Here then for the first time is an age that is linear, unexpected, which
moves towards the future laden with new things, towards adventure. History
becomes possible; it is worth being taken seriously because it is always
presenting the Unexpected. The adventure is unique, just as the life of a
Christian is unique, and man plays his part in it according to his calling,
not according to the dictates of the stars.
By the same token man becomes responsible for his actions and for their
effects upon history. It is to escape from this crushing responsibility - if
it no longer has faith to sustain it - that the European of today is
beginning to turn History into a kind of divinity or inescapable destiny
whose distant intentions only dictators (or leaders of parties in power)
have seen.
***
It is remarkable that Nietzsche, was the first to understand and state
it: Western science could not have been possible without Christianity. It is
significant that Kepler declared: "God's works are worthy to be
contemplated". It is striking that Descartes wrote: "An atheist
could not do physics".
