Medieval Movement, Figures & Interactions

Several indications are evident that Jewish mysticism and Islamic philosophy had a significant impact on Christian thought regarding God. To begin with, influential Christian philosophers like Thomas Aquinas borrowed, advanced the ideas of Jewish and Islamic philosophers like Avicenna and Averroes and integrated them into Christian thought. For example, the philosophy of existence and essence, individuals and universals which have Arabic origin, were later utilized by Thomas Aquinas in writing about God’s existence and essence (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2020). The influence of Averroes and Avicenna, particularly on metaphysics and existence-essence distinction, was the root of the Christian belief of the existence of supernatural being-God.

Also, Christians believe in the theory of prophecies and miracles, which is a characteristic attribute of Jewish and Islamic philosophy.  Moreover, the Eternity of the World was a Jewish theory that considers God as a ‘necessary being in Himself’- the eternal reason for the existence of the sublunar and heavenly world. Averroes termed God as being the chief mover, and His existence can be proved by natural philosophy. Thomas Aquinas later claimed that the existence of God could be demonstrated through ‘self-evident’ and faith. Christians believe in the existence of God through their faith and the evidence of the universe created by Him. Similarly, Christian thought encompasses the belief that it is the essence of God to exist, a theory that is borrowed from the Arabic philosophy of Avicenna and Averroes..

Several female theologians existing in the middle ages made significant contributions as far as the history of Christian thought is concerned. One of them was Hildegard of Bingen, 1098-1179. Hildegard pursued many interests, from theology to science to music (Lindsay, 2018). Also, she traveled across Germany, teaching, and preaching. While writing and studying theology and science, she led a group of nuns. Hildegard authored three volumes regarding mystical theology. Throughout her lifetime, she corresponded with significant figures within the church that included popes and Bernard of Clairvaux (the famous mystic theologian). Soon after she died, Hildegard was celebrated as a saint, and Pope Benedict XVI labeled Hildegard as the Church Doctor in 2012- respect conferred by the Catholics on only 36 individuals throughout history. Another important female theologian was Bridget of Sweden, 1303-1373.  Bridget was a Franciscan tertiary, meaning that she believed in the Franciscan ideals, though she never took official monastic vows; she also never lived within a convent.  However, Bridget migrated to Rome, aiming at petitioning for the establishment of a double monastic order (that included women and men) committed to the elimination of poverty. In Rome, she supported charity work and proposed various church reforms, and in 1370, her proposed order got the approval of the pope; this order exists even today with the name- the Brigittines (Lindsay, 2018).

According to Thomas Aquinas, God’s existence can be demonstrated in various ways. One of them is that His existence will always be self-evident. By this, Aquinas meant that any effort of demonstrating the existence of God is unnecessary, at best. To Aquinas, the claim that God exists is in itself self-evident because existence is one of the nature or essence of God.  However, Aquinas argued that the same statement fails to be self-evident to people since His (God) essence cannot be fully comprehended by human beings. Aquinas maintains that there is a likelihood that even people acquainted with God’s idea can after they reflect on it, comprehend that existence is an essence that necessarily God has (Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2020). The other approach given by Aquinas is that the demonstrability of the existence of God is straightforward because his existence is a matter of faith.

Regarding reason and faith, Thomas holds that people’s faith regarding eternal salvation demonstrates that they possess theological truths that go beyond human reason. However, he claims that an individual may obtain truths regarding religious claims in the absence of faith, but the truths are not complete. Aquinas states that faith lacks merit if human reason presents proof but argues that it is incorrect to ignore faith’s merit (Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2020). That being said, he emphasizes the wrongness in investigating matters regarding faith using reason. In short, a human inquiry into religious/sacred doctrine is a threat that could make faith superfluous.

William Ockham’s and John Wyclif introduced and developed their ideas of nominalism and realism, respectively, during the middle ages. Realism represents the philosophical stance that maintains that universals are real, just like measurable, physical material. On the other hand, nominalism represents the philosophical stance that promotes abstract or universal concepts that cannot exist in a similar way tangible, physical material (Bloomfield, 2013).  This debate heavily influenced various study areas all through the Middle Ages. Particularly, these teachings caught the attention of theological scholars. Inquiries regarding miracles, salvation, and God’s love became central in the thoughts of medieval philosophers. As Ockham regarded universals as psychological labels, an environment of changes was prompted.  Logical, rational, and radical reasoning were set forth as philosophers began to seek for truths not only through faith but also investigations by applying human reason. In other words, domains of art, literature, science, mathematics, economics, religion, ethics, and politics continued to advance, creating a platform for reforms in religion, culture, social life, etc.

References

Bloomfield, M. (2013). Fourteenth-Century England: Realism and Rationalism in Wyclif and Chaucer. English Studies of Africa, 87-93.

Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. (2020). Aquinas: Philosophical Theology. Retrieved from https://www.iep.utm.edu/aq-ph-th/.

Lindsay, S. (2018). 6 Medieval Women Who Shaped Christian Theology. Retrieved from https://www.cbeinternational.org/blogs/6-medieval-women-who-shaped-christian-theology.

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. (2020). Influence of Arabic and Islamic Philosophy on the Latin West. Retrieved from https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/arabic-islamic-influence/.