Modernism- A Scholarly Affair

Contemporary, latter-day and newfangled. It is to the optimist the very inception of an era of advance and prosperity. To the critically minded, a cessation of the values that formulate the very essence of intellect, culture and the richest of customs. An evident line of innovation on both the social and political fronts, a critically acclaimed facet of the international community, the definitive rebirth. An advent of upheaval and revolutionary feat bound by a passion to conquer heights never before ventured. Modernism is truly an examinable facet of the arts, the humanities and the vast circles of intellectuals. A concept shrouded with both doubt and skepticism, yet continues to exhibit a vividly vibrant means of gazing back onto the shortcomings of the past and instigating stances to institutionalise a promising future. While it may be approached with a critical mind, particularly pertaining to the implications it proposes upon the essences of tradition and convention that are envisioned as noble products of the ancient, historic and memorable periods; modernism holds profound impressions upon the intellectual sphere, with controversy stemming from all four corners of the globe. It is the establishment and ordaining of modernism that is held guilty of diminishing and devaluing the assets of tradition we hold central to the spirit of man and the psyche. Scholarly figures have either arisen in recognition and regard or deflated with devaluation and little acclaim with the progress of modernistic sentiment, especially the theological and spiritual facets. It is held with fundamental truth in many circles that the preservation of a scholar, as both a figure of intellectual and spiritual proportions, is heavily dependant on the revival and survival of a traditionalist education. Crafted from the venerable principles of wisdom and spirituality, the traditionalist education consistently dominates the intelectual circles, dictating their stances, providing a means and preserving the conventions that arte upheld with adherence and regard. The modernist ideology finds much opposition and rivalry concerning the feasibility of a traditionalist education. Combating the relevance, practicality and viability of tradition, envisioning modernism as an end to a means, the route towards a road of flourishing thought and contemplation. Regardless of ones stances, whether traditionalist or modernist, one must recognise the cruciality of the purest of substance, the very essence of the theology, the spirit and the faith. It is the wisdom propagated by both schools that is gelatinous, mouldable, variable and ever-changeable. The essence remains constant, uniform and absolute. A permanent manifestation of a single-saving truth, an accesible and attainable reality. The essence of the theology, faith and spirituality is readily and all-too often  unacknowledged, disregarded; with the schools of thought, whether modern or traditional, from which they derive attacked and subject to merciless criticism. Such a collective and mass disregard is the culmination of sheer ignorance and narrow-mindedness, short-comings that fuel and dictate the incomprehension of this single, saving essence. For if a scholarly figure approaches the theological fronts without a comprehension of the essence of spirituality, he becomes no more superior that the laborer who has attained a higher order of comprehension. So in turn, this feud between the likes of the Traditionalist and the Modernist is predominately a complaint of scholarly proportions. One perpetuated by the ever evolving thought of those scholars that have attained a degree of modernism, but continue to regard and uphold with the most sincere of sincerity the very essences of the theology and spirituality.