Theocentrism of medieval philosophy

Theocentrism of medieval philosophy is a picture of the world in which God was the cause and center of being, his active and creative beginning. Philosophy of the period of the sixth - fifteenth centuries bore a pronounced religious-Christian orientation.

Stages of the development of medieval philosophy:

1) Apologetics

Preteocentric stage II - IV centuries AD. At that time, the first Christian literature appeared, in which Christianity was defended and justified.

A bright representative of this stage - Tertullian of Carthage believed that the Christian faith already contains a ready-made truth that does not need verification or proof. The basic principle of his teaching is "I believe, because it is absurd." At this stage, science and religion had no common ground.

2) Patristics

Early theocentrism of medieval philosophy, IV - VIII century. At that time the fathers of the church developed the foundations of Christian dogma. The starting point of any knowledge was faith, and the only worthy goal for the human mind is the knowledge of God.

Aurelius Augustine (St. Augustine), the main works - "On the City of God", "Confession." In his writings, the philosopher tried to carry out the synthesis of ancient rationalism-idealism and the Christian faith, putting faith in the forefront. The basic principle of the doctrine: "I believe in understanding."

Everything that exists, according to St. Augustine, is good because it exists. Evil is not a separate substance, but a defect, damage, non-existence. God is the source of good, being, the highest beauty.

Aurelius Augustine is considered the ancestor of the philosophy of history. In his opinion, in the process of history, humanity has formed two opposite "hailstones": the secular state, which is the kingdom of sin, the devil, and the Christian church is another "hail" that is the kingdom of God on earth. The historical course and God's providence lead humanity to the ultimate victory of the kingdom of God, as commanded in the Bible.

3) Scholasticism

From the Greek. "School", "scientist" - IX - XV centuries. The main feature of this period is an appeal to rational methods when considering super-rational objects, a search for evidence of the existence of God. The main principle of scholasticism: "I understand, in order to believe." The theory of "two truths" is formed, according to which science and faith do not contradict each other, but coexist harmoniously. The wisdom of faith is the desire to know God, and science is the means for this knowledge.

A bright representative of the scholastics is Thomas Aquinas (Aquinas). He believed that God is the original cause and ultimate goal of all things, pure form, pure being. The merging and unity of form and matter generates a world of individual individual phenomena. The highest phenomenon is Jesus Christ, who united in himself the divine pure nature and bodily-material form.

In many terms Thomas Aquinas converged with the teachings of Aristotle.

At the stage of scholasticism, science and religion merged into one teaching, while science served the needs of religion.

Principles of medieval philosophy:

1) The theocentricism of medieval philosophy was at the confluence with religion and gave support to the Christian behavior of man in the world.

2) The Bible was regarded as the source of all knowledge about the world, nature and history of mankind. Proceeding from this, a whole science arose about the correct interpretation of the Bible - exegesis. Accordingly, medieval philosophy, theocentrism were wholly exegetical.

3) Teachings. Education and upbringing were valuable only when they were directed to the knowledge of God and the salvation of the human soul. The training was based on the principle of dialogue, erudition and encyclopaedic knowledge of the teacher.

4) The theocentricism of medieval philosophy was devoid of skepticism and agnosticism. Divine guidance and revelation could be known through illumination, through faith. The physical world was studied with the help of science, and the divine nature - with the help of Divine revelations. There were two main truths: the divine and the secular, which theocentrism of medieval philosophy symbiologically united. The personal salvation and triumph of Christian truths were established on a universal scale.