Medieval philosophy

Medieval philosophy refers to the era of feudalism. This is the time of domination of the religious worldview, which finds its reflection in theology. Therefore, in the first place, medieval philosophy is the servant of theology. Its main function is the proof of the existence of God, the interpretation of the Holy Scripture, the statement of the dogmas of the Church. In passing, the logic developed, the concept of personality (the difference of essence and hypostasis) was developed and disputes arose about the priority of the general or the individual.

In its development, medieval philosophy has gone through three stages and accordingly directions:

1. Apologetics. The justification of the possibility of building a holistic worldview based on the text of Holy Scripture was carried out. The main representatives of the medieval philosophy of this stage: the saints Origen and Tertullian.
2. Patristics. The period of renewal of Christian dogma, the establishment of public order and the definition of the role of the church for society. Medieval philosophy at this stage is represented by Augustine Aurelius and John Chrysostom. The fathers of the Christian church consider the Bible to be absolute truth and claim that God is outside the realm of the intelligible and sensible perceived, and therefore it can not be defined in words. The only way to know is faith. All the troubles and evil, the wrong choice of the people themselves.
3. Scholasticism. Interpretation and substantiation of the main religious dogmas. At this time medieval philosophy was represented by Thomas Aquinas and Anselm of Canterbury. They believed that absolutely all knowledge about our world can be found in the Bible and the works of Aristotle. They must be extracted from by interpretation.

Fundamental principles

1. Full worship of God and unquestioning fulfillment of the will of the church is the main general characteristic of medieval philosophy.
2. God created the world out of nothing in seven days. Therefore, all that they have, people owe it. History is interpreted as the fulfillment of the divine plan. The Most High directs humanity to the coming of the kingdom of God on earth.
3. The Bible is the most ancient and true book, the divine word. His Testament is the object of faith, the only evaluation measure for any theories and philosophy.
4. The authority of the church. A true writer worth listening to is God. Authoritative interpreters of his creation and revelations are church fathers. Man is allowed to know the world as a commentator. True knowledge belongs only to God.
5. The art of interpreting the new and old Testament. The Bible is the only criterion of truth. It is a complete set of laws of being. Scripture is the beginning and end of any philosophical theories. It is the basis for reflection: words and meanings, general content, ideas are analyzed.
6. Teaching and edifying: a general attitude toward upbringing, education and progress toward salvation, that is, to God. Form - treatises, dialogues of teachers and non-observant students. Main qualities: encyclopedic, high level of knowledge of Scripture and mastery in perfection by the fundamentals of Aristotle's formal logic .
7. Optimism is like a general spirit. God is incomprehensible, but his instructions can be understood through faith. The possibility of our own salvation, resurrection and eternal life, the ultimate celebration (on a cosmic scale) of Christian truth. Symbiosis of the saint and the worldly. Christian philosophy uses the following forms of knowledge: illumination, intuitive knowledge, intelligence, and divine revelation.

Of course, medieval philosophy carried a lot of problems. Here are the main ones:

1. The world exists because of the God who created it.
2. The will of God and the world created by him are practically comprehensible to man.
3. Medieval philosophy defined the place and role of people in the world through the prism of the salvation of their souls.
4. Absolute incoherence of the freedom of the will of man and Divine necessity.
5. Definition of the general, individual and individual in the doctrine of trinity.
6. Let's say God is good, truth and beauty, then where did evil come from and why does he tolerate it?
7. Correlation of Bible truths and human reason.