On the ethical side, Abélard’s theses (in their context in his works) are truly remarkable. Thus the third, ‘That God can only do those things which He actually does, and in the way and at the time that He does them,’ and the seventh, ‘That God is not bound to prevent evil,’ are obviously indications of an ethical attempt to save the sanctity of the Infinite in view of the triumph of evil. ‘That Christ did not become Man for the purpose of saving us from the yoke of the devil’ is an early formulation of the familiar modern conception of the Incarnation. ‘That God does not do more for the elect, before they accept his grace, than for the damned,’ and ‘That we have shared the punishment but not the guilt of Adam,’ are further clear anticipations of the refined theology of modern times. ‘No man can sin before he exists,’ said Abélard, to Bernard’s mighty indignation. ‘That God alone remits sin’ is heretical to the modern Catholic, but the dogma was not completely born until the following century;[30] ‘that evil thoughts, and even pleasure, are not of themselves sinful, but only the consent given to them,’ and ‘that the Jews who crucified Christ in ignorance did not sin, that acts which are done in ignorance cannot be sinful,’ express the universal opinion of even modern Catholic theologians, in the sense in which Abélard held them. [30] And the thesis is rejected in Abélard’s _Apology_. And ‘these,’ wrote Bernard, with fine contempt, to his friend, Pope Innocent, ‘are the chief errors of the theology, or rather the stultilogy, of Peter Abélard.’ CHAPTER XIII THE FINAL BLOW On the 4th of June 1141, the cathedral at Sens was filled with one of the strangest throngs that ever gathered within its venerable walls. Church and state and the schools had brought their highest representatives and their motley thousands to witness the thrilling conflict of the two first thinkers and orators of France. On the previous day the magnificent ceremony of the veneration of the relics had taken place. At that ceremony the abbot of Clairvaux had discoursed of the meaning and potency of their act. And when the vast crowds of gentle and simple folk had quickened and sobbed and enthused at his burning words, he had ventured to ask their prayers for the conversion of an unbeliever, whom he did not name.