ght at least have the reservation that he perhaps chose discretion as the better part of valor. But we should not fear to be accused of undue romanticism if we suggest that he was more likely to speak the plain truth of his beliefs to Heloise than to any other human being. Certainly no one could have been in a better position to detect insincerity on his part. Heloise knew precisely the measure of Abelard's reasoning and persuasive powers; he had talked her into his bed, then into marriage, and finally into a convent.
It is worth noting that the letter is a confession of faith, not an apologia for his method. Heloise already knew his method; none knew it better. It is just possible that he intended it to put her mind at ease about him as he drew near to the end of his life, but what would have been the use of falsity at that point, to her of all people? We may justly conclude that, for Abelard, the subtle approach to and interpretation of faith had achieved its intended purpose.
But Bernard and his followers did in their own view have the liberty to see things that way. As a practical man, Bernard was first and foremost concerned for the effect of teaching methods like Abelard's upon the naive and the reckless.
...