On the Microcosm & Macrocosm in Christian Theology- Medieval to Modern

The curse of humanity since the influence of Protagoras is alienation; the palliative religion. The main way people fight their alienation is though religion. Alienation and its causes can be divided into primary alienation and secondary alienation. What separates primary alienation from secondary alienation? We shall turn our focus to secondary alienation first since it is the easiest form of alienation to understand. Imagine a new student's first day at a school where they do not know anyone. If the school is in a different country and taught in a different language than the student is used to, the alienation increases. This cause is usually remedied by the student making friends and becoming assimilated to the routine of the new school. We have all experienced this sort of alienation at a new job, or by moving to a new city.
Primary alienation is when one feels alone in the cosmos, or that one is living in an alien cosmos. This is the type of alienation religion seeks to remedy. As I have written elsewhere, this is caused by the breaking of subject and object. In the mythological paradigm this type of alienation did not exist. Humans felt themselves as part of the landscape of the cosmos: trees, rocks, and animals. The mythological paradigm was broken by Protagoras when he split subject and object. Humans became aware that the scenarios they thought in did not match the scenarios of the external world. However, they did not know this by somehow getting outside their bodies and comparing the internal and external as some sort of disembodied third form. Instead it was discovered by showing the relativity of perception that two men could stand in the same wind and have varying accounts of its temperature. The coherence of perception was lost. To maintain the coherence of the cosmos, man posited a cosmos that existed outside of human perception. The most devastating loss for humans was that emotions were removed from the cosmos and confined to internal thought. The scenarios that humans thought in no longer matched the cosmos. Why was this change so devastating to humankind? The reason is that the natural way for humans to connect the objects of thinking is by physical and emotional resemblances: when we have a feeling or emotion we remember other times we have experienced the same emotion- nostalgia. When we see an object we remember other objects that physically resemble the object. This is how humans relate to the cosmos in everyday consciousness. This is what we have called mythical thinking, and is the foundation of the world's mythologies.
When the emotions are removed from the cosmos and continued into the interior life of humans, it means one of the primary ways that humans orient themselves in the cosmos is not an intrinsic feature of the cosmos. The scenarios no longer fit together; the cosmos becomes an alien place that obeys laws or rules hidden from human consciousness. In other words, the cosmos is now seen as an alien place.
The ancient Gnostics were a good example of primary alienation. In the earlier mythological paradigm, humans were a natural part of the landscape. To the Gnostics the cosmos was an evil place controlled by demon gods. To escape their alienation in the cosmos, the Gnostics attempted to identify with a divinized mental realm- one of spirit that was totally removed from matter. For the Gnostics the human soul was a fallen entity and the spirit was created by the good God that had fallen into an evil realm of the material cosmos. The trouble with this perspective is that it is only for the few. Most people are not otherworldly enough to completely reject the material cosmos or live in a cosmos created by the imagination. For this reason Gnosticism could never have become a mass movement.
The Jesus movement had a new vision: God would return to Earth and re divinize matter; thus begins western religion. When we look at the original definition of the word "religion" we can observe its origin. The word "religion" means to bind together. Religion is an effort to bind humans and the cosmos back together to repair the break caused by Protagoras. It is important to note the eastern word "yoga" has the same definition as religion. The east seems to stay more with the Gnostic approach; that of isolated hermits working to overcome their alienation by projecting their emotions onto a divinzed mental realm. The isolated hermit loves all of humanity, but avoids associating with any members of humanity. This is not an ideal that would have much appeal in the west. Maybe it is because of the ideal of the Greek city-states that people in the west felt community was needed to overcome alienation. One could not love humanity and avoid contact with individual humans. So the ideal in western religion was to bring God back into the material realm to re divinize the cosmos. The method religion uses to overcome alienation is the doctrine of the microcosm and macrocosm. The first observable difference between the Christian vision and the Eastern-Gnostic view is that instead of isolated hermits being able to overcome their alienation, the Christian vision is one of a non- alienated community. In terms of Christian theology every Christian is part of the mystical body of Christ. Already the imagery of the microcosm and macrocosm is evident. In Christianity the state of non-alienation is called peace. For ancient and medieval Christians the term "peace " had a much more positive definition than for modern people. For modern people the definition of "peace" means the absence of conflict, but for ancient and medieval people "peace" meant to be in harmony with God and the cosmos i.e., to belong. In bringing God down to Earth the material world becomes re divinized and humans live in an a non-alienated community. with a place for all believers. The divinized community is ruled over by Christ as a human that is in harmony with nature and ruled by the intellect. Everything is in harmony- mankind, the cosmos, and God. The community becmoes the mythical body of Christ.
To test the above theory, we shall now turn to two Christian writers, one medieval and one modern to observe how they use the microcosm and macrocosm in their theology. The two writers have been chosen to provide a contrast; the medieval thinker is a first class intellect and one of the most learned men of his age, being drenched in classical learning and Neoplatonism. The modern thinker is of a far lesser class of intellect, a popular preacher, and has probably never heard of Plotinus, Iamblichus, or Proclus--much less read any of their writings. We begin with the thirteenth century professor of theology who becomes Minister of the Franciscan order in 1257: St. Bonaventure. In Chapter Two of his book "The Journey of the Mind to God", we find the following passage, "We may behold God in the mirror of visible creation, not only by considering creatures as vestiges of God, but also by seeing Him in them; for He is present in them by His essence, His power, and His presence." In the very next paragraph Bonaventure makes the doctrine of the microcosm and the macrocosm explicit. "It should be noted that this world, which is called the macrocosm enters our soul, the microcosm through the portals of the five senses, in so far as sense objects are apprehended, enjoyed, and judged." Like all medieval theologian philosophers, Bonaventure also finds the likeness of the Trinity in the human mind: "He shines forth in all creatures, here thereby led us to reenter into ourselves, that is, into our mind, where the divine image shines forth." There is the doctrine of the microcosm and macrocosm in the writings of St. Bonaventure. The criticism could have been made that Bonaventure was a medieval who was learned in Neoplatonism, so could the doctrine be found in a lesser intellect with no acquaintance with Neoplatonism and a popular appeal to the modern audience?
Let us turn to a modern popular writer on Christian theology: Joni Eareckson Tada. Tada fits our criteria, having made far less intellectual accomplishment than Bonaventure. Tada wrote a best selling book about how her experience as a quadriplegic led her to embrace evangelical Christianity . In her book "A Place of Healing" we find the following quote: "My enemy has most probably assigned some captain in his lowerarchy of Hell to harass me. My wicked adversary knows I have become accustomed to quadriplegia. He recognizes that total permanent paralysis is no longer the struggle it used to be for me. He is aware that my profound disability has helped me develop the prized characteristic of needing God desperately when I wake up in the morning. And quite frankly, he despises that." It seems quite clear that from this passage Eareckson-Tada has projected her struggles with quadriplegia onto the cosmos. Her struggles are reflected in the cosmic battle between God and Satan. Another passage: "Hence his full on attack on my body, mind and spirit, and on my friends who love me and help me. It's war- and like all war. it isn't pretty." Eareckson-Tada is an illustrative example because although she is unaware of the doctrine of the microcosm and macrocosm it shows up everywhere in her theology. We draw the conclusion that from the examples of both Bonaventure and Eareckson-Tada the doctrine of the microcosm and macrocosm is no add on to Christianity, but the very heart of religion.