The Scholastics
The Scholastics
Where?
The Scholastics
Where? The universities
“scholastics” – in the schools
The Scholastics
Where? The universities -Especially the Sorbonne (the
University of Paris)
The Scholastics
Who?
The Scholastics
Who? Peter Lombard (1105-1160)
The Scholastics
Who? Peter Lombard (1105-1160)
His book: The Sentences
The Scholastics
Who? Peter Lombard (1105-1160)
His book: The Sentences
Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274)
The Scholastics
Who? Peter Lombard (1105-1160)
His book: The Sentences
Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274)
His book: Summa Theologia
The Scholastics
Who? Peter Lombard (1105-1160)
Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274)
Duns Scotus (1265-1308)
The Scholastics
Sources of truth?
The Scholastics
Sources of truth?
•Bible
The Scholastics
Sources of truth?
•Bible
•Tradition (Church Fathers)
The Scholastics
Sources of truth?
•Bible
•Tradition (Church Fathers)
•ARISTOTLE (384-322 BC)
The Scholastics
Goal?
The Scholastics
Goal?
To use Scripture and logic to make
sense of God, man, and the world.
The Scholastics
Method?
The Scholastics
Method?
Reason and dialectic
The Scholastics
The Way of Salvation
The Scholastics
The Way of Salvation
“The death of Christ then justifies
us, when by it love is awakened in
our hearts." (Peter Lombard)
The Humanists
Where?
The Humanists
Where?
Royal courts.
The Humanists
Who?
The Humanists
Who?
Dante, Petrarch (early, Italian)
The Humanists
Who?
Dante, Petrarch (early, Italian)
Erasmus, Reuchlin (late,
continental)
The Humanists
Source of truth?
The Humanists
Source of truth?
Back to the Sources!!
The Humanists
Source of truth?
Back to the Sources!!
•The Bible
The Humanists
Source of truth?
Back to the Sources!!
•The Bible
•Classical (Greek and Latin) authors
The Humanists
Goal?
The Humanists
Goal?
To get rid of myths, traditions, and
silly Scholastic arguments, and get
back to basic Christianity.
The Humanists
Goal?
To get rid of myths, traditions, and silly
Scholastic arguments, and get back to
basic Christianity.
i.e., MORALITY & ETHICS.
The Humanists
Method?
Language and literature study
The Humanists
Way of Salvation
Do your best, and grace will “kick
in.”
The Humanists
Way of Salvation
Do your best, and grace will “kick in.”
(But righteous pagans are in
heaven!)
The Mystics
The Mystics
Who?
The Mystics
Who?
Meister Eckhardt (1260-1327)
The Mystics
Who?
Meister Eckhardt (1260-1327)
John Tauler (1300-1361)
The Mystics
Where?
The Mystics
Where?
Monasteries.
The Mystics
Where?
Monasteries,
though some were wandering
preachers.
The Mystics
Sources of truth?
•Bible
The Mystics
Sources of truth?
•Bible
•Tradition
The Mystics
Sources of truth?
•Bible
•Tradition
•Direct illumination
The Mystics
Goal?
The Mystics
Goal?
A direct, unmediated experience of
God.
The Mystics
Method?
The Mystics
Method?
Private prayer and contemplation.
The Mystics
Way of Salvation
The Mystics
Way of Salvation
Through a mystical experience, the
soul is absorbed into the Divine.
The Common People
Who? Where?
Everybody, all over the place. That’s
why we call them common people.
Why do you ask such ridiculous
questions? Huh?
The Common People
Sources of truth
The Common People
Sources of truth
•The Bible (though many can’t read)
The Common People
Sources of truth
•The Bible (though many can’t read)
•The Church
–The Sunday service (liturgy,
preaching)
The Common People
Sources of truth
•The Bible (though many can’t read)
•The Church
–Traditions, holidays, legends about
saints, etc.
The Common People
Goal
Survival.
The Common People
Goal & method
Survival. Let the professionals
(priests, monks, and nuns) take care
of religion for you. Just do what they
tell you and don’t worry about it.
The Common People
Way of Salvation
If you do your part, God will do his.
Scholastic, Humanist, or Mystic?
Third, it [theology] proceeds to the contemplation
of truth in questions of Sacred Scripture; and to
this purpose the method should be that of
arguments.
Scholastic, Humanist, or Mystic?
Third, it [theology] proceeds to the contemplation
of truth in questions of Sacred Scripture; and to
this purpose the method should be that of
arguments.
Scholastic (Thomas Aquinas)
Scholastic, Humanist, or Mystic?
When we turn away from ourselves and from
all created things, to that extent we are united
and sanctified in the soul's spark, which is
untouched by either space or time. This spark
is opposed to all creatures and desires nothing
but God.
Scholastic, Humanist, or Mystic?
When we turn away from ourselves and from
all created things, to that extent we are united
and sanctified in the soul's spark, which is
untouched by either space or time. This spark
is opposed to all creatures and desires nothing
but God.
Mystic (Meister Eckhart)
Scholastic, Humanist, or Mystic?
I have turned my entire attention to Greek. The
first thing I shall do, as soon as the money arrives,
is to buy some Greek authors; after that, I shall
buy clothes.
Scholastic, Humanist, or Mystic?
I have turned my entire attention to Greek. The
first thing I shall do, as soon as the money arrives,
is to buy some Greek authors; after that, I shall
buy clothes.
Humanist (Erasmus)
Scholastic, Humanist, or Mystic?
Blessedness consists primarily in the fact that
the soul sees God in herself.
Scholastic, Humanist, or Mystic?
Blessedness consists primarily in the fact that
the soul sees God in herself.
Mystic (Meister Eckhart)
Scholastic, Humanist, or Mystic?
It is an unscrupulous intellect that does not pay to
antiquity its due reverence.
Scholastic, Humanist, or Mystic?
It is an unscrupulous intellect that does not pay to
antiquity its due reverence.
Humanist (Erasmus)
Scholastic, Humanist, or Mystic?
God ordained human nature to attain the end of
eternal life not by its own strength, but by the
help of grace, and in this way its act can be
deserving of eternal life.
Scholastic, Humanist, or Mystic?
God ordained human nature to attain the end of
eternal life not by its own strength, but by the
help of grace, and in this way its act can be
deserving of eternal life.
Scholastic (Thomas Aquinas)