Scholasticism. Pierre Abelard, Thomas Aquinas


The word “scholasticism” comes from the Greek. “scientist” and means direction in philosophy. At first the scholastics called people involved in the school: those who study, or those who teach. In the time of Charlemagne, the word “scholastic” meant “teacher.” Since the XI century. this name has spread to those who are engaged in science, especially philosophy.

The Scholastics sought to reconcile faith and intelligence with each other. The scientists were convinced that faith in God does not interfere with their aspirations to understand the Supreme and understand it, to realize how the Lord created the world, what fate has given to each person, what awaits humanity in the future. The ego doctrine provided for observance of two basic rules: 1) not to deviate from the laws of the Holy Letter; 2) in its judgments be extremely precise. You can achieve truth without any mistake in the endless chain of reasoning. This was taught by logic

– the science of laws and forms of thinking.

The philosopher Pierre Abelard belonged to the early scholastics. He was born in the family of a knight. His father dreamed that his son would continue his work, but from childhood the boy was carried away by science. Having received a good education, Abelard moved to Paris and opened his own school, where he taught logic and theology. Glory of her quickly spread throughout Europe and everyone who wished to enrich themselves with knowledge came to listen to the lectures of the scientist.

XII century. From the “History of My Suffering” by Pierre Abelard

… Crowds of schoolboys flocked to her, that there was not enough room for their living, nor land to provide food. At school, like the face of my chip, I focused most of all on theology; As for the teaching of secular arts, to which I was more accustomed, and the demand for them was the highest, I did not abandon them at all… As it was evident that the Lord gave me the gift to the divine writings no less than to the secular ones, then thanks to both of these sciences, my school

has become very rich in a very short time, and other schools are poor. This I kindled to myself the envy and hatred of the mentors who tried to expose me, in what could only… It was done, obviously, so that I could be banned from all school activities…

Abelard knew the ancient philosophy well, was renowned as an unrivaled master of debate and a talented teacher. The main tool in the search for truth was Abelard’s mind. Therefore, relying on the wisdom of the Holy Letter, he was convinced: any knowledge must be developed with the help of reason. His rule was simple: “I know what I believe in.” Such freedom-loving judgments provoked an angry condemnation of the church, which placed faith above reason. Abelard was forbidden to teach, he was constantly persecuted. As a result, Pierre Abelard was forced to repent and live his life in the Cluny Abbey. His wanderings he described in his autobiography, “The Story of My Disasters.”

In the XII century. scientists began to take an active interest in the works of ancient philosophers. In the scientific circles of Italy, France, England, Spain, the teaching of Aristotle quickly gained recognition. Before the church there was a need to connect Catholic theology with the views and ideas of Aristotle. To fulfill this task, Dominican monks were brought in – first the German scholar Albert the Great, and later his disciple Thomas Aquinas.

After completing his education, Thomas Aquinas became Master of the University of Paris. He taught theology in various schools in Italy and the University of Paris. In his teachings – Tomism – the Christian faith is united with nature and reason, it is recognized as the official philosophy of Catholicism and, together with logic, is the main achievement of scholasticism.

Theology is the doctrine of God, the system of substantiation and protection of the religious doctrine of God, a complex of proofs of the truth of spiritual values, rules and norms of life of believers and clergy established by this or that religion.


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Scholasticism. Pierre Abelard, Thomas Aquinas