Fairweather, Eugene R., ed., trans., A Scholastic Miscellany: Anselm to Ockham (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press (The Library of Christian Classics volume X), 1956).

Text name(s): Proslogion; Reply to Gaunilo; Why God Became Man; Cur Deus Homo; The Virgin Conception and Original Sin; A Prayer to Saint Mary to Obtain Love for Her and for Christ; History of Recent Events in England; Decretum; The Concord of Discordant Canons; Policraticus; On Original Sin; Exposition of the Epistle to the Romans; Ethics; Hymn for Sunday Vespers; On the Sacraments of the Christian Faith; Mystical Comments on the Psalms; On Ezekiel's Vision; On the Trinity; Sequence for a Saint's Day; The Four Books of Sentences; A Question on Original Sin; On the Morality of Human Acts; The Golden Sequence; Disputed Questions Concerning Christ's Knowledge; Disputed Questions on Faith; Commentary on the Sentences; Eight Questions on the Power of the Pope

Number of pages of primary source text: 443

Medieval Author(s): Abelard, Peter Anselm of Canterbury Bonaventure Gratian Hugh of Saint Victor Ivo of Chartres John of Salisbury Langton, Stephen Ockham, William of

Dates: 1050 - 1350

Archival Reference:

Original Language(s): Latin;

Translation: English translation.

Translation Comments:

Geopolitical Region(s): Europe;

County/Region:

Apparatus: Index Bibliography Introduction

Comments:

Scholasticism became the dominant method of inquiry in universities during the 11th and 12th centuries and remained largely unchallenged throughout the Middle Ages. Through the Scholastic method, heavily influenced by newly important Aristotelian thought, scholars set up a dialectic, or, opposing points of view on an issue, eventually coming to a synthesis through which they harmonized pro and contra arguments into a unified truth. Applied to theology, this method expresses an intense optimism and commitment to reconcile faith with reason. This volume contains excerpts from many of the most famous scholastic theologians and canonists of the 12th through the 14th centuries, including Anselm of Canterbury, Ivo of Chartres, Gratian, Peter Abelard, Hugh of St. Victor, and Peter Lombard, as well as thinkers whose ideas would come to challenge the scholastic method, such as John Duns Scotus and William of Ockham.

Introduction Summary:

The editor’s brief (15pp) general introduction discusses the rise and uses of scholasticism in the Middle Ages, suggesting that scholasticism represents the pinnacle of medieval intellectual achievment. The editor discusses the importance of Aristotle, the use of scholasticism by the church to provide a systematic understanding of the Christian faith, and the relationship between philosophy and theology in scholasticism. Additionally, the editor provides brief (5-10 pp) biographical and historical introductions to each thinker, also including a helpful annotated bibliography of primary and secondary sources for each.

Cataloger: MCB