies with his face, and since he is derived not from earth, but from heaven, since he has been planted

56 LASCOV1US. „De homine”. Lib. 1. cap. 18. p. 364. „Cusanus lib. 8. Exercitationum Absoluta iustitia in terris, omni iusto locus quietis est manus Dei, seu vis vitae conservativa est, locus animarum sanctarum.”