The Best Intentions Read Free Page A

out a large hand. The students at once realize they are to hand over their examination books. The professor places them in a row on his blotter.
    Professor Sundelius: Which of you gentlemen would like to start? Who’ll take the first shot? As you gentlemen are sure to know, I am considered exacting. Not from pettiness, but from a reasoned attitude, which has brought on me a great many less flattering epithets over the years. Well, never mind about that for the moment. We have far too many lazy, stupid, and ignorant theologians. By making reasonable demands, I am able to help you improve your reputation and raise your status. It is often said that a priest is a spiritual guide, whatever benefit his congregation gains from the good pastor’s knowledge of Boniface VII and his works. That’s a seductive but faulty argument. A thorough knowledge of church history requires industry, interest, a broad view, a good memory, and self-discipline. Qualities that are good for a priest. I hold up a net and ensure that the idiots, the slackers, and the drivelers are caught in it. That’s always a sight to behold, don’t you agree, gentlemen?
    Three bleak smiles and some silent agreement. Then silence. Baltsar, the third man in the trio, clears his throat. There’s not much to say about him. He is one of the diners at “Cold Märta’s” restaurant, is thin, and has a sickly yellowish complexion, protruding eyes, and bad breath.Baltsar is not destined to last long on this earth. In a few years, he will put a cartridge of dynamite into his mouth and explode among the town’s famous fritillaries, right after they’ve burst into bloom. Nothing much is left to bury.
    Professor Sundelius ( soberly ): Good, good, Mr. Bejer. Let us talk about Scholasticism, a broad and sustaining subject, and let us begin with what is called Early Scholasticism, the foremost representatives of which were . . . ?
    Baltsar: Johannes Scotus Erigena, and Anselm of Canterbury. Early Middle Ages. Tenth century.
    Professor Sundelius: Well, yes, roughly. And what was characteristic of those two gentlemen?
    Baltsar: Johannes Erigena maintained that true religion and true philosophy are identical. Anselm of Canterbury said that general concepts, that is, ideas, are realities and not just words. Credo ut intelligam.
    Professor Sundelius: . . . nihil credendum nisi intellectum.
    Baltsar: Anselm did not say that, but his opponent, Abelard, did to some extent. To him, reason played a decisive role. He wanted to limit authoritarian belief, which he thought risky. That meant he acquired powerful enemies.
    Professor Sundelius: Let’s go back to High Scholasticism and Thomas Aquinas for a while. Mr. Bergman, your subject will be the “Apostleship.” Would you name a few of the Apostolic Fathers? Which authors are considered to have been immediate apprentices of the Apostles?
    Henrik: Barnabas.
    Professor Sundelius: That’s right. But there are other very important figures, are there not?
    Henrik: Clemens of Rome. ( Pause .) Polycarpus.
    Professor Sundelius: Three more, Mr. Bergman.
    Henrik: No.
    Professor Sundelius: What is meant by the Apostolic Assembly?
    Henrik: They are the assemblies the Apostles themselves instituted in Rome, Ephesus, and Corinth.
    Professor Sundelius: More?
    Henrik: Ephesus.
    Professor Sundelius: You’ve already mentioned Ephesus.
    Henrik: Alexandria.
    Professor Sundelius: No, but Antioch. Jerusalem.
    Henrik: Yes, of course.
    Professor Sundelius: What is meant by Symbolum Apostolorum?
    Henrik: Something to do with profession of faith. I don’t know any more.
    Henrik studies his nails. The catastrophe is a fact. Baltsar and Justus have stopped breathing. Professor Sundelius says nothing. A drowsy spring fly buzzes in the narrow ray of sunlight coming through the gap in the heavy window draperies.
    Almost thirty seconds vanish into infinity. The professor looks attentively at Candidate Bergman,