The more truth, the more durable the civilization. The corollary is that the best guide to truth is the past, since if you study successful civilizations, you will find truth at their core. This fit neatly with the idea that it was possible to integrate pagan philosophy into Christianity, since both are expressions of the same truth. (The idea that there might be different truths for different people would have been seen as ridiculous, because truth was seen as that which corresponds to reality, and reality does not vary from person to person; it is simply the way God made the world and how it
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