THE LATIN WEST (HOENEN)

In his autobiography, the British philosopher R. G. Collingwood argued that historical concepts and theories must be understood in relation to the context in which they were produced. They should not be taken according to our modern understanding, especially when our modern perceptions of them have been affected by developments that have radically changed their meaning. This is the case with the notions of philosophy and theology, which are today separated as a proximate result of the Enlightenment. For example, nowadays almost no one would think of theology as a branch of philosophy, whereas in the medieval period this was one of the accepted meanings of the term. Theology in this philosophical sense originated in Antiquity and was identified with metaphysics and cosmology, not as something based on divine revelation, as it is generally understood today. It was, in short, the science of first principles, like the movers of the heavenly bodies, which are the causes of change down on earth.

Had theology therefore nothing to do with divine revelation? Of course it had. However, to appreciate the role of revelation in the medieval period, it is necessary to refer to a development in late antiquity that had an enormous impact on philosophy, namely the dissemination of Christianity in the intellectual culture of the time. To its adherents, Christianity was considered a form of wisdom superior to that of the Platonists, the Stoics, and the Epicureans. Important advocates for this early view were Origen and Augustine, who regarded it as a failure of those ancient schools that they looked only for a natural foundation for human knowledge. Human beings must, according to Origen and Augustine, be receptive to divine revelation. This advice was not new.