Written By Thomas Perez. May 6, 2010 at 6:36PM. Copyright 2010.
1. Boethius (480-524)
Major work
• The Consolation of Philosophy
Importance
• Bridged gap b/t ancient and medieval eras
• Known as “the last of the Romans and the first of the scholastics”
• Explained Trinity in Aristotelian categories
• God is one with the three persons viewed as internal relations
• Attempted to translate Plato and Aristotle into Latin
2. Dionysius the Areopagite (Pseudo) (500)
Major work
• Celestial Hierarchy
Importance
• Was a vessel by which the Christian Platonism of the early church was transmitted to the Middle Ages
• Paved the way for Christian mysticism
• His writings became authority for the Eastern church
• Argued for a hierarchical pattern of the universe
• Believed in humanity’s eventual deification
3. Benedict of Nursia (480-550)
Major work
• The Rule of St. Benedict
Importance
• Theologian of monastic life
• Patriarch of Western monasticism
• Created a manual for the spiritual and administrative life of a monastery; discusses prayer, spiritual readings and work
4. Gregory the Great (540-604)
Importance
• Gregory is the Pope whose papacy is generally considered the beginning of the medieval period
• Is ranked with Ambrose, Jerome, and Augustine as one of the four great leaders of the Latin church
• He increased the authority and power of the papacy
• Believed the Roman pope was Peter’s sole successor and was the supreme head over the universal church
• Asserted political authority for the papacy
• Had a deep pastoral and evangelistic concern
5. Maximus the Confessor (580-662)
Importance
• Father of Byzantine theology
• Dominant figure in the development of Christian doctrine in the East
• Greek theologian and ascetic writer
• Last independent thinker among the theologians of the Byzantine church
• Taught deification–the view that man can become like God
• Said the purpose of history was the incarnation of the Son and the deification of man
• Wrote on exegetical and liturgical subjects
6. Bede (The Venerable)
Major work
• De Temporum Ratione
Importance
• A scholar, exegete, and historian
• The most important Christian scholar and writer of his era
• Wrote commentaries on the Bible
• Known as “Father of English History”
• Also known as the “Venerable”
• Wrote on many issues including hymnology, geography, and natural phenomena
7. John of Damascus (655-750)
Major work
• Fount of Wisdom
Importance
• Important Eastern theologian
• He summed up thought for Eastern church; not much original thought after him
• Had a fully developed Mariology and Trinitarian theology
8. Radbertus (790-860)
Major work
• De Corpore et Sanguine Domini (first doctrinal monograph on the Eucharist)
Importance
• Maintained the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist (this was flesh born of Mary and crucified on the cross)
• Was attacked by Ratramnus who took a more spiritual approach to the Eucharist
9. Ratramnus (9th cent.)
Importance
• Held Augustine’s view that Christ’s presence in the Supper is spiritual(contra Radbertus)
• Radbertus’s view won out over Ratramnus’s
• Defended double procession of the H.S.
10. Gottschalk (804-869)
Importance
• Held to extreme doctrine of predestination; held to double predestination
• Studied under Ratramnus
• Was good at missionary activity
11. Anselm of Canterbury (1033-1109)
Major works
• Proslogion
• Monologion
Importance
• Archbishop of Canterbury, was one of the greatest of all the medieval theologians
• “Father of Scholastic Theology”
• Gave first serious attempt to give a rationale for the atonement
• Held to satisfaction theory of the atonement
• Tried to establish the being of God on purely rationalistic grounds with his ontological argument
• Encouraged Marian piety but opposed immaculate conception
• Known for statement, “Faith seeking understanding”
12. Peter Abelard (1079-1142)
Major work
• Sic et Non
Importance
• Philosopher, theologian, and teacher
• Pioneer of medieval scholasticism
• Held to moral influence theory of the atonement
• Held to moderate realism—universals are concepts in the mind that have an objective Reality derived from a process of mental abstraction
• Said reason plays as large a role as revelation and tradition in determining truth
• Known for his tragic love affair with Heloise
13. Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153)
Importance
• Wrote mystical, theological and devotional works
• Was the official preacher of the 2nd crusade
• Helped heal papal schism of 1130
• Known as “the hammer of heretics”
• Wrote hymns
14. Peter Lombard (1100-1160)
Major work
• Book of Sentences
Importance
• Organized patristic and medieval citations into a coherent statement of Christian belief
• One of the first to mention seven sacraments
• A student of Peter Abelard and Bernard of Clairvaux
• Some questioned his Christology and his view of the Trinity but 4th Lateran Council of 1215 declared his works orthodox
• Book of Sentences used in academic circles until Aquinas’s Summa came out
15. Albertus Magnus (1193-1280)
Major work
• Commentary on the Sentences of Peter Lombard
Importance
• Dominican scholar, theologian, and churchman
• Tried to synthesize Aristotle’s philosophy with Christianity
• Thomas Aquinas was his student
• Stressed the importance of the physical sciences
16. Bonaventure (1221-74)
Major work
• Commentary on Sentences of Peter Lombard
Importance
• Franciscan scholastic theologian who was a Platonist
• Believed in journey of the human soul toward God
• Held that creation could be explained by human reason
• Believed mystical illumination better than human wisdom
• Denied doctrine of Immaculate Conception
17. Thomas Aquinas (1225-74)
Major work
• Summa Theologica (systematic presentation of Christian doctrine)
• Summa contra Gentiles
Importance
• Most important theologian of the Medieval era
• Said there were five proofs for God’s existence (including cosmological and teleological arguments)
• Brought Aristotelian philosophy to Christianity
• Argued for a close connection between faith and reason; nature reveals much about God’s existence and attributes (matters such as Trinity, though, must be revealed through special revelation)
18. Meister Eckhart (1260-1328)
Major work
• Opus Tripartitum
Importance
• German Dominican mystical theologian
• Offered a mystical theology
• Said God transcends human knowledge
• John XXII condemned 28 of Eckhart’s propositions as heretical
• Had a tendency toward pantheism
19. Duns Scotus (1266-1308)
Major works
• His teachings are preserved in a Commentary on the Sentences of Peter Lombard, glosses on Aristotelian texts, and disputations about various subjects
Importance
• Most distinguished Oxford scholar
• Held to priority of the will over the intellect
• Contributed to Roman Catholic view of the Immaculate Conception
• Believed in possible worlds
• Said God’s attributes not provable by reason
• Known as the ‘subtle doctor’
• The term “dunce” comes from him and was invented by his detractors
• Opposed Aquinas on almost every point
20. William of Ockham (1280-1349)
Major work
• Commentary on the Sentences of Peter Abelard
Importance
• Medieval English theologian
• Held to nominalism
• Famous for “Ockham’s Razor” in which he claims that hypotheses should not be multiplied endlessly. Thus, the simplest solution for a matter is better than complicated ones.
• Had conflict with Pope John XXII
• Believed in priority of divine will over divine intellect
• Contributed to discussions of divine omnipotence
• Influenced by Duns Scotus
• Died of Black Death
21. Thomas Bradwardine (1295-1349)
Major work
• De Causa Dei contra Pelagium
Importance
• Known for his mathematics and theology
• Insisted on the necessity of grace and the ‘irresistible’ efficacy of the Divine Will, which lies behind all action
• Paved the way for the predestinarian thought of John Wycliff
• Influenced by Augustine and Duns Scotus
• Contributed to geometry and physics
22. John Wycliff (1330-84)
Major works
• Summa de Ente (vindicated realism against nominalism)
• Translation of the Vulgate into English
Importance
• Was known as the Morning Star of the Reformation because of his writings against transubstantiation and the pope
• Denied efficacy of the mass as well as rituals and ceremonies
• Saw church as predestined body of believers
• Said salvation is by grace
• Known as the author or inspirer of the first complete translation of the Bible into English
• Known as Evening Star of scholasticism.
• Was the last of the Oxford scholastics
• His followers were called Lollards
• Hus adopted his teachings
23. John Hus (1372-1415)
Major work
• De Ecclesia
Importance
• Early Czech reformer
• Attacked clerical abuses and immorality in the church
• Excommunicated by Pope Alexander V in 1410
• Held a blend of Protestant and Roman Catholic doctrines—argued against veneration of pope but accepted Purgatory; held to view similar to consubstantiation
• Stressed preaching and a pure life
• Was also a Bible translator
• Was influenced by Wycliff’s ideas
24. Thomas a Kempis (1380-1471)
Major work
• Imitation of Christ
Importance:
• Ascetical writer
• Gave practical methods to achieve devotion and true observance of the monastic life
• Emphasized withdrawal from distractions of the world
25. Girolamo Savonarola (1452-1498)
Major work
• Triumphus Crucis
Importance
• Italian preacher and reformer
• Called for radical moral and social reform after the death of Lorenzo de Medici
• Sought a Christian culture based on the Bible and asceticism
• Was hanged and burned as a heretic
Universal Salvation For All 