1. Discuss the Universities of Scholars. The Papacy was the only group to benefit from the crusades. After the crusades, Scholasticism was the answer to coming out of the Middle Ages with its widespread ignorance. Before the crusades, education had not been needed because of the hopelessness of the feudal system. In a system where one died as born, whether rich or poor, there was no benefit to educating oneself. In the beginning of the Papacy, the monastery had been the only educational system, but beginning in the 11th century, the west began to see their ignorance when compared to the east. Crusaders came back from their battles with an interest in self-improvement, and the Universities of Scholars was started in Italy for that purpose. In this system, though, the state ran the university, not the church, and the students controlled the curriculum and instructors. One of the problems was that the faculty did not remain, so the Universities of Scholars failed.

2. Discuss the Universities of Masters. The Universities of Masters were started in Northern Europe and France. These institutions were controlled by the church and the teachers. They were church-run schools, and they were much more successful. Students studied the Trivian (Grammar, Logic, and Rhetoric) in their first two years and the Quadrivian (Geometry, Arithmetic, Astronomy, and Music) in their last two years. They did not declare a major (usually Law, Medicine, or Theology) until they started working on their Masters degree. Advanced study was also available for a Doctor of Divinity degree.

3. Discuss the bases of Scholasticism. The bases/sources of Scholasticism were (1) the Bible, (2) Papal decrees, (3) decisions of councils, and (4) church tradition. Students did not do much independent research. They had deductive reasoning (all dogs have 4 legs and 1 tail) but no inductive reasoning (observing 4 legs and 1 tail on several dogs leads me to think that all dogs have 4 legs and 1 tail). Deductive reasoning is not creative. The "elements of doctrinal truth" promoted an intellectual acceptance of all Roman Catholic doctrine.

Because the students did not do much research, they had a lot of free time for immoral behavior and for brawling (gang fights). Many developed social diseases and died, and many were killed in the brawls. The universities did not have any special interest in their students. They simply dispersed Roman Catholic education with little or nothing else. Luther saw Scholasticism as a big part of the problem. He started his school at Wittenburg and provided an opportunity for students to do research. His school was much better than those that had preceded him.

4. Discuss the rise of Scholasticism (850-1200AD). Scholasticism rose between 850 and 1200AD, starting during the time of Charlemagne. John Scotus Erigena (817-877AD) helped start this system, but Anselm (1033-1109AD) was regarded as the Father of Scholasticism. He adopted the view of the Archbishop of Canterbury (transubstantiation) about the transforming of the bread and the wine to the body and blood of Christ. He said that the key to understanding is to totally submit to Rome. Early Scholasticism was actually very much anti-intellectual. Anselm wrote "Proslogion" to argue for the existence of God (an ontological argument saying that He exists because we can conceive of Him). He also wrote "Cur Deus Homo" (Why The God Man) about why and how God became man (substitutionary atonement as price to be paid for our sins). Recall that Origen had said that Jesus died to buy back the souls of men from the devil.

Peter Abelard (1079-1142AD) was a genius but not well received in the university. He received his Bachelors, Masters, and Doctors degree and became a teacher. He fell in love with Bishop Fulbert's niece (Heloise), but he did not marry her because of his devotion to the monastery and his education. The bishop did not like the suggestion that they fool around, so he had him beat up and castrated. Abelard went to the monastery and remained friends with Heloise. He wrote "Sic et Non" (Yes and No) to show the contradictions between the Bible and what the Catholic theologians had said. He was very controversial because of that. Hugo St. Victor (died 1141AD) had wanted to develop the 30 sacraments, but they were later reduced to 7 by Aquinas. Peter Lombard wrote the "Four Books of Sentences", which was his systematic theology, and his books were used in the universities to teach the students.

5. Discuss the peak of influence of Scholasticism (1200-1290AD). During the peak of Scholasticism, Albertus Magnus (1206-1280AD) taught Thomas Aquinas (1224-1274AD). Aquinas was the greatest scholastic of all. Born near Rome to parents with money, at age 8, he became a Dominican Monk. He was interested in orthodoxy. He got his Doctor of Divinity degree from the University of Sorbonne in France. He later taught there, but he was not well received or even perceived intelligent. He was eventually called a saint (canonized), but he was not quickly received at first. He had 3 major writings. His "Commentary on Sentences" was written about Peter Lombard's book, and this gave students a second perspective. He wrote "Summa Contra Gentiles" which was a summation of evidence against Gentiles (non-Christian). Christians saw Jews as Gentiles during this time. He wrote "Summa Theologiae" which was his systematic theology. This was his greatest work. It is still studied by Jesuit Priests, and this book is also where he discussed the 7 sacraments. The final significant person of this period was Nicholas of Lyra (1265-1349AD). Martin Luther agreed with much of what he wrote. Nicholas developed the historical grammatical way to interpret Scripture, and his method replaced Origen's allegory method. Nicholas said that one should look at history, context, and what the author was trying to say. Luther and Calvin both picked up on that technique.

6. Discuss the decline of Scholasticism (1290-1350AD). Scholasticism declined because (1) Aquinas followers could not agree with the followers of John Duns Scotus (1265-1308AD), (2) there was a growing skepticism about blind acceptance of Catholic doctrines, and (3) the rise of the Renaissance and the Reform periods.

				Tom of Bethany

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