Lesson 24 - Theology and Universities

EARLY SCHOLASTICISM

BERENGAR OF TOURS (+1088)

-   Ruprecht of Deutz (+1135) was still within the old tradition but Berengar of Tours (+1088) open a new field

-   Berengar denied the real presence of the body of Christ. He held that the bread and wine are mere symbols which were not changed in consecration, but only received supernatural strength.

-   In 1079, Tome rejected his doctrine and he submitted to the decision.

-   The 4^th Lateran Council (1215)   decided that the consecration on Holy Mass effected a real change  of essence à transubstantiation.

ANSELM OF CANTERBURY (+1109)

-   Father of Scholasticism – he applied reason tremendously to the clarification of faith.

-   Reason cannot explain truth more than it is but makes truth more comprehensible to us.

-   Faith could be supported by the intellect , and in fact required it: fides quaerens intellectum (Faith seeking understanding).

-   Classical words of Anselm:   “Quod Deus Homo?” (Why did become a man?)

-   Existence of God can be shown not only through revelation but also by the use of the intellect à Ontological demonstration of the existence of God.

-   In the doctrine of redemption and Christology, he went a new way à Doctrine of Satisfaction

PETER ABELARD (1079-1142)

-       dialectical and critical method of Sic et non (Yes and No) blurred the lines between faith and knowledge.

-       He opposed Bernard of Clairvaux at the Synod of Sens (1141) and a number of his proposition were rejected.

GRATIAN (+1158)

-   Father of Canonics

-   camaldolese monk who compiled and codified church laws (canones)

-   his Concordantia Discordantium Canonum (later simply Decretum Gratiani) became the matrix if the Corpus Juris Canonici, which until 1918 remain the authoritative lawcode of the Church. Revised in 1983.

-   additions to the Decretum Gratiani 

a.   Liber Extra Decretum by Gregory IX (1234)

b.   Liber Sextus Decretalium by Boniface VIII (1298)

c.   Constitutiones Clementinae (1317)

d.   Extravagantes i.e. papal decrees of later times

PETER LOMBARD ((+1160)

-           Lecturer at Universioty of Paris and future bishop

-           He wrote the Sentences (Sententiarum Libri IV)

HIGH SCHOLASTICISM

AVICENNA (+1037), AVERROES (+1198), and MAIMONIDES (+1204)

-       Through these Arab and Jewish  thinkers, the West learned more about the Greek philosopher Aristotle.

ALBERT THE GREAT (+1280)

-       Doctor Universalis- a scholar of universal erudition

-       “ The wisest of the saints and the most saintly of the wise”

-       He taught in Cologne and Paris and was the professor of Thomas Aquinas in Paris (1243-1247)

-       Thomas Aquinas accompanied him in Cologne to found the Studium Generale

-       First to apply systematically the Aristotelian philosophical and Theological method to Christian Theology.

THOMAS AQUINAS ((+1274)

-       Doctor Angelicus-  most gifted Theologian of the middl;e ages, mystic and saint.

-       He was born in Rocca sicca in 1226/1227 and entered OP in 1244

-       He taught in Rome, Paris, and Naples.

-       His works: Summa Theologiae, Summa Contra Gentiles, Quaestiones Quodlibetales, Quaestiones Disputatae, Commentaries on the Holy scripture, Aristotle, etc.

MEISTER ECHART (+1328)

BONAVENTURE (+1274)

-       Doctor Seraphicus – his Theology is influenced by mysticism

-       He was born in 1217/1218 near Viterbo and entered the OFM in 1243.

-       He studied and taught together with Thomas Aquinas in Paris

-       Augustinian and Platonic thought

-       His Works: Breviloquium (1275) – a compendium of dogmatics

  Itinerarium mentis ad Deum (1259) – devotional and mystical

Vita maior S. Francisci – to relieve tensions between conventuals and spirituals

-       While Thomas Aquinas worked principally with the intellect, Bonaventure was more influenced by the will i.e. knowledge of God is Thomas’ concern, his concern is love of God

DUNS SCOTUS (+1308)

-       Last great figure of the High Scholasticism

-       He was born in 1265 in Scotland

-       A professor in Paris and Cologne

-       Mary’s immaculate conception is prior redemption by Christ

-       He emphasizes the primacy of the will, freedom and love.

CREATION OF THE UNIVERSITIES

-           Universities were the center of Theological studies and science

-   1200 – professors in Paris formed a corporation à Universitas Magistrorum – Gregory IX gave the corporation independence from Bishop (1231) and granted numerous privileges

-   A Universitas developed in Bologna but here the students conducted the incorporation à Universitas Scholarium

-   Many of such corporations were formed and were simply called Universities

-           The University of Paris is the “Mother of Sciences” with the greatest prestige and number of students

-           There were monastic schools, collegiate schools, and cathedral schools but not universal

-   Robert de Sorbon (1258) founded a college for poor students of Theology. La Sorbone de Paris à   College of Theology for poor students.

-           Paris à Philosophy and Theology; Bologna à law; Padua à Medicine

-   Philosophical faculty (facultas atrium) is a prerequisite in choosing a specialty: Theology, law or medicine

STUDIUM PARTICULARE vs. STUDIUM UNIVERSALE

-   Unlike local schools (Studium particulare), the universities were characterized by accepting students and tutors from everywhere and their degrees were universally recognized in the Christian west (Studium Universale)  

CONCLUSION

-   University studies were regarded as an independent Third Power in addition to Sacerdotium and Imperium

-   Cologne canon Alexander of Roes in his clever parable of the Pavo in 1284 attributed the sacerdotium to the Italians, the imperium to the Germans, and the studium to the French, as particular functions of these people in the service of the western community.

-   The acquisition of a doctoral degree from one of these universities meant equality with the nobility. Learning truly ennobled a person!