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A
Teacher's Defense Against His Disciple
by Roscelin
You assert, I be excluded from Christianity. I
have been educated in the schools of the churches
of Soissons and Rheims, as can be testified. Rome,
the capital of the world, has friendlily received
me, and listened to my words with great joy. In
Tours where I was canon, you have been sitting at
my feet as my humblest disciple as long as you have
stayed in that town....
I am very said that you have called me the
persecutor of good men. Maybe, I am not good; but I
have always revered good men....I will not justify
myself, because, if I were seeking for my own
glory, my glory would be nothing....
If I have somewhat lapsed in my words and
deviated from truth, I would not obstinately defend
either words or assertion, but I am always more
prepared to learn than to teach....Words are only
breaths of the voice.
Excerpted from Rescelin's
Letter to Abelard
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Philosophy
in the Middle Ages, by Arthur Hyman
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