The final cause of every student, according to Campanella, is to highlight the wisdom of the Lord. “Christ is the supreme reason of all things and that man is wise and rational only to the extent that he participates in the wisdom of Christ” (235). A good student acknowledges that the Lord wants to share His knowledge with others.
The material cause of a student is his “intellectual servitude” (226) and his choice to become free under the rule of “Christ, the eternal wisdom” (226).
The formal cause of a student is the understanding of Galileo’s explanation of Copernicus. “The Copernican theory defended by Galileo… is probably but not necessarily true” (232). Campanella understood that Galileo’s conclusion about the earth wandering around the sun and knew that Galileo’s proof had a weak probability and lacked a strong necessity. After all, Galileo discovered that the earth wandered around the sun but he did not prove it. (W. Wallace, Modeling of Nature, 1996, p. 301). Friedrich Bessel proved with strong necessity that the Earth orbits the Sun in 1838. Dominican father William Wallace writes, “Definitive proof of the earth’s revolution around the sun came in 1838 when Friedrich Bessel measure the parallax of star 61 Cygni” (Modeling of Nature, 1996, p. 393).
The principal agent guiding every student, according to Campanella, is the Lord. “Christ is the supreme reason of all things” (235). The Lord wishes to share His knowledge and love with everyone, especially students.
The preparing agent of every student, according to Campanella, is the love of the Lord. If a student wishes to gain “an adequate knowledge of Scripture and science, especially physics and astronomy,” then he “must possess a genuine love of God” (235). In other words, “only the person who loves God or is somehow concerned with Him can truly understand the world” (237). The objection to Campanella's counsel above is to complain that Campanella is “naive” (237) and immature, since “the God hypothesis” (238) is weak. Campanella would respond to the objection by simply saying that it is unfair for a physicist who investigates matter alone to tell a philosopher to stop focusing on spiritual topics. Similarly, it would be unfair for a philosopher who investigates spiritual things to tell a physicist to stop studying material things. “A scientist, as a scientist, is not competent to make statements concerning… the purpose of the world” (238).
The assisting agent to every student of Scripture and science, according to Campanella, is “the need of divine assistance for a full understanding of nature as the book of God” (238). If we ask the Lord for His assistance, when we might receive inspirations from the Holy Spirit to help us understand difficult texts in the Bible and perplexing problems in science.
The instrumental agent of every student, according to Campanella, is memory. Bonansea writes, Campanella was blessed with a “prodigious memory” (217). He wrote, “When I read a book I am so affected by its reading that the very words and content of it remain impressed into my memory almost indefinitely” (233). For example, Bonansea writes, Campanella “wrote most of his works when he was in prison and had no source to consult” (217). Campanella had to write books using his memory, because he was unable to have numerous reference materials on his desk.
The counseling agents for every student, according to Campanella, are Augustine (354-430) and Aquinas (1225-1274), because they “make a clear distinction between a doctrine of faith and a purely scientific or philosophical theory” (224). A doctrine of faith, according to St. Thomas, is brought about by St. Paul when he “proves the resurrection of the dead through the resurrection of Christ.” A doctrine of science, according to St. Thomas, is brought about when “principles in scientific demonstrations are believed more than conclusions” (De Caritate, 9. ad 2). For example, during an eclipse it is easy to acknowledge the shadow on the moon but difficult to acknowledge the conclusion that the earth is blocking the sun’s light.
Campanella used inductive reasoning skills and then inferred two general conclusions by observing numerous scientists and theologians. He concluded that some “theologians are incompetent with scientific matters” and that some scientists are deficient with spiritual matters. Hence, process of induction leads to the conclusion that some theologians and some scientists did get the best preparation in the way that Campanella suggests which is to love the Lord. According to St. John (8:32), “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
History shows that good students who are prepared to understand Scripture and science will receive rough days from bad students who unfamiliar with Scripture and do not understand science. Because of poorly prepared members in “the Holy Office” (206), Campanella “was confined for twenty-seven years in a Neapolitan prison” (206). Some people who did not love the Lord and did not properly prepare to student science and Scripture, Campanella was placed in a prison for twenty-seven years. Similarly, Galileo “was kept for nine years under some form of house arrest, first at Siena and then at his villa in Florence” (206). Both Campanella and Galileo were experts at Scripture and science and were detained by incompetent leaders who pretended to be smarter and more helpful.
An analogy shows the value of preparing to become a good student. Just as a student who understand the Scriptures has the duty to try to understand physics, so, too, the student who understands physics should try to understand the Scriptures. Bonansea writes, “When a scientist transcends the boundaries of his field of investigation and makes statements that go beyond the realm of sensible experience, he steps into an area that has traditionally been reserve for philosophy or theology” (238). It is ethical for a physicist to become disgusted when he learns that a Scripture scholar is denying the existence of the Big Bang theory by using the six days of creation in the Book of Genesis. Similarly, it is ethical for a Scripture Scholar to feel revulsion when he learns that a physicists is denying the existence of the Creator by explaining that chance comes before order. Campanella would recommend to every student that he invests time into studying both Scripture and physics.
A sign that Campanella was a good student was his quick defense of Galileo. In a letter of May 1, 1632, “he reminded Galileo that the ‘Apologia’ [written by Campanella in 1622] was the only work ever to have been printed in his defense” (214). Galileo was punished by the Holy Office on February 26, 1616 and Campanella defended Galileo with an essay called “Apologia” written in February, 1616. Campanella appreciated Scripture and science just like Galileo and knew that Galileo made a small mistake that did not deserve punishment from the Holy Office. What was Galileo’s small mistake? Galileo thought his weak conclusion was strong. It was a simple mistake in reasoning.
The two motives for becoming a good student, according to St. Thomas Aquinas (1224-1274) is “to meditate on the truth belonging to the first principles and …to refute the opposing falsehood" (Summa Contra Gentiles1. 3). St. Thomas gives the analogy of how a student is like a medical practitioner who seeks to bring about health and to prevent disease. Campanella took Aquinas’ counsel to heart and highlighted the need to refute opposing falsehood in order to prevent illness. According to Bonansea, Campanella “was born to defeat the three greatest evils: tyranny, sophistry and hypocrisy” (233). A tyrant is defined as “a person who exercises unlawful or improper authority” (Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, 1966, 2477). Sophistry is defined as “reasoning that is superficially plausible but actually fallacious” (Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, 1966, 2174). And Hypocrisy is defined as “the practice of pretending to be what one is not” (Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, 1966, 1115). The three greatest evils are the results of failing to love the Lord and to trust Him.
Passions are involved with becoming a good student. According to Campanella, a good student “must possess a genuine love of God” (235). After all, the Lord is waiting to fill our hearts will His love every minute of every day of every year. Next, a good student should “have no fear of scientific investigations” (222). Sure, it is difficult to distinguish the various kinds of demonstrations. However, it is fun to see how some methods of proof are found in both the Scriptures and physics. And then there is sadness about the way Campanella was harmed by the Catholic Church. Bonansea writes, “If the appeal of the farsighted Dominican friar had been taken seriously by the responsible authorities, the Catholic Church would have been spared one of the most embarrassing episodes in her history” (237) Because Campanella's brilliance was not acknowledged in 1622, the Catholic Church unfairly punished Galileo and has a bruised reputation among scientists. Of course, a good student who understands both Scripture and science can see the Church’s bruised reputation as a rusty pipe.
I shall now use my personal freedom to review the deliberation above. All the reasons look good. I shall now use my freedom to choose my two favorite reasons. I have decided that I prefer the preparing agent and the assisting agent. I shall now use my freedom to make a logical command. Thomas Campanella is a good role model for every student, because Campanella encourages every student to prepare his studies by “possessing a genuine love of God” (235) and be ready to receive “divine assistance” (238). Yes, a genuine love of God and divine assistance are good.
Final remarks. I admire Thomas Campanella who appreciates Galileo and understands Galileo’s writings about physics and the Scriptures.