Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

📚 Dunblane's historic Leighton Library @leightonlibrary.bsky.social · 15h

/…The fact that she wrote down virtually everything that happened to her during her religious life means invaluable & exceedingly rare medical record from 16th century has been preserved

🚶Visit Dunblane's historic Leighton Library
📅 Open Mon-Sat
🕚 11am-4pm
🆓 Free admission

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📚 Dunblane's historic Leighton Library @leightonlibrary.bsky.social · 15h

/…death in 1622, Teresa was canonized by Pope Gregory XV. In 1970 Pope Paul VI proclaimed Teresa first female Doctor of Church (given by Catholic Church to saints recognized as having made significant contribution to theology or doctrine through research, study, or writing)…/

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📚 Dunblane's historic Leighton Library @leightonlibrary.bsky.social · 15h

/…mystic & religious reformer

In her autobiography, written 1562-1565 as defence of her ecstatic mystical experiences, she discerns 4 stages in ascent of soul to God: mental prayer & meditation; prayer of quiet; absorption-in-God; ecstatic consciousness

40 years after her…/

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📚 Dunblane's historic Leighton Library @leightonlibrary.bsky.social · 15h

Today is the Feast Day of Teresa of Ávila, OCD, Saint Teresa of Jesus. Dunblane's historic Leighton Library has 1649 3-volume 2nd edition of "Las obras de la S. madre Teresa de Jesus" - autobiography of Saint Teresa of Jesus

She was Spanish Carmelite nun & prominent Spanish…/👇

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📚 Dunblane's historic Leighton Library @leightonlibrary.bsky.social · 1d

This was before he founded Pennsylvania, & before his ideas helped shape American Constitution

🚶Visit Dunblane's historic Leighton Library
📅 Open Mon-Sat
🕚 11am-4pm
🆓 Free admission (donations invited)

#ScotlandIsCalling #VisitScotland #ExploreScotland #ScotlandIsNow

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📚 Dunblane's historic Leighton Library @leightonlibrary.bsky.social · 1d

/…He traced these rights back to ancient traditions, showing they weren’t new ideas - but old ones worth defending

This was activism. He was jailed multiple times for his beliefs, & was part of his campaign to persuade rulers & citizens that liberty & peace go hand in hand…/

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📚 Dunblane's historic Leighton Library @leightonlibrary.bsky.social · 1d

/…Penn laid out 3 key rights he believed were birthright of every English citizen:
1. Ownership of property without fear of arbitrary seizure
2. Participation in lawmaking, so people help shape rules governing them
3. Trial by jury, ensuring justice applied fairly & locally…/

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📚 Dunblane's historic Leighton Library @leightonlibrary.bsky.social · 1d

/…only thrive if embraced religious tolerance & civil liberty.
He argued:
• People to be free to worship as conscience dictates
• Government should protect, not punish, those who live peacefully with different beliefs
• Loyalty to crown doesn’t need religious uniformity…/

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📚 Dunblane's historic Leighton Library @leightonlibrary.bsky.social · 1d

/…at time when England was deeply divided. It was call for tolerance in tense time

Penn wrote this during period of religious strife, when dissenters (like Quakers, including Penn himself) were persecuted for not conforming to Church of England. His message was England could…/

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📚 Dunblane's historic Leighton Library @leightonlibrary.bsky.social · 1d

/…of Government", with assistance of others, adding his own revolutionary idea to ideas borrowed from elsewhere – use of amendments – to enable a written framework that could evolve with changing times

It speaks directly to heart of political fairness & religious freedom…/

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📚 Dunblane's historic Leighton Library @leightonlibrary.bsky.social · 1d

Dunblane's historic Leighton Library has 1675 edition of "England's present interest discovered with honour to the prince, & safety to the people" by founder of North American colony, Province of Pennsylvania, William Penn, born #OnThisDay 1644

He created his "Framework…/👇

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📚 Dunblane's historic Leighton Library @leightonlibrary.bsky.social · 2d

/…His work helped shape:
• Early Enlightenment thought across Europe
• Development of international law
• Ideas that influenced American & French Revolutions

🚶Visit Dunblane's historic Leighton Library
📅 Open Mon-Sat
🕚 11am-4pm
🆓 Free admission (donations invited)

📚 Dunblane's historic Leighton Library @leightonlibrary.bsky.social · 2d

/…a fair government or a just society?

Pufendorf believed that humans are naturally social & peace - not war - is our natural state. He argued laws & duties should be grounded in reason & shared human nature, not just divine command or royal decree…/

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📚 Dunblane's historic Leighton Library @leightonlibrary.bsky.social · 2d

What does it mean to be good citizen?
How do we balance personal freedom with social duty?
Can reason guide us toward justice?

What duties do we owe to ourselves, to others, & to society?
How do we live ethically without relying only on religion or tradition?
• What makes…/

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📚 Dunblane's historic Leighton Library @leightonlibrary.bsky.social · 2d

/…according to natural law. It is a gem of Enlightenment thinking - & bridge between philosophy & everyday life

Pufendorf helped lay groundwork for thinking about rights, responsibilities, & role of government in way that still resonates. His work invites us to ask…/

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📚 Dunblane's historic Leighton Library @leightonlibrary.bsky.social · 2d

Dunblane's historic Leighton Library has 1724 edition of "De officio hominis et civis, juxta legem naturalem" by German jurist, political philosopher, economist, statesman, & historian Baron Samuel von Pufendorf who died #OnThisDay 1694

This is treatise on duty of citizen…/👇

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📚 Dunblane's historic Leighton Library @leightonlibrary.bsky.social · 3d

/…🚶Visit Dunblane's historic Leighton Library
📅 Open Monday to Saturday
🕚 11am-4pm
🆓 Free admission (donations invited)

#Scotland #ScotlandIsCalling #VisitScotland #ExploreScotland #ScotlandIsNow

📚 Dunblane's historic Leighton Library @leightonlibrary.bsky.social · 3d

/…borrowed from Jewish mysticism

More was part of group called Cambridge Platonists, who believed that faith & reason could work together

Book is More’s blend of science, spirituality, & scripture - decoding Bible using mix of logic, imagination, & spiritual insight…/

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📚 Dunblane's historic Leighton Library @leightonlibrary.bsky.social · 3d

/…More asked:
• What if we looked at it literally (as it’s written)?
• What if we explored it philosophically (using reason & big ideas)?
• What if we tried to understand it mystically (as spiritual or moral message)?

He called these three approaches “Cabbalas” - a term…/

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📚 Dunblane's historic Leighton Library @leightonlibrary.bsky.social · 3d

Dunblane's historic Leighton Library has 1653 first edition of "Conjectura cabbalistica" by English philosopher & prolific writer of verse & prose Henry More, born #OnThisDay 1614

Book is exploration of deeper meaning behind story of creation in Genesis…/👇

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📚 Dunblane's historic Leighton Library @leightonlibrary.bsky.social · 3d

/…🚶Visit Dunblane's historic Leighton Library
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Scotland's oldest purpose-built independent library
📅 Open Monday to Saturday
🕚 11am-4pm
🆓 Free admission (donations invited)

#Scotland #ScotlandIsCalling #VisitScotland #ExploreScotland #ScotlandIsNow

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📚 Dunblane's historic Leighton Library @leightonlibrary.bsky.social · 3d

Enjoy watching a new video from Bruce Fummey of Scotland History Tours about some of the banned books in Dunblane’s historic Leighton Library, with a particular focus on one by Robert Leighton’s father, Alexander Leighton

▶️ youtu.be/xZBrPp737V0
…/👇

The Most DANGEROUS Book in Scotland's Oldest Library

YouTube video by Scotland History Tours

youtu.be

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📚 Dunblane's historic Leighton Library @leightonlibrary.bsky.social · 4d

/…Enlightenment-era debate about reason versus faith, whether universe has purpose, or whether science leaves room for spirituality

🚶Visit Dunblane's historic Leighton Library
📅 Open Mon-Sat
🕚 11am-4pm
🆓 Free admission (donations invited)

#Scotland #ScotlandIsCalling

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📚 Dunblane's historic Leighton Library @leightonlibrary.bsky.social · 4d

/…belief in God, soul, & divine order using elegant Latin verse

Polignac wrote in Latin, continuing tradition of scholarly poetry. His verses are admired for their style. Book embodies key moment in European thought - when science, religion & philosophy were part of broader…/

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📚 Dunblane's historic Leighton Library @leightonlibrary.bsky.social · 4d

/…defence of Epicurean philosophy. He argued that everything is made of atoms, that soul dies with body, & that gods don’t interfere with world - all quite radical for ancient Rome

Polignac didn’t agree with that. So he wrote Anti-Lucretius, poetic counterattack, to defend…/

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