Comenian Peace Program

Essential Features of the Peace Program of Jan Amos Comenius

By John Taylor; 2009 Sep 12, Izzat 05, 166 BE

I have written about a dozen essays already on Comenius's peace program this year, and I still have not completely covered the 25th chapter of Panorthosia where he describes the formation of the three world-governing institutions, even going into details of the opening ceremonies. The past couple of days I have been reading over these essays and my other notes on the principle of peace in Panorthosia. Today, let us sum up the most salient features of the Comenian peace program before going into the 25th chapter and those leading up to it in more detail in the near future.

Comenian governance imbues the essentials of human nature into the fabric of world order by means of a system of franchise or affiliation extending from the individual to a world government. Unlike any other political thinker I have heard of, Comenius perceives that although humans are, in Aristotle's words, "the political animal," we are also more than that. As long as we fail to recognize that, we will think of ourselves in narrow, reductive terms. This circumscribed self-image will defeat the very purpose of politics, universality.

"Universal Politics is the light of the human mind so directed to all human affairs that over the entire field of human activities fighting, confusion, and revolution are forbidden, but all things are restored to harmony and contribute their share to the common good of all human society." (Panorthosia, Ch. 13, para 12, p. 205)

We are political animals, but we are also sons and daughters of God, made in His image. Therefore, we must aspire to virtues that transcend mere material benefit, to values that will take us beyond immediate well-being. Before God we are equal and therefore must, in Christ's words, "call no man `master'." He takes this mission statement of Spirit to "call nobody master" as a universal principle meaning not only that there can no single leader at the head of a world government, but also that its committees and senates themselves be divided and dispersed. But there is more. Beyond practical politics and spiritual welfare, human beings are also essentially learners, scientists and teachers -- as Aristotle put it in the opening words of his Metaphysics, "All men desire by nature to know."

Upon these three definitions of what is human, Comenius constructs three institutions of governance, not just for the world level but for each family household, and every level between. A truly ideal way of accomplishing world governance, he said, would be through "three colleges consisting of the most select representatives of mankind..." (Ch. 5, para 25, p. 97) Each would have a separate but complementary technique for establishing enlightenment, salvation and peace.

"The means or instruments of Philosophy are all books of divine and human authorship according to necessity and choice. Nothing is excluded except what is evil, useless, or harmful. Those of Religion are all manner of ceremonies appropriate to the needs of the occasion, as for example in prayer, sitting, standing, kneeling, or bowing the head, etc. Those of Politics are any measures, popular or unpopular, which make for the introduction and maintenance of peace and tranquillity." (Panorthosia, Ch. 13, para 12, pp. 205-206)

He sums up their respective mandates in a simple, three-word motto. For the educational and scientific institution, the College of Light, the byword is, "Light in Things." The slogan for the political parliament is "Peace on Earth," and for the parliament of religions, "Peace of Conscience." Each is charged with expanding the common ground for love and universal agreement among all of us. The scientific wing seeks enlightenment by making a universal philosophy of enlightenment, the political wing is charged with assuring peace by eliminating disputes before they arise and the religious wing or Ecumenical Consistery would help devise the common features of faith that all humans can agree upon. In the tenth chapter of Panorthosia he describes the mottos would help carry this forward.

"Perfect Philosophy will take the form of universal agreement and harmony between Art and Nature, and its end will be LIGHT IN THINGS, and an abundance of them. The test of perfect Politics will be the restoration of human prudence to the certainty of the mechanical arts, and its end will be PEACE ON EARTH, and a quiet life. The seal of perfect Religion will be full agreement between the human will and the Will of God, and its end will be PEACE OF CONSCIENCE, that passeth all understanding, which would be heaven on earth." (Comenius, Panorthosia II, Ch. 10, para 38, pp. 167-168)

::