MEDIEVAL HISTORY

1
MEDIEVAL HISTORY

• Thomas Aquinas

2
Church history. . .

• Romans 829 29 For those whom he foreknew he
  also predestined to be conformed to the image of
  his Son, in order that he might be the first-born
  among many brethren.
• Zechariah 1.3 Therefore say to them, Thus says
  the LORD of hosts Return to me, says the LORD of
  hosts, and I will return to you, says the LORD of
  hosts.

3
G. K. Chesterton 1874-1936
4
You call him a dumb ox I tell you that the dumb
ox will bellow so loud that his bellowing will
fill the world. Albertus Magnus
(1193-1280) Canonized 1323 Doctor of the
Church 1567 (Definitive) Teacher of the Church
1879
5
Quaestio

• Whether, besides philosophy, any further doctrine
  is required? Ia q. 1 a. 1

6
Videtur quod

• Objection 1. It seems that, besides philosophical
  science,
• we have no need of any further knowledge. For man
• should not seek to know what is above reason
  Seek not
• the things that are too high for thee (Ecclus
  Sirach. 322). But
• whatever is not above reason is fully treated of
  in philosophical
• science. Therefore any other knowledge besides
• philosophical science is superfluous.
• Objection 2. Further, knowledge can be concerned
• only with being, for nothing can be known, save
  what
• is true and all that is, is true. But everything
  that is, is
• treated of in philosophical scienceeven God
  Himself
• so that there is a part of philosophy called
  theology, or
• the divine science, as Aristotle has proved
  (Metaph. vi).
• Therefore, besides philosophical science, there
  is no need
• of any further knowledge.

7
Sed contra

• On the contrary, It is written (2 Tim. 316)
  All
• Scripture, inspired of God is profitable to
  teach, to reprove, to correct, to instruct in
  justice. Now Scripture, inspired of God, is no
  part of philosophical science, which has been
  built up by human reason. Therefore it is useful
  that besides philosophical science, there should
  be other knowledge, i.e. inspired of God.

8
Responsio

• I answer that, It was necessary for mans
  salvation
• that there should be a knowledge revealed by God
  besides
• philosophical science built up by human reason.
  Firstly,
• indeed, because man is directed to God, as to an
  end that
• surpasses the grasp of his reason The eye hath
  not seen,
• O God, besides Thee, what things Thou hast
  prepared for
• them that wait for Thee (Is. 664). But the end
  must first
• be known by men who are to direct their thoughts
  and
• actions to the end. Hence it was necessary for
  the salvation
• of man that certain truths which exceed human
  reason
• should be made known to him by divine revelation.
  Even as regards those truths about God which
  human reason
• could have discovered, it was necessary that man
  should
• be taught by a divine revelation because the
  truth about
• God such as reason could discover, would only be
  known
• by a few, and that after a long time, and with
  the admixture
• of many errors.

9
(Responsio) reply to objections

• Objection 1. It seems that, besides philosophical
  science,
• we have no need of any further knowledge. For man
• should not seek to know what is above reason
  Seek not
• the things that are too high for thee (Ecclus.
  322). But
• whatever is not above reason is fully treated of
  in philosophical
• science. Therefore any other knowledge besides
• philosophical science is superfluous.

• Reply to Objection 1. Although those things which
• are beyond mans knowledge may not be sought for
  by
• man through his reason, nevertheless, once they
  are revealed
• by God, they must be accepted by faith. Hence the
• sacred text continues, For many things are shown
  to thee
• above the understanding of man (Ecclus. 325).
  And in
• this, the sacred science consists

10
(Responsio) reply to objections

• Objection 2. Further, knowledge can be concerned
• only with being, for nothing can be known, save
  what
• is true and all that is, is true. But everything
  that is, is
• treated of in philosophical scienceeven God
  Himself
• so that there is a part of philosophy called
  theology, or
• the divine science, as Aristotle has proved
  (Metaph. vi).
• Therefore, besides philosophical science, there
  is no need
• of any further knowledge.

• Reply to Objection 2. Sciences are differentiated
  according
• to the various means through which knowledge is
• obtained. For the astronomer and the physicist
  both may
• prove the same conclusion that the earth, for
  instance, is round the astronomer by means of
  mathematics (i.e.abstracting from matter), but
  the physicist by means of matter itself. Hence
  there is no reason why those things which may be
  learned from philosophical science, so far
• as they can be known by natural reason, may not
  also be
• taught us by another science so far as they fall
  within revelation.
• Hence theology included in sacred doctrine
  differs
• in kind from that theology which is part of
  philosophy

11
Two Characteristics

• 1. The problematic role of authority
• 2. Spirit of moderation

12
Peter Abelard (1179-1142)
13
Abelard and Heloise (J. Vignaud 1819)

• Brittany 1079
• Heloise (1115) neice of Fulbert, canon of Notre
  Dame
• Astrolabe
• Benedictine
• Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153)
• Historia calamitatum

14

• Men call me chaste. They do not know the
  hypocrite I am. . .Lewd visions take such a hold
  upon my unhappy soul that my thoughts are on
  their wantonness instead of on prayers. I should
  be groaning over the sins I have committed, but I
  can only sigh for that which I have lost. . .It
  was not any sense of vocation which brought me
  here as a young girl to accept the austerities of
  the cloister, but your bidding alone. . .I can
  expect no reward for this from God, for it is
  certain that I have done nothing as yet for love
  of Him. . .I would have no hesitation, God knows,
  in following you or going ahead at your bidding
  to the flames of hell. . .If Augustus, emperor of
  the whole world, saw fit to honor me with
  marriage and conferred all the earth on me to
  possess forever, it would be dearer and more
  honorable to me to be called not his empress, but
  your whore.
• Letters of Abelard and Heloise

15
SIC ET NON (1120)(chrestomathy)

• There are many seeming contradictions and even
  obscurities in the innumerable writings of the
  church fathers. Our respect for their authority
  should not stand in the way of an effort on our
  part to come at the truth. The obscurity and
  contradictions in ancient writings may be
  explained upon many grounds, and may be
  discussed without impugning the good faith and
  insight of the fathers. A writer may use
  different terms to mean the same thing, in order
  to avoid a monotonous repetition of the same
  word. Common, vague words may be employed in
  order that the common people may understand and
  sometimes a writer sacrifices perfect accuracy in
  the interest of a clear general statement.
  Poetical, figurative language is often obscure
  and vague.
• Prologue

16
Abelards Rules

• Is it authentic?
• Did the Father change or retract?
• Search out the diversity of intentions
• Note the context of the writing
• Are words being used differently?
• Some cases cannot be resolved comparisons should
  then be undertaken.

17
Aristotle Rediscovered 1140-1270

• Syria after the First Crusade (after 1095)
  Antioch Stephen of Antioch (Pisa)first half of
  the twelfth century
• Constantinople (Pisa and Venice)
• Sicily
• Spain (Raymond 1126-51) Toledo

18
Aristotle

• The notion of Being
• Substance and accident
• Nature and essence
• Matter and form (hylomorphist)
• Act and potency
• Essence and existence
• Causation Quotations from Physics II.3, 194b24
  ff
• Material cause that from which, ltas a
  constituentgt present in it, a thing comes to be
  e.g., the bronze and silver, and their genera,
  are causes of the statue and the bowl.
• Formal cause the form, i.e., the pattern the
  form is the account of the essence and the
  parts of the account.
• Efficient cause the source of the primary
  principle of change or stability, e.g., the man
  who gives advice, the father (of the child). The
  producer is a cause of the product, and the
  initiator of the change is a cause of what is
  changed.
• Final cause somethings end (telos)i.e., what
  it is foris its cause, as health is ltthe causegt
  of walking.
• Universals in re, ante rem, post rem
• Realism/Nominalism

19
Aquinas at Work

• Predestination
• Justification
• War

20
Predestination

• The teaching of Aquinas concerning the moral and
  spiritual order stands in sharp contrast to all
  views, ancient or modern, which cannot do justice
  to the difference between the divine and the
  creaturely without appearing to regard them as
  essentially antagonistic as well as
  discontinuous.
• Fairweather, Aquinas on Nature and Grace, 21.
• Etienne Gilson (1884-1978) Reason and Revelation
  in the Middle Ages (1937)
• Theologism
• Rationalism

21

• Whether men are predestined by God? Ia q. 23 a. 1

22
Augustine and Double Predestination

• when the intelligent creation, both angelic and
  human, sinned, doing not His will but their own,
  He used the very will of the creature which was
  working in opposition to the Creator's will as an
  instrument for carrying out His will, the
  supremely Good thus turning to good account even
  what is evil, to the condemnation of those whom
  in His justice He has predestined to punishment,
  and to the salvation of those whom in His mercy
  He has predestined to grace. For, as far as
  relates to their own consciousness, these
  creatures did what God wished not to be done but
  in view of God's omnipotence, they could in no
  wise effect their purpose. For in the very fact
  that they acted in opposition to His will, His
  will concerning them was fulfilled.
• Enchiridion (written after 420) 100

23
Whether the foreknowledge of merits is the cause
of predestination? Ia q. 23 a. 5

• Yet why He chooses some for glory, and reprobates
  (damns) others, has no
• reason, except the divine will. Whence Augustine
  says
• (Tract. xxvi. in Joan.) Why He draws one, and
  another
• He draws not, seek not to judge, if thou dost not
  wish to
• err. Thus too, in the things of nature, a reason
  can be
• assigned, since primary matter is altogether
  uniform, why
• one part of it was fashioned by God from the
  beginning
• under the form of fire, another under the form of
  earth,
• that there might be a diversity of species in
  things of nature.
• Yet why this particular part of matter is under
  this
• particular form, and that under another, depends
  upon the
• simple will of God. . .In things which are given
  gratuitously, a person
• can give more or less, just as he pleases
  (provided he deprives
• nobody of his due), without any infringement of
• justice. This is what the master of the house
  said Take
• what is thine, and go thy way. Is it not lawful
  for me to do
• what I will? (Mat. 2014,15). (Fairweather, 111)

24
Anselm, Cur Deus Homo

• The will of God should be good enough reason for
  us when he does anything, even though we cannot
  see why he wills it. For the will of God is never
  irrational.
• Eugene Fairweather, ed. p. 110.

25
9th Century Debate on Predestination

• What was embarrassing about Augustine on the
  real presence in the Eucharist was his vagueness.
  What was embarrassing about him on predestination
  was his clarity.
• Jaroslav Pelikan, The Growth of Medieval
  Theololgy, 81
• Ratramnus (d. c. 868)
• Gottschalk of Orbais (800-868)
• Hincmar of Rheims (806-882)
• Isadore of Seville (560-636) There is a double
  predestination, whether of the elect to rest, or
  of the damned to death. Both are caused by divine
  judgment.
• Sentences 2.6.1
• 1 Timothy 24 4 who desires all men to be saved
  and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
• Anselm, God foreknows that it is without
  necessity that I am going to sin (De Concordia,
  1.1) . . .in eternity is present immutably all
  truth and only truth. (1.5)

26
Whether men are predestined by God? Ia q. 23 a. 1

• On the contrary, It is written (Rom. 830)
  Whom
• He predestined, them He also called.
• I answer that, It is fitting that God should
  predestine
• men. For all things are subject to His
  providence, as was
• shown above (q. 22, a. 2). Now it belongs to
  providence
• to direct things towards their end, as was also
  said (q. 22,
• Aa. 1,2).
• The end towards which created things are directed
• by God is twofold one which exceeds all
  proportion
• and faculty of created nature. . .
• The other end, however, is proportionate to
  created nature, to which
• end created being can attain according to the
  power of its
• nature. (F, 102)

27

• Now if a thing cannot attain to something by the
  power of its nature, it must be directed thereto
  by another thus, an arrow is directed by the
  archer towards a mark.
• (F, 102)

28
Whether predestination places anything in the
predestined? Ia q. 23 a. 2

• I answer that, Predestination is not anything in
  the predestined but only in the person who
  predestines. (F, 104)

29
Whether God reprobates damns any man? Ia q. 23
a. 3

• Objection 1. It seems that God reprobates no man.
  For nobody reprobates what he loves. But God
  loves every man, according to (Wis. 1125) Thou
  lovest all things that are, and Thou hatest none
  of the things Thou hast made. Therefore God
  reprobates no man. (F. 105)

30
Double Predestination

• On the contrary, It is said (Malachi 12,3) I
  have
• loved Jacob, but have hated Esau.
• I answer that, God does reprobate some. For it
  was
• said above (a. 1) that predestination is a part
  of providence.
• To providence, however, it belongs to permit
  certain
• defects in those things which are subject to
  providence,
• as was said above (q. 22, a. 2). Thus, as men are
• ordained to eternal life through the providence
  of God, it
• likewise is part of that providence to permit
  some to fall
• away from that end this is called reprobation.
  Thus, as
• predestination is a part of providence, in regard
  to those
• ordained to eternal salvation, so reprobation is
  a part of
• providence in regard to those who turn aside from
  that
• end. (F. 105)

31
Foreknowledge and Will

• Hence reprobation implies not only
  foreknowledge, but also something more, as does
  providence, as was said
• above (q. 22, a. 1). Therefore, as predestination
  includes
• the will to confer grace and glory so also
  reprobation includes the will to permit a person
  to fall into sin, and to
• impose the punishment of damnation on account of
  that
• sin. (F. 105f.)

32
Judas

• Acts 115-20 15 In those days Peter stood up
  among the brethren (the company of persons was in
  all about a hundred and twenty), and said, 16
  "Brethren, the scripture had to be fulfilled,
  which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the
  mouth of David, concerning Judas who was guide to
  those who arrested Jesus. 17 For he was numbered
  among us, and was allotted his share in this
  ministry. 18 (Now this man bought a field with
  the reward of his wickedness and falling
  headlong he burst open in the middle and all his
  bowels gushed out. 19 And it became known to all
  the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the field
  was called in their language Akeldama, that is,
  Field of Blood.) 20 For it is written in the
  book of Psalms, Let his habitation become
  desolate, and let there be no one to live in it'
  and His office let another take.'

33
Theodicy

• The reason for the predestination
• of some, and reprobation of others, must be
  sought
• for in the goodness of God. Thus He is said to
  have made
• all things through His goodness, so that the
  divine goodness
• might be represented in things. Now it is
  necessary
• that Gods goodness, which in itself is one and
  undivided,
• should be manifested in many ways in His
  creation because
• creatures in themselves cannot attain to the
  simplicity
• of God. Thus it is that for the completion of the
  universe
• there are required different grades of being
  some
• of which hold a high and some a low place in the
  universe.
• That this multiformity of grades may be preserved
• in things, God allows some evils, lest many good
  things
• should never happen, (F. 110)

34

• Gloria in excelsis Deo et in terra pax hominibus
  bonae voluntatis. Laudamus te, benedicimus te,
  adoramus te, glorificamus te, gratias agimus tibi
  
• Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace
  to men of good will. We praise You, we bless You,
  we adore You, we glorify You, we give thanks
• propter magnam gloriam tuam, Domine Deus, Rex
  caelestis coelestis, Deus Pater omnipotens.
• to You for Your great glory, Lord God, heavenly
  King, almighty God the Father.

35
Justification
Is that love by which we are saved a created
habit of our soul or is it the very person of the
Holy Spirit dwelling within us? Peter
Lombard (1100-1160), Sentences I,17
36
Whether charity is something created in the soul?
IIa IIae q. 23 a. 2
I answer that, The Master looks thoroughly into
this question in q. 17 of the First Book, and
concludes that charity is not something created
in the soul, but is the Holy Ghost
Himself dwelling in the mind. Nor does he mean to
say that this movement of love whereby we love
God is the Holy Ghost Himself, but that this
movement is from the Holy Ghost without any
intermediary habit, whereas other virtuous acts
are from the Holy Ghost by means of the habits of
other virtues, for instance the habit of faith or
hope or of some other virtue and this he said on
account of the excellence of charity. But if we
consider the matter aright, this would be, on the
contrary, detrimental to charity. For when the
Holy Ghost moves the human mind the movement of
charity does not proceed from this motion in such
a way that the human mind be merely moved,
without being the principle of this movement, as
when a body is moved by some extrinsic motive
power. For this is contrary to the nature of a
voluntary act, whose principle needs to be in
itself, as stated above ( Ia IIae, q. 6, a. 1)
so that it would follow that to love is not a
voluntary act, which involves a
contradiction, since love, of its very nature,
implies an act of the will. (F. 344)
37
Whether God alone is the cause of grace? Ia IIae
q. 112 a. 1

• Objection 1. It would seem that God alone is not
  the cause of grace. For it is written (Jn. 117)
  Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. Now, by
  the name of Jesus Christ is understood not merely
  the Divine Nature assuming, but the created
  nature assumed. Therefore a creature may be the
  cause of grace. (F. 174)

38

• On the contrary, It is written (Ps. 8312) The
  Lord
• will give grace and glory.
• I answer that, Nothing can act beyond its
  species,
• since the cause must always be more powerful than
  its
• effect. Now the gift of grace surpasses every
  capability
• of created nature, since it is nothing short of a
  partaking
• of the Divine Nature, which exceeds every other
  nature.
• And thus it is impossible that any creature
  should cause
• grace. For it is as necessary that God alone
  should deify bestowing a partaking of the Divine
  Nature by a participated
• likeness, as it is impossible that anything save
  fire
• should enkindle. (F. 175)

39
Whether any preparation and disposition for grace
is required on mans part? Ia IIae q. 112 a. 2

• I answer that, As stated above (q. 111, a. 2),
  grace is
• taken in two ways first, as a habitual gift of
  God. Secondly,
• as a help from God, Who moves the soul to good.
• Now taking grace in the first sense, a certain
  preparation
• of grace is required for it, since a form can
  only be in disposed
• matter. But if we speak of grace as it signifies
  a help
• from God to move us to good, no preparation is
  required
• on mans part, that, as it were, anticipates the
  Divine help,
• but rather, every preparation in man must be by
  the help
• of God moving the soul to good. And thus even the
  good
• movement of the free-will, whereby anyone is
  prepared
• for receiving the gift of grace is an act of the
  free-will
• moved by God. (F. 176)

40
Whether man can wish or do any good without
grace? Ia IIae q. 109 a. 2

• . . .human nature needs
• the help of God as First Mover, to do or wish any
  good
• whatsoever, as stated above (a. 1). But in the
  state of integrity,
• as regards the sufficiency of the operative
  power,
• man by his natural endowments could wish and do
  the
• good proportionate to his nature, such as the
  good of acquired
• virtue but not surpassing good, as the good of
  infused
• virtue. But in the state of corrupt nature, man
  falls
• short of what he could do by his nature, so that
  he is unable
• to fulfil it by his own natural powers. Yet
  because
• human nature is not altogether corrupted by sin,
  so as to
• be shorn of every natural good, even in the state
  of corrupted
• nature it can, by virtue of its natural
  endowments,
• work some particular good, as to build dwellings,
  plant vineyards, and the like yet it cannot do
  all the good natural
• to it, so as to fall short in nothing. . . (F.
  140f)

41
Whether man without grace and by his own natural
powers can fulfil the commandments of the Law?
Ia IIae q. 109 a. 4

• . . in the state of corrupted nature man cannot
  fulfill all the Divine commandments without
  healing grace. (F. 144)

42
Whether a man, by himself and without the
external aid of grace, can prepare himself for
grace? Ia IIae q. 109 a. 6

• On the contrary, It is written (Jn. 644) No
  man can come to Me except the Father, Who hath
  sent Me, draw him. But if man could prepare
  himself, he would not need to be drawn by
  another. Hence man cannot prepare himself without
  the help of grace. . . we must presuppose a
  gratuitous gift of God, Who moves the soul
  inwardly or inspires the good wish. (F. 147)

43
Whether one who has already obtained grace, can,
of himself and without further help of grace, do
good and avoid sin?Ia IIae q. 109 a. 9

• On the contrary, Augustine says (De Natura et
  Gratia
• xxvi) that as the eye of the body though most
  healthy
• cannot see unless it is helped by the brightness
  of light,
• so, neither can a man, even if he is most
  righteous, live
• righteously unless he be helped by the eternal
  light of justice.
• But justification is by grace, according to Rom.
• 324 Being justified freely by His grace.
  Hence even
• a man who already possesses grace needs a further
  assistance
• of grace in order to live righteously.
• I answer that, As stated above (a. 5), in order
  to live
• righteously a man needs a twofold help of
  Godfirst, a
• habitual gift whereby corrupted human nature is
  healed,
• and after being healed is lifted up so as to work
  deeds
• meritoriously of everlasting life, which exceed
  the capability
• of nature. Secondly, man needs the help of grace
  in
• order to be moved by God to act. (F. 153)

44

• Yet he needs the help of grace in another way,
  i.e. in order
• to be moved by God to act righteously, and this
  for two
• reasons first, for the general reason that no
  created thing
• can put forth any act, unless by virtue of the
  Divine motion.
• Secondly, for this special reasonthe condition
  of
• the state of human nature. For although healed by
  grace as
• to the mind, yet it remains corrupted and
  poisoned in the
• flesh, whereby it serves the law of sin, Rom.
  725. In
• the intellect, too, there seems the darkness of
  ignorance,
• whereby, as is written (Rom. 826) We know not
  what
• we should pray for as we ought (F 154)

45

• . . . Augustine does not regard the work of
  divine grace primarily from the point of view of
  the forgiveness of sins, but rather from that of
  mans restoration, or his healing. Justification
  is thus a process in the course of which man is
  actually made just.
• Bernhard Lohse, Short History of Christian
  Doctrine, 115.

46
Whether man possessed of grace needs the help of
grace in order to persevere? Ia IIae q. 109 a. 10

• . . .perseverance is called the abiding in good
  to the end of life. And in order to have this
  perseverance man does not, indeed, need
• another habitual grace, but he needs the Divine
  assistance
• guiding and guarding him against the attacks of
  the passions,
• as appears from the preceding article. And hence
• after anyone has been justified by grace, he
  still needs to
• beseech God for the aforesaid gift of
  perseverance, that he
• may be kept from evil till the end of his life.
  For to many
• grace is given to whom perseverance in grace is
  not given. (F 155)

47
Simul iustus et peccator
But it is by the mercy of God that this evil,
though it remains, is not reckoned to those who
fervently call upon him to set them free. . .It
is as with a sick man who believes his physician
as he assures him that he will most certainly get
well. In the meantime, he obeys his orders. .
.Can one say that this sick man is healthy? No
but he is at the same time both sick and healthy.
. . Now can we say that he is perfectly
righteous? No but he is at the same time both a
sinner and righteous, a sinner in fact but
righteous by virtue of the reckoning and the
certain promise of God that he will redeem him
from sin in order, in the end, to make him
perfectly sound and whole. W. Pauck, ed.,
Lectures on Romans, p. 127 (lectures from
1515-1516)
48
1 Peter 211-12 11 Beloved, I urge you as
aliens and exiles to abstain from the desires of
the flesh that wage war against the soul.
12Conduct yourselves honorably among the
Gentiles, so that, though they malign you as
evildoers, they may see your honorable deeds and
glorify God when he comes to judge.

• But he who studies Scripture properly must grasp
  a distinction, for the prophets occasionally
  speak of saints as though they were pure in every
  respect, and on the other hand, they speak of
  them as still having evil lust and as contending
  with sin. Those people cannot adjust themselves
  to these two facts. Therefore you must understand
  it to mean that Christians are divided into two
  parts the inner being which is faith, and the
  outer being, which is the flesh. Now when one
  looks at the Christian according to faith, he is
  pure and completely clean for the Word of God
  finds no uncleanness in him. And when it enters
  the heart so that the heart clings to it, it must
  also make the heart completely clean. Therefore
  all things are perfect in faith. Accordingly we
  are kings and priest, and Gods people. . .But
  since faith is in the flesh and we are still
  dwelling on earth, we sometimes feel evil
  inclinations, such as impatience, fear of death,
  etc. all these are still weaknesses of the old
  man, for faith has not yet completely permeated
  him and still does not have full power over the
  flesh. LW, 30, 68 (Lectures on the
  Catholic Epistles, 1527)
• The believers. . .always have trials enough they
  must wage war constantly. Those who are without
  faith and the Spirit do not feel this or they
  fall behind, run away, and follow evil lust .
  LW , 30, 70
• If you are a Christian, you must learn that you
  will undoubtedly feel all kinds of trials and
  evil inclinations in your flesh. For if faith is
  present, a hundred more evil thoughts and a
  hundred more new trials come than were there
  before. Only see to it that you are a man and do
  not let yourself be taken captive by them. Resist
  constantly and say I will not! I will not! . .
  .A true Christian life is never at rest. LW,
  30, 71