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1. NT Background In the NT one can discern at least two different attitudes toward philosophy, both of which have ample echoes in later Christian tradition. On the one hand, by the cross of Christ God has brought to nothing the wisdom of this world (1 Cor. 1:17–2:5) and liberated the followers of Christ from captivity to the power of worldly philosophy (Col. 2:8–20; Theologia crucis). On the other hand, creation inherently displays the power and divinity of its maker, and God has written the requirements of the law (§1) on every human heart, so that even th…

1. Basic Features 1.1. Term The term “Scholasticism” designates a distinctive approach to the whole intellectual endeavor of human beings, an approach that took shape in the urban schools and (later) universities of the West beginning in the 11th century. Scholasticism is thus an original and characteristic product of medieval Western culture. By the time the major universities of the West (esp. Paris, Oxford, and Bologna) were well established in the 13th century, all of university education was und…

Words from both the Lat. iustitia (justice, justification, justify) and the Anglo-Saxon rightwise(n) (righteousness, declare or make righteous) are available in English to render terms from the single root ṣdq in Hebrew and the dikaio- word family in Greek. Accordingly, in English there are often separate treatments of “justification” and “righteousness” (e.g., R. B. Hays, J. Reumann). In German, as in many languages, the relevant terms Rechtfertigung and Gerechtigkeit are more closely related. This article treats the theology and proclamation of the doctrine …

1. St. Thomas Aquinas 1.1. Terminology The term “Thomism” can refer both to (1) the theology and philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas (ca. 1225–74) himself, the most influential of all scholastic theologians, and to (2) the very substantial theological and philosophical tradition of interpretive commentary on Aquinas, which began almost immediately after his death and continues today (see 2). The extent to which Thomism (2) reflects Thomism (1)—the extent to which the commentary tradition embodies and develops the mind o…

[German Version] I. Philosophy – II. Fundamental Theology – III. Philosophy of Religion I. Philosophy According to philosophical and theological research on analogy in the 13th–15th centuries, there are two main kinds of analogy: analogy of attribution and analogy of proportion. In both cases names (linguistic expressions) are given analogously. One reason for this was that analogy was seen as a solution to the question whether one can make true positive statements about God …