God be in my head,
And in my understanding;
God be in my eyes,
And in my looking;
God be in my mouth,
And in my speaking;
God be in my heart,
And in my thinking;
God be in my end,
And at my departing
- - Sarum Missal

The Scholastics

Augustine entered the world of theological scholasticism at an interesting time. He lived near the end of the initial period of the church's growth, when the Roman Empire was decaying, yet he was able also to look ahead to the church of the Middle Ages, and to influence it greatly.

His career bridges the gap between the pagan Roman Empire and the Christian Middle Ages. Raised by a Christian mother, as an adult he plunged into a life of preaching and teaching, earning a reputation as a defender of orthodox Christianity.

The 12th century brought towering cathedrals, but there also appeared a succession of scholastics, systematizing and categorizing Christian thought, often with the goal of presenting theological matters in terms that were agreeable with contemporary philosophy.

Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury during the late 11th century, is known for presenting logical argument for the existence of God. He is sometimes referred to as the father of medieval scholasticism.

Peter Abelard, a scholastic renowned for his teaching of rhetoric and dialectic, disagreed with some of Anselm's ideas. Daring in both thinking and speech, Abelard's arguments reached and exceeded the accepted limits of thought, particularly as pertaining to the doctrine of the Trinity. Unrelenting in his criticism, he made enemies easily and, combined with a scandal involving a love affair with one of his pupils, he was censured and driven into exile. Still, his influence on the philosophers and theologians of his day was great.

The son of Count Landulf of an old aristocratic Italian family and Countess Theodora, a woman of noble Norman descent, Thomas Aquinas had intended, at an early age, to join the Dominican Order, but on the way to Rome he was seized by his brothers and brought back to his parents, where he was held captive for a couple of years, besieged with prayers, threats, and even sexual temptations to make him relinquish his purpose.

Finally, his parents relented, and the Order sent him to study under Albertus Magnus in Cologne. He remained with this famous philosopher of scholasticism, probably teaching, for several years. His intelligence was often hidden by a fat, slow, and serious appearance, yet he received great acclaim as a medieval thinker, bringing together rational and revealed truth.