Faith, Reason, and Philosophy in the Middle Ages

Posted on Nov 27, 2024 in Religion

Faith and Reason in the Middle Ages

Origins of Christianity

  • First Centuries: Christianity emerged as a religion of the lower classes in the Roman Empire, emphasizing peace and solidarity. It defended the poor, as exemplified by the Church of Jerusalem in the Acts of the Apostles.
  • Despite persecution for not worshipping the emperor, Christianity spread across all societal levels in Mediterranean nations.
  • Fourth Century: Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire, coinciding with the rise of feudalism.
  • Fifth Century: The Church gained political power, leading to the establishment of the Papacy as the highest authority in Western Christianity. In the East, the emperor retained authority as both political and religious leader.
  • Synthesis of Jewish Religion and Greek Philosophy: Each tradition contributed distinct elements.
    • Judaism: Introduced monotheism and a linear concept of history, with a beginning (creation by God) and an end (establishment of God’s Kingdom through the Messiah).
    • Christianity: Postponed the Kingdom of God to the second coming of Christ. History became the process of humanity’s salvation through divine intervention, as humanity fell into sin after creation.
    • Greek Philosophy: Provided concepts to interpret the truths of faith, introducing rationality into belief.

Relations Between the Two Traditions

  • Theory of Larceny (Philo of Alexandria): Philosophers merely repeat biblical truths without citing the source.
  • Irreconcilability (Tertullian): Philosophy produces heretics; the two traditions cannot be reconciled.
  • Completion Theory (Clement of Alexandria): Christianity completes the development of earlier philosophy.
  • Collaboration (Augustine of Hippo): Religion and philosophy can collaborate; the Christian message is understandable.
  • Patristics (Early Christian Thinkers): Viewed philosophy as a preparation for Christianity.
    • Christianity offers a new understanding of human existence.
    • Existence is a free gift from God; faith is the foundation of truth (primacy of will over reason).
    • Human dignity is sacred, as humans are made in God’s image.
    • Fallen humanity is saved by divine grace, distributed through the Church.
    • Every person is called to share in divine nature; God is love.

Major Schools

  • Apologists: Defended Christianity against pagan ideas (the Trinity, creation, humanity, resurrection).
  • Greek Fathers: Assimilated Neoplatonic thought, with a metaphysical orientation.
  • Latin Fathers: Influenced by Stoicism, Platonism, and Latin culture.

Augustine of Hippo

Autobiography (Confessions)

  • Augustine’s life was a spiritual quest for truth and happiness. He explored various philosophies (Manichaeism, Skepticism, Neoplatonism) before converting to Christianity at 33.
  • Key elements of his thought:
    • Resolution of doubt: “If I doubt, I am.”
    • Platonism affirmed the spiritual life.
    • Happiness is knowing God’s truth, which is the innermost self.

Knowledge

  • Reason and faith are inseparable elements of human personality: “I believe in order to understand, and I understand in order to believe.”
  • Doctrine of Enlightenment: Knowledge of immutable, necessary, and eternal truths (residing in the divine mind) comes through God’s illumination of the human intellect.
  • Contemplating eternal ideas leads to objective truth, attainable through reason (philosophy) and revelation (religion); these are mutually reinforcing.

Concept of God

  • God’s presence within humanity (deus absconditus).
  • God is essentially without accidents: perfect, immutable, eternal.
  • Contingent beings exist because of God. Reality is created from nothing according to an eternal plan; creation is timeless and instantaneous.
  • Humans are made in the image of the Triune God: Father (Being), Son (Wisdom), Holy Spirit (Love) correspond to human memory, understanding, and will.
  • Evil is a lack of good (Neoplatonic explanation): metaphysical (imperfection of creatures), moral (human freedom), and physical (pain and death).

Human Nature (Dualistic Anthropology)

  • Humans consist of a perishable body and an immortal, rational soul.
  • The soul, endowed with reason, rules the body, which is inclined to sin and evil. Divine grace is needed to choose good and happiness.
  • Theology of History: God intervenes to save humanity. Progress is the sanctification of the Church (the City of God), which lives in spirit, against the earthly city (the City of Man), which lives in the flesh.

Philosophy in the Muslim Civilization

  • Philosophical tradition thrived in the East and Muslim culture, developing from the 9th century with figures like al-Farabi and al-Ghazali in Baghdad, Avicenna in Persia, Avempace and Averroes in al-Andalus. Jewish philosophers like Avicebron and Maimonides (in Egypt) also contributed.
  • Muslim philosophy emphasized reason over faith, leading to al-Ghazali’s critique of philosophy and advocacy for religious irrationalism. Religious faith educated the masses, while caliphs promoted rational philosophy for governance. Tolerance aimed for a universal religion of love.
  • Avicenna, a physician and scientist, created an Aristotelian metaphysical system with Neoplatonic influences. The cosmos is a whole governed by a soul; the intellect, producing ideas, is separate from the personal soul, collective, and immortal (a divine intelligence).
  • Averroes, an Andalusian jurist known as the Commentator of Aristotle, introduced Aristotelian philosophy to Europeans. He proposed the “double truth” theory: faith is religious truth explained symbolically, while reason attains philosophical truth.
  • Influence in the Christian World: Latin Averroism defended the separate active intellect, the eternity of the world, and the double truth.

Relations Between Reason and Faith in the Middle Ages

  • Two Types of Knowledge:
    • Faith: Truth revealed by God and taught by the Church, providing understanding of spiritual reality and transcendent values.
    • Reason: Seeks truth through human effort and empirical knowledge of the material world.
  • Medieval philosophy addressed the relationship between these two forms of knowledge:
    • Opposition (Tertullian): Theology and philosophy are incompatible; faith is self-sufficient.
    • Confusion (Augustine): Truth is singular, attained through revelation and reason combined. Reason needs God’s “light” to grasp true understanding.
    • Separation (Islamic Rationalism’s Double Truth): Philosophical and religious truths are distinct, referring to different realms of experience. Scientific research should be free from religious dogma.
    • Autonomy and Collaboration (Thomas Aquinas):
      • There is one truth reached through converging paths of reason and faith.
      • Reason grasps the universe and its laws.
      • God is the object of all knowledge, attainable through reason applied to created things.
      • Double truth is impossible. Theology is a “negative rule” for philosophy, warning against misuse of reason contradicting dogma and preventing reason from encroaching on theology’s domain.
      • Kinds of Truths: a) Intelligible and demonstrable (knowable without revelation); b) Not demonstrable (knowable only through revelation).
      • Faith allows us to know truths inaccessible to human understanding. Few can know God through reason alone, requiring much effort and study. Demonstrable truths are questionable for those who understand the power of demonstration.