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As a concept of the contemporary field of signification, eternity can be conceptually apprehended through various definitions: (a) infinity from a temporal/chronological viewpoint; infinitely long duration of time; without beginning and end in time; (b) time as a whole, the sum of all time; (c) condition beyond the category of time; (d) non-fleeting, non-transitory; (e) the very long, but not infinite, period of time of a world age (Gk., aion). From a philosophical standpoint, the question of eternity is systematically dependent on the underlying conception of ti…

Stage Model of Cultural History 1. In the shadow of the biological → theory of evolution, persistent attempts have been made to accommodate this basic notion of development to the cultural and social sciences. The prevailing paradigm of scientific biology seemed suited to serve as a universal model of explanation of historical, social, spiritual, political, ethical, and theological questions. Beginning in mid-nineteenth century, a veritable inflation occurred in ‘step models’: models of cultural hist…

The Flagellants (from Lat., flagellum, a ‘whip’) were a socio-religious penitential movement of the high and late Middle Ages, whose purpose was the purification of the soul through bodily pain. The members of this lay movement, which had spread throughout Europe, took the vow to flog themselves for thirty-three-and-one-half days, in correspondence with the years of Jesus's life, also to confess their sins to one another, to live without sin, and, every Good Friday, to devote themselves anew to thorough self-flogging. Italian Cistercian Abbot Joachim of Fiore (1130–1202) had…

The question of the meaning of this world's → evil—of natural evil (natural catastrophes), of moral evil, in the sense of war and crime, and of personal suffering (hunger, disease, death)—is encountered by every human being. It seems to have become fundamental for personal meaning. Thus, for some religions, the fact that there is such a thing as ‘bad’ poses problems of no little significance. How is a good and caring God to be reconciled with blind fate, and evil? The believer feels frequently e…

Life Story 1. Joan of Arc, the ‘Maid of Orleans,’ was born the daughter of a well-to-do farmer in Lotharingian Domrémy, on the Meuse. January 6, 1412 is indicated as her birthday. From the age of thirteen, she heard the ‘voices’ of Michael the Archangel, Saint Margaret, and Saint Catherine of Siena, from whom beginning in 1427 she received the political task of intervening in the Hundred Years' War between France and England, and liberating the country from the English troops. Joan forced her way …

The theory of evolution (from Lat., evolvere, ‘turn out,’ ‘develop’), in the strict sense, means a series of biological concepts that gives a scientific explanation for the arrival of life and the development of species. It is common to these interpretations that they do not regard life as a divine and inalterable creation, but hold life forms to be the product of a progressive development (theory of derivation, origin of species). By the beginning of the nineteenth century, Jean-Baptiste de Lamarck (…

As a comprehensive concept, Aristotelianism designates the reception of the Greek philosopher Aristotle (383–322 BCE) in the medieval theology and philosophy of scholasticism. The authoritative Church Father Augustine having clearly preferred Plato's competing philosophy ( Platonism), the course of Aristotle's reception in the West was very slow prior to the work of Albertus Magnus (1200–1280) and his pupil Thomas Aquinas (1525–1570). The writings of Aristotle were discovered and used in Chris…

Ars moriendi (Lat., ‘the art of dying’) denotes a genre of edifying literature come down from ancient times (Cicero), and intended to prepare persons for ‘right’ or ‘correct’ dying. It has its high point from the late Middle Ages (fifteenth century) to the Baroque period (seventeenth century). In the thoughts and feelings of the Middle Ages, the hour of death was the moment of the struggle of the powers of good ( Angel) with those of evil ( Devil) for the soul of a dying person. Ars moriendi, in this mythic representation, means the soul's readiness for this final battle. Accordin…

Faith/Reason 1. Definition, eras, and main currents: a) In the abstract, the principal theme of scholasticism (from Lat. schola, ‘school’) may be regarded to be the relationship between ‘reason’ and ‘Christian faith,’ or, better, the tension between the principles of faith and the requirements of rationality. A comprehensive material definition understands scholasticism as the totality of the sciences established in the European Middle Ages, which, with theology and philosophy, also included mathematics and the s…