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Pope Benedict XVI- General Audiences |
General
Audience
On Theology in the 12th Century
"Knowledge Grows Only if It Loves Truth"
H.H. Benedict XVI
October 28, 2009
www.zenit.org
Dear brothers and sisters,
Today I pause to reflect on an interesting page of history, regarding
the flowering of Latin theology in the 12th century, which came about by
a providential series of coincidences. In the countries of Western
Europe there reigned then a relative peace, which assured society of
economic development and the consolidation of political structures, and
fostered a lively cultural activity thanks also to contacts with the
East. Perceived within the Church were the benefits of the vast action
known as the "Gregorian reform," which, vigorously promoted in the
preceding century, brought greater evangelical purity to the life of the
ecclesial community, above all of the clergy, and restored to the Church
and the papacy genuine liberty of action. Moreover, a vast spiritual
renewal was spreading, sustained by the exuberant development of
consecrated life: New religious orders were being born and spreading,
while those already existing experienced a promising renewal.
Theology was also flourishing, acquiring greater awareness of its own
nature: It refined its method, addressed new problems, advanced in the
contemplation of the mysteries of God, produced fundamental works,
inspired important initiatives of culture -- from art to literature --
and prepared the masterpieces of the next century, the century of Thomas
Aquinas and Bonaventure of Bagnoregio.
There were two realms in which this fervid theological activity
developed: the monasteries and the town schools, the scholae, some of
which very soon gave life to the universities, which constituted one of
the typical "inventions" of the Christian Middle Ages. In fact from
these two realms, the monasteries and the scholae, one can speak of two
different models of theology: "monastic theology" and "scholastic
theology." The representatives of monastic theology were monks, in
general, abbots, gifted with wisdom and evangelical fervor, dedicated
essentially to arousing and nourishing a loving desire for God. The
representatives of scholastic theology were cultured men, passionate
about research; magistri wishing to show the reasonableness and
soundness of the mysteries of God and of man, believed in with faith, of
course, but understood also by reason. The contrasting objectives
explain the differences in their method and their way of doing theology.
In the monasteries of the 12th century the theological method was linked
primarily to the explanation of sacred Scripture, of the sacra pagina,
to express ourselves as the authors of that period did. Biblical
theololy was particularly widespread. The monks, in fact, were all
devoted listeners and readers of sacred Scripture, and one of their main
occupations consisted in lectio divina, namely, prayerful reading of the
Bible. For them the simple reading of the sacred text was not enough to
perceive the profound meaning, the interior unity and the transcendent
message. Therefore, they had to practice a "spiritual reading," leading
in docility to the Holy Spirit. Thus, in the school of the Fathers, the
Bible was interpreted allegorically, to discover in every page, of the
Old as well as the New Testament, what is said about Christ and his work
of salvation.
Last year's synod of bishops on the "Word of God in the Life and Mission
of the Church" recalled the importance of the spiritual approach to
sacred Scripture. To this end, it is useful to treasure monastic
theology, an uninterrupted biblical exegesis, as also the works composed
by its representatives, precious ascetic commentaries on the books of
the Bible. Therefore, to literary preparation, monastic theology joined
spiritual preparation. It was, in fact, aware that a purely theoretic or
profane reading was not enough: To enter the heart of sacred Scripture,
it must be read in the spirit in which it was written and created.
Literary preparation was necessary to know the exact meaning of the
words and to facilitate the understanding of the text, refining the
grammatical and philological sensibility. Jean Leclercq, the Benedictine
scholar of the last century titled the essay with which he presented the
characteristics of monastic theology thus : "L'amour des lettres et le
desir de Dieu" (The love of words and the desire for God).
In fact, the desire to know and to love God, which comes to us through
his Word received, meditated and practiced, leads to seeking to go
deeper into the biblical texts in all their dimensions. There is then
another attitude on which those who practice monastic theology insist,
that is, a profound attitude of prayer, which must precede, support and
complement the study of sacred Scripture. Because, in the last analysis,
monastic theology is listening to the Word of God, one cannot but purify
the heart to receive it and, above all, one cannot but kindle it with
fervor to encounter the Lord. Therefore, theology becomes meditation,
prayer, song of praise and drives one to a sincere conversion. Not a few
representatives of monastic theology reached, along this way, the
highest goal of mystical experience, and they constitute an invitation
also for us to nourish our existence with the Word of God, for example,
through more attentive listening to the readings and the Gospel,
especially in Sunday Mass. Moreover, it is important to reserve a
certain time every day for meditation of the Bible, so that the Word of
God is the lamp that illumines our daily path on earth.
Scholastic theology, instead, -- as I was saying -- was practiced in the
scholae, arising next to the great cathedrals of the age, for the
preparation of the clergy, or around a teacher of theology and his
disciples, to form professionals of culture, at a time in which learning
was increasingly appreciated. Central to the method of the scholastics
was the quaestio, namely the problem posed to the reader in addressing
the words of Scripture and Tradition. In face of the problem that these
authoritative texts pose, questions arose and debate was born between
the teacher and the students. In such a debate appeared, on one hand,
the arguments of authority, and, on the other, those of reason, and the
debate developed in the sense of finding, in the end, a synthesis
between authority and reason to attain a more profound understanding of
the word of God.
In this regard, St. Bonaventure says that theology is "per additionem"
(cf. Commentaria in quatuor libros sententiarum, I, proem., q. 1, concl.),
that is, theology adds the dimension of reason to the word of God and
thus creates a more profound, more personal faith, and therefore also
more concrete in the life of man. In this connection, different
solutions were found and conclusions were formed that began to construct
a system of theology. The organization of the quaestiones led to the
compilation of increasingly extensive syntheses, that is, the different
quaestiones were composed with the answers that ensued, thus creating a
synthesis, the so-called summae, which were, in reality, ample
theological-dogmatic treatises born from the confrontation of human
reason with the word of God.
Scholastic theology sought to present the unity and harmony of Christian
Revelation with a method, called specifically "Scholastic," of the
school, which gives confidence to human reason: grammar and philology
are at the service of theological learning, but so increasingly is
logic, namely that discipline that studies the "functioning" of human
reasoning, so that the truth of a proposition seems evident. Also today,
reading the scholastic summae, one is struck by the order, clarity,
logical concatenation of the arguments, and of the depth of some of the
intuitions. Attributed to every word, with technical language, is a
precise meaning and, between believing and understanding, there is
established a reciprocal movement of clarification.
Dear brothers and sisters, echoing the invitation of the First Letter of
Peter, scholastic theology stimulates us to be always ready to answer
anyone asking for the reason for the hope that is in us (cf. 3:15). To
take the questions as directed to us and thus be capable also of giving
an answer. It reminds us that there is between faith and reason a
natural friendship, founded on the order of creation itself.
The Servant of God John Paul II, in the beginning of the encyclical
"Fides et Ratio," wrote: "Faith and reason are like the two wings, with
which the human spirit soars towards contemplation of the truth." Faith
is open to the effort of understanding on the part of reason; reason, in
turn, recognizes that faith does not mortify it, rather it drives it
toward wider and loftier horizons. Inserted here is the perennial lesson
of monastic theology. Faith and reason, in reciprocal dialogue, vibrate
with joy when both are animated by the search for profound union with
God. When love vivifies the prayerful dimension of theology, knowledge,
acquired by reason, is broadened. Truth is sought with humility,
received with wonder and gratitude: In a word, knowledge grows only if
it loves truth. Love becomes intelligence and theology the authentic
wisdom of the heart, which orients and sustains the faith and life of
believers. Let us pray, therefore, that the path of knowledge and of
deepening in the mysteries of God is always illumined by divine love.
[Translation by ZENIT]
[The Holy Father then greeted pilgrims in several languages. In English,
he said:]
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
In our catechesis on the Christian thinkers of the Middle Ages, we now
turn to the renewal of theology in the wake of the Gregorian Reform. The
twelfth century was a time of a spiritual, cultural and political
rebirth in the West. Theology, for its part, became more conscious of
its own nature and method, faced new problems and paved the way for the
great theological masterpieces of the thirteenth century, the age of
Saint Thomas Aquinas and Bonaventure. Two basic "models" of theology
emerged, associated respectively with the monasteries and the schools
which were the forerunners of the medieval universities. Monastic
theology grew out of the prayerful contemplation of the Scriptures and
the texts of the Church Fathers, stressing their interior unity and
spiritual meaning, centred on the mystery of Christ. Scholastic theology
sought to clarify the understanding of the faith by study of the sources
and the use of logic, and led to the great works of synthesis known as
the Summae. Even today this confidence in the harmony of faith and
reason inspires us to account for the hope within us (cf. 1 Peter 3:15)
and to show that faith liberates reason, enabling the human spirit to
rise to the loving contemplation of that fullness of truth which is God
himself.
I offer a warm welcome to the English-speaking visitors present at
today's Audience, especially those from England, Ireland, Sweden,
Nigeria, India and the United States. My particular greeting goes to the
priests attending a course at the Pontifical North American College and
to the seminarians of the Pontifical Scots College. Upon all of you I
invoke God's blessings of joy and peace!
[Copyright 2009 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana]
[In Italian, he said:]
I greet, finally, young people, the sick and newlyweds. Today the
liturgy remembers the Holy Apostles Simon and Jude Thaddaeus. May their
evangelical testimony sustain you, dear young people, in the commitment
of daily faithfulness to Christ; may it encourage you, dear sick people,
to always follow Jesus on the path of trial and suffering; may it help
you, dear newlyweds, to make of your family the place of constant
encounter with the love of God and neighbor.
[Translation by ZENIT]
Look
at the One they Pierced!
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the Servants of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and Mary
