«It is necessary to sail; to live, it is not»

Abstract

 This article claims that the great cultural transformation that be­gan in the fourteenth century with Nominalism, and that eventually configu­red Modernity, changed man’s attitude towards life. Basically, instead of be­ing seen as a gift, life is seen as a right (the first one). Everything —including religion— is subordinated to life. As long as Modernity keeps this ideal of life, modernity will be reluctant to Christian values, and Christians are at risk of diluting and disfiguring the evangelical message by trying to live in this world as if they are not intellectually formed from the sources of their tradition.