Scholastic Theology .........................................................................

Lecture 16

Paris was the place to be in the 13th century where the greatest minds

congregated in the University of Paris, including one of the greatest

minds who ever lived, Thomas Aquinas, the great Roman Catholic

theologian, the great scholastic medieval theologian. Scholastic

theologian is a title for people like Thomas who were university

professors, and universities were a relatively new development in

Western culture.

W

hat was most unprecedented in Western medieval theology
was its scholasticism. Scholasticism, meaning the theology
of the schools, was theology taught not by bishops or monks
but by university professors, like Thomas Aquinas. Medieval scholastic
theology wedded Christian faith and critical reasoning in a deep new way.
The logic of Aristotle was rediscovered and further developed beginning
in the 12th century. The goal of Aristotelian logic was to produce a science
set out in deductive proofs. The favored manner of teaching and writing in
scholasticism was by way of logical disputation. Apparent contradictions
between various authorities within the Christian tradition were identi¿ ed
and, if possible, reconciled. The “authorities” for the medieval theologians,
meant authoritative books, most importantly the Bible, but also the church
fathers and Aristotle, whom Aquinas called “the Philosopher.”

In one of the major achievements of scholasticism, Aquinas develops an
account of how we may say things about an incomprehensible God based
on the concept of analogy. The problem for Aquinas is how we may reason
about a simple God. The simplicity of God means that every attribute of God
(Goodness, Wisdom, Justice, etc.) is identical with God, and thus with every
other attribute. Metaphors such as “God is a rock” are legitimate because
they are used in scripture, but they do not support logical deductions. The
difference between metaphor and analogy is the difference between “God is
a rock” and “God is Good”—from the latter we make deductions like “God
is Just.”