"Q" is for the Questioning of Christian Philosophers in Whom the Holy Spirit Has Planted Its Most Excellent Epistemology

     For most of the history of Western Civilization (until relatively recent times) the concept of "natural law" was inextricably intertwined with practical worldview, ethics, and common law.  The penalty for violation of the natural law was not just the condemnation of society, but even more significant, the natural penalty of unhappiness.  Unhappiness was understood to be the inevitable result of living a life that was not disciplined, not habituated to the principles of natural law.  People strove, therefore, to understand and practice what was favorable to achieving true happiness.  This they referred to as "virtue".  The primary question asked by both secular and Christian philosophers dealt with identifying and  understanding the natural law.  This fact was taken for granted by practical theologians, preachers and teachers in the American Colonies and later in Early America.
     The Nicomachean Ethics of Aristotle (384-322 BC) had a particularly important impact upon the Christian Church during the Middle Ages.  it therefore indirectly became important in the development of all modern philosophy, as well as European and Early American law and theology.  The Nicomachean Ethics examine in detail the relationship between virtue and true happiiness.  A systhesis between Aristotelian ethics and Christian theology became widespread during the Middle Ages in Europe.  The most important version of this synthesis was that of Thomas Aquinas.  The practical nature of this synthesis has influenced western civilization ever since (until, perhaps, relatively recent times when common sense has been thrown to the wind).  In many respects, Aristotelian Ethics and Christianity became, and deserve to be regarded as, complementary and inextricably intertwined--just as the "general" and the "special" revelations themselves are complementary and inextricably intertwined.  Below, facing pages from H. Rackham's traslation of Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics (click for larger view).

     Below, the OCHF Library's copy of Thomas Aquinas' Works of Aristotle Translated into Latin, published by Apud Scotum in 1551 (click for larger image).

 

 

     Below one further example of a most significant work by a Christian Philosopher, a page from Sententiarum Quatuor Libri (the Four Books of Sentences) by Peter Lombard.  Click image for larger view.

 



     "The Four Books of Opinions" or "The Four Books of Judgments" were compiled by Peter Lombard, a scholastic theologian (c. 1100--July 20, 1160).  This work, also known as "The Book of Sentences", sets forth biblical texts, together with relevant passages from the Church Fathers and many medieval thinkers, on virtually the entire field of Christian theology.  Lombard left many questions open, giving later scholars an opportunity to provide their own answers.  From the 1200s until the 16th century, no work of Christian literature, except for the Bible itself, was commented upon more frequently.  All the major medieval thinkers, from Albert the Great and Thomas Aquinas to William of Ockham and Gabriel Biel, were influenced by it.  Even the young Martin Luther till wrote "glosses" on Lombard's Sentences, and, John Calvin quoted from it over 100 times in his Institutes. 
     Peter Lombard's most famous and controversial opinion was his indentification of charity with the Holy Spirit.  When the Christian loves God and neighbor, Lombard felt that this love literally is God, and, the one who so loves becomes one with the divine and is taken up into the life of the Trinity.  This idea was never declared unorthodox, but few theologians have been prepared to follow Peter Lomgard in this particular teaching.  Compare Pope Benedict XVI's encyclical, Deus Caritas Est, 2006.