Scientia Sacra

In perennial philosophy, ''scientia sacra'' or sacred science is a form of sacred knowledge that lies at the heart of both divine revelations and traditional sciences. It recognizes sources of knowledge other than those recognized by modern epistemology, such as divine revelations and intellectual intuition, the latter of which is considered a supra-rational form of knowledge based on the human intellect. Scientia sacra embodies principles and doctrines derived from reason, revelation and intellectual intuition, with the conviction that these sources of knowledge can be reconciled without conflict in a hierarchical order and employed in the human quest to understand different orders of reality. It views the universe as a unified reality centered on God—the Ultimate Reality—whose knowledge is beyond the reach of sense perception and reason. This notion may be traced back to traditional cultures and civilizations, particularly Islamic tradition, which was primarily conceptualized in contemporary language by the Iranian philosopher Seyyed Hossein Nasr in his book ''Knowledge and the Sacred'', originally published in 1981, containing his Gifford Lectures delivered that same year.

Terminology

Scientia sacra is a Latin term that means "sacred science." Although Nasr employs the terms “scientia sacra”, “sacred science” and “sacred knowledge” interchangeably, he prefers the term "scientia sacra" to others because he thinks the word "science" in modern English usage can be misleading. For Nasr, "scientia sacra" refers to the ultimate metaphysical science that encompasses the "principial knowledge of things", while "sacred science" pertains to the application of sacred knowledge to different dimensions of reality, both physical and spiritual. The terms "scientia sacra," "sacred knowledge," "''philosophia perennis,''" "perennial philosophy," ''"sophia,"'' ''"sophia perennis,"'' "metaphysics," "esoteric knowledge," and "principial knowledge" are all consanguineous terms and relate to the "eternal Truth", which Nasr claims is at the heart of authentic religions and manifests itself in the form of " sacred traditions". For Nasr, this Truth is attainable by everyone through intellect.

Origins

Scientia sacra is not a new idea. It has its origins in the Islamic philosophical tradition, or, more broadly, in the traditional thought and culture. Asfa Widiyanto attributes the notion to Suhrawardi's theory of ''al-ilm al-huduri'' (knowledge by presence). Suhrawardi defined ''al-ilm al-huduri'' as knowledge that is self-evident, self-present, and self-objective – which indicates that consciousness and cognizable reality are one and the same. Such knowledge is acquired through intellection, which Suhrawardi defines as a sort of vision that allows humans to perceive archetypes in the imaginal realm (''alam al-mithal'', or ''mundus imaginalis'' in Henry Corbin's terminology). The notion of ''scientia sacra'' may also be traced back to Ibn Arabi's concept of "intuitive science", which he viewed as knowledge of the Truth, of the reality of all things. Ibn Arabi frequently refers to such knowledge as ''ma'rifa'', which he connects with divine wisdom.

According to the ''Encyclopedia of Science and Religion'', Seyyed Hossein Nasr has championed the concept of "Sacred Science," which has its roots first and foremost in the thought of French metaphysicist René Guénon, and then in authors who followed in his footsteps, such as, Frithjof Schuon and Titus Burckhardt.

Soumaya Pernilla Ouis credits Nasr for introducing the concept of scientia sacra. According to Nidhal Guessoum, Seyyed Hossein Nasr "almost single-handedly" developed the concept of sacred science, which was afterwards embraced and upheld by a number of his followers. Nasr developed his notion of scientia sacra in his book ''Knowledge and the Sacred'', originally published in 1981, which contains his Gifford lectures delivered in the same year. He expanded on his idea of sacred science in his 1993 book '' The Need for a Sacred Science''.

Meaning

Scientia sacra has been described as "the heart of perennial philosophy", the ultimate purpose of which is the "discernment of the Real". According to Nasr, ''scientia sacra'' – or knowledge of Reality – is "at the heart of every revelation and is the center of that circle which encompasses and defines tradition." For him, this knowledge is identical with metaphysics as traditionally defined – that is, "as the ultimate science of the Real" – or ''marifa'' (Gnostic knowledge) in Sufi terminology. Nasr describes metaphysics as the knowledge that allows man to "distinguish between the Real and the Illusory" and provides him with the ability "to know things in their essence or as they are," which is essentially the same as knowing them "''in divinis''".

According to the Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Nasr’s ultimate aim is "to revive scientia sacra (sacred science) by showing the underlying unity and interrelatedness of the transmitted, intellectual, and physical sciences under the umbrella of metaphysics". This metaphysics "is centered around a holistic and hierarchic view of reality" that shows the "interrelatedness of the various levels and states of being", with the idea of the great chain of being serving as its "conceptual spine". It is heavily influenced by traditional theocentrism that regards God or the One as the origin, center, and culmination of everything that exists. Although this principle is expressed in a wide variety of ways throughout various traditions, it always retains its basic meaning. In line with premodern philosophy, it upholds that "the spiritual has a higher ontological status over the material because the former is taken to reveal the divine and the latter to conceal it". For Nasr, "every level of reality has its own meaning and place in the total economy of divine creation". They cannot, therefore, be reduced to a single plane. According to Nasr, the premodern sciences of nature were able to avoid becoming reductionist and materialistic because of their teleological and hierarchical perspective of the universe.

In Nasr's view, scientia sacra perceives the cosmos not as a separate reality, but rather as a "manifestation and theophany" of the "Divine Essence." It is comparable to Plato's idea that the "immaterial realm" is "concrete reality." From a metaphysical perspective, God is seen as concrete Reality, whereas other realities are regarded as abstractions of God. Nasr believes that scientia sacra is more than just a theoretical conception of Reality. It has a practical aspect in that it aids man in his quest of the sacred. As a result, its explanations can serve as a catalyst for exposing the human mind to the higher order of reality. According to Nasr, "scientia sacra contains both the seed and the fruit of the knowledge tree." He describes its seed as theoretical knowledge and its fruit as realized gnosis. From an axiological point of view, scientia sacra has a transformative function, that is, it transforms the human person in order for them to attain the sacred.

In Nasr's view, knowledge of the Ultimate Reality is only possible if one actively participates "in one’s inmost being, in that supraindividual reality". For him, "Self Knowledge" is the ultimate or most interior form of knowledge, and that one can attain it "through the sun of the Divine Self residing at the center of the human soul."

Epistemological perspectives

Scientia sacra varies from discursive knowledge in that it recognizes sources of knowledge other than those recognized by contemporary epistemology. According to Nasr, the sources of "ordinary knowledge", as defined by modern epistemology, are sense perception and inductive reasoning, but the sources of sacred knowledge are revelation and intellectual intuition, together with reason and sense perception. Nasr contends that unlike other forms of knowledge, which are based on speculation or reasoning about the subject matter, sacred knowledge is centered on intuition. He believes that reasoning originates in the mind, while intellection emerges from the heart, which enlightens the mind of the individual in question. According to Nasr, this does not imply that it is unintelligible. For him, knowledge acquired through intellectual intuition is intelligible in and of itself. The human intelligence that receives this knowledge "does not impose upon it the intellectual nature or content of a spiritual experience of a sapiential character". Human intelligence does not serve as a source, but rather as a participant in the formation of such knowledge, since, in Nasr's view, "consciousness is reality and knowledge is being".

Intellect, for Nasr, is the very substance that lies within man's being and is concerned with unveiling archetypal realities. Reason, on the other hand, is a manifestation of the intellect. In Nasr's view, intellection is the process through which our individual consciousness participates in Divine Consciousness. This method transcends logic and grasps reality without disturbing its harmony. It arrives at the truth by an ''a priori'' intuitive perception of it. This demonstrates Nasr's Platonic resemblance in that it preserves the notion of primordial knowledge and truth contained within man's being. However, humanity has "become removed from that primordial state", in which human intellect had direct access to knowledge of the sacred. They now require revelation for utilizing their divine gifts. The act of intellection thus refers to the process of invoking and activating of this fundamental knowledge that is at the heart of man's intellect, which is essentially a reflection of the Divine Intellect. For Nasr, Divine Intellect is the source of all knowledge and being, and revelation that comes from it is the divine aid for the human intellect.

Traditional sciences and scientia sacra

Nasr's construction of traditional science may be seen through its ontological, epistemological, and axiological foundations. Unlike modern science, traditional science recognizes the direct connection between "hierarchical degrees of being" and "hierarchical degrees of knowing" at the ontological level. It is never divorced from its metaphysical foundations, and is epistemologically based on the "dialectics of revelation, intellect, and reason". Nasr considers scientia sacra, which deals with the Real, as the supreme form of knowledge that lies at the heart of traditional sciences. Insofar as they apply the immutable metaphysical principles to the world of temporality and change, natural, mathematical, or intellectual sciences that place the sacred at the center of their structure are regarded as sacred. All sacred sciences can be classified as traditional sciences since they apply the traditional metaphysical principles to the scientific study of nature, and therefore can be characterized as different forms of applied metaphysics.

However, Nasr does not dismiss modern science, which he believes "is legitimate if kept within the boundaries defined by the limitations of its own philosophical premises concerning the nature of physical reality as well as its epistemologies and methodologies." In this perspective, the sacred sciences, from cosmology to medicine, share a set of cardinal principles. The sacred sciences view the universe through the viewpoint of a hierarchy of existence and knowledge. The physical universe is not dismissed as an illusion, ''maya'', or a shadow to be reduced in the presence of the Absolute. It is also not seen an ultimate reality by itself.

Traditional civilizations that nurtured sacred sciences emphasized on the divine origin of the cosmos and maintained a hierarchy between the absolute and the relative, the eternal and the temporal, the necessary and the contingent. For Nasr, traditional sciences are inherently anti-reductionist since hierarchy entails a multilayered structure. This largely explains the continuity of the concept of the "great chain of being" throughout traditional civilizations that does not allow reality to be reduced to a "pure idea" or "pure matter". The sacred sciences study each domain of reality on its own level, instead of reducing reality to a material existence, relying on a metaphysical framework that allows the One and the Many to coexist without contradiction.

According to this perspective, nature is viewed as a sacred entity, as ''vestigia Dei'' or as ''ayat Allah'' (signs of God). Traditional sciences see nature as the abode of both change and permanence, in opposition to modern science, which reduces the order of nature to perpetual change and impermanence. Although nature is commonly seen as a "perennially changing structure," the "world of nature" also exhibits extraordinary continuity, persistence, and harmony, as evidenced by the preservation of species and the longevity of natural forms. This dual aspects of nature, according to Nasr, proves beyond doubt the Divine character in nature: the world of nature has not been consigned to the unending sequence of random and senseless changes that allow no telos in the universe. Nature, on the other hand, incorporates both the principles of change and permanence and alludes to a "big picture" in which all of its components are viewed as constituting a meaningful unity and harmony.

Other developments

The Hungarian philosopher Béla Hamvas, who was influenced by René Guénon and his traditionalist school, undertook a study of various religious and spiritual traditions from around the world, which he compiled under the title ''Scientia Sacra''. His three volume works, the first two of which were composed in the years 1943 and 1944 and the third, incomplete, in the early 1960s, were published posthumously in 1988. According to ''The Handbook of Contemporary European Social Theory'', Hamvas's Scientia Sacra contains "an overview of the wisdom contained in the sacred tradition of mankind". In this work, Hamvas made an effort to demonstrate the connections between metaphysics, anthropology, and culture.

See also

* Resacralization of knowledge
* Resacralization of nature

Notes

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{{Seyyed Hossein Nasr
Perennial philosophy
Traditionalist School
Epistemological theories
Philosophy of religion
Philosophy of science
Esotericism
Seyyed Hossein Nasr