History of theology
Encyclopedia
This is an overview of the history
of theology
in Greek
thought, Christianity
, Judaism
and Islam
from the time of Jesus
to the present.
and Greek mythology
arose in the classical period—from Hesiod
's attempts to organize the diverse materials of mythology into a unified Theogony
to the more properly philosophical analysis reportedly carried out by Socrates
.
Influential texts include:
Philosophical reflection on the gods, on religion, and on the origins and governance of the Universe, flourished in the Hellenistic
period among both Greek- and Latin-speaking thinkers. Among the very diverse movements of Hellenistic philosophy in which theological reflection could be found were Skepticism
, Cynicism, Stoicism
, Epicureanism
, Middle Platonism
, and Neoplatonism
. The Skeptics were to have a larger impact on Western reasoning than the Cynics; but this would not occur until after its having been reified during the middle years of the Roman Empire when it passed into the mainstream of Western thought.
Influential texts include:
Hellenistic theology, which could be deemed to last until the suppression of the Athenian
Academy
in 529
by Justinian I
, overlaps with early Jewish and early Christian theology (see below), and several strands of thought important particularly to early Christian thought arise within Hellenistic circles: attempts to explain the apparent caprice of the gods, Atheism
, the development of monotheism
, the idea of God as first cause or form of the Good, the dualism
of spirit and matter in humanity, and redemption (the release of the spirit from its material prison to a higher spiritual world) through knowledge.
See also Greek mythology, Hellenistic rationalism and Ancient Greek religion – Theology
Two strands of Jewish theology develop in the 1st and 2nd centuries. On the one hand, there are those oral traditions of Rabbi
nic exegesis (Midrash
) and legal discussion (Mishnah
and Tosfeta) that eventually began to be written down towards the end of the 2nd century AD.
Important figures (known as Tannaim
) include
On the other hand, there is the attempt to accommodate traditional Jewish exegesis of the Jewish Scriptures and tradition with Greek philosophy
—a strand of thought of which Philo
(c.20 BC
to 40
AD) is the best known proponent. The destruction of the Jerusalem temple
in 70 AD and the dispersion
of many Jews from Israel
had a profound effect on Jewish Theology.
flourished in Jewish academies in Israel
and in Babylon
. Collections of opinions from these discussions, known as Gemara
were eventually edited together and placed with the Mishnah itself, in both Israel (around 350 AD – the Jerusalem Talmud
) and Babylon (around 550 AD, with further editing in the two centuries that followed – the Babylonian Talmud
).
Important figures (known as Amoraim) include
contains evidence of some of the earliest forms of reflection upon the meanings and implications of Christian faith, mostly in the form of guidance offered to Christian congregations on how to live a life consistent with their convictions – notably in the Pauline corpus
and Johannine corpus
.
literature can be read as an attempt to come to terms with Hellenistic culture. The period sees the slow emergence of orthodoxy
(the idea of which seems to emerge out of the conflicts between catholic
Christianity and Gnostic
Christianity), the establishment of a Biblical canon
, debates about the doctrine of the Trinity
(most notably between the councils of Nicaea
in 325
and Constantinople
in 381
), about Christology
(most notably between the councils of Constantinople in 381 and Chalcedon
in 451
), about the purity of the Church (for instance in the debates surrounding the Donatist
s), and about grace
, free will
and predestination
(for instance in the debate between Augustine of Hippo
and Pelagius
).
Influential texts and writers in the 2nd century include:
Influential texts and writers between c. 200
and 325
(the First Council of Nicaea
) include:
Texts from patristic authors before 325 AD are collected in the Ante-Nicene Fathers
.
Influential texts and writers between 325 AD and c. 500 AD include:
Texts from patristic authors after 325 AD are collected in the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers
. Important theological debates also surrounded the various Ecumenical Councils
– Nicaea
in 325, Constantinople
in 381, Ephesus in 431 and Chalcedon
in 451
See also main articles on Patristics
and Church Fathers
.
Prominent Geonim
include:
were the leading rabbis between approximately 1250 to 1550, that is in the era before the writing of the Shulkhan Arukh by Rabbi Yosef Karo
, which is considered the most authoritative compilation of Jewish law since the Talmud.
Prominent Rishonim include:
and Cassiodorus
was different from the vigorous Frankish
Christianity documented by Gregory of Tours
which was different again from the Christianity that flourished in Ireland
and Northumbria
in the 7th and 8th centuries. Throughout this period, theology tended to be a more monastic
affair, flourishing in monastic havens where the conditions and resources for theological learning could be maintained.
Important writers include:
saw an explosion of theological inquiry, and theological controversy. Controversy flared, for instance, around 'Spanish Adoptionism
, around the views on predestination of Gottschalk
, or around the eucharistic views of Ratramnus
.
Important writers include:
in the 9th century or Chartres
in the 11th. Intellectual influences from the Arabic world (including works of classical authors preserved by Islamic scholars) percolated into the Christian West via Spain, influencing such theologians as Gerbert of Aurillac, who went on to become Pope Sylvester II and mentor to Otto III. (Otto was the fourth ruler of the Germanic Ottonian
Holy Roman Empire
, successor to the Carolingian Empire). With hindsight, one might say that a new note was struck when a controversy about the meaning of the eucharist blew up around Berengar of Tours
in the 11th century: hints of a new confidence in the intellectual investigation of the faith that perhaps foreshadowed the explosion of theological argument that was to take place in the 12th century.
Notable authors include:
is sometimes misleadingly called the 'Father of Scholasticism' because of the prominent place that reason has in his theology; instead of establishing his points by appeal to authority, he presents arguments to demonstrate why it is that the things he believes on authority must be so. His particular approach, however, was not very influential in his time, and he kept his distance from the Cathedral Schools. We should look instead to the production of the gloss
on Scripture associated with Anselm of Laon
, the rise to prominence of dialectic
(middle subject of the medieval trivium) in the work of Abelard, and the production by Peter Lombard
of a collection of Sentences
or opinions of the Church Fathers and other authorities. Scholasticism proper can be thought of as the kind of theology that emerges when, in the Cathedral schools and their successors, the tools of dialectic are pressed into use to comment upon, explain, and develop the gloss and the sentences.
Notable authors include:
and the associated rise of the mendicant orders
(notably the Franciscan
s and Dominicans
), in part intended as a form of orthodox alternative to the heretical groups. Those two orders quickly became contexts for some of the most intense scholatsic theologizing, producing such 'high scholastic' theologians as Alexander of Hales
(Franciscan) and Thomas Aquinas
(Dominican), or the rather less obviously scholastic Bonaventure
(Franciscan). The century also saw a flourishing of mystical theology
, with women such as Mechthild of Magdeburg
playing a prominent role. In addition, the century can be seen as period in which the study of natural philosophy that could anachronistically be called 'science' began once again to flourish in theological soil, in the hands of such men as Robert Grosseteste
and Roger Bacon
.
Notable authors include:
or voluntarist theologies of men like William of Ockham
. The 14th century was also a time in which movements of widely varying character worked for the reform of the institutional church, such as conciliarism
, Lollardy
and the Hussite
s. Spiritual movements such as the Devotio Moderna
also flourished.
Notable authors include:
See also Scholasticism
or Kalam
, in the sense of ordered, rational reflection upon Allah and his Qur'an, is commonly held to begin at the end of the 7th century – the 1st century A.H. – with debates about divine and human freedom.
The Qadariyyah were those who defended a fairly strong view of human freedom, and included
'The Jabriyyah were their opponents, and included
dynasty, until the accession of Al-Mutawakkil
in 847
, after which it was suppressed. For the five principal doctrines of Mutazilism, see the main article. Prominent Mutazilite theologians include:
kalam. Asharite kalam rose to become the dominant form of Islamic kalam, and helped distinguish kalam from falasafa—from philosophy (a distinction which is less clear when considering Mutazilite thought).
Prominent Asharites include:
Note should also be taken of the variant of Asharism known as Maturidism. Prominent Maturidi
authors include:
) and Kalam (Islamic theology). Prominent writers normally held to stand on the Falasafa side of the divide include:
The Renaissance
yielded scholars the ability to read the scriptures in their original languages and this in part stimulated the Reformation
, a theological movement that protested
the outlawing of their faith at the Second Diet of Speyer
. Its main themes were Justification by faith
, the Bible as the only source of Christian teaching
, and the Priesthood of all believers
, and. Important figures include Luther
, Melanchthon
, Bucer
, Zwingli
, Calvin
, and the Anabaptists. Calvinist
theology was developed by successors such as Beza
, the English Puritans and Turretin
. Lutheran theology entered a period
of doctrinal unity with the adoption of the Book of Concord
and preserved it through the work of theologians such as Chemnitz
and Gerhard
.
The Roman Catholic Counter-Reformation
spearheaded by the Jesuits under Ignatius Loyola took their theology from the decisions of the Council of Trent
and developed Second Scholasticism
, which they pitted against Lutheran Scholasticism
. The overall result of the Reformation was to highlight distinctions of belief that had previously co-existed uneasily.
The Fall of Constantinople
in the East, 1453, led to a significant shift of gravity to the rising state of Russia
, the "Third Rome". The Renaissance stimulated a program of reforms by patriarchs of prayer books. A movement called the "Old Believers
" consequently resulted and influenced Russian Orthodox Theology in the direction of conservatism
and Erastianism.
After the Reformation protestant groups continued to splinter, leading to a range of new theologies. The "Enthusiasts" were so named because of their emotional zeal. These included the Methodists, the Quakers and Baptists. Another group sought to reconcile Christian faith with "Modern" ideas, sometimes causing them to reject beliefs they considered to be illogical, including the Nicene creed
and Chalcedonian Creed
. these included Unitarians
and Universalists. A major issue for Protestants became the degree to which Man contributes to his salvation. The debate is often viewied as synergism
versus monergism
, though the labels Calvinist and Arminian are more frequently used, referring to the conclusion of the Synod of Dort
.
The 19th century saw the rise of biblical criticism
, new knowledge of religious diversity
in other continents and above all the growth of science
. This led many church men to espouse a form of Deism
. This, along with concepts such as the brotherhood of man and a rejection of miracle
s led to what is called "Classical liberalism
". Immensely influential in its day, classic liberalism suffered badly as a result of the two world wars and fell prey to the criticisms of postmodernism
.
Vladimir Lossky
is a famous Eastern Orthodox theologian writing in the 20th century for the Greek church.
Postmodern theology seeks to respond to the challenges of post modern and deconstructionist thought, and has included the death of God movement, Process Theology
, Feminist theology
and Queer Theology and most importantly Neo-orthodox Theology. Karl Barth
, Rudolf Bultmann
and Reinhold Niebuhr
were Neo-Orthodoxies main representatives. In particular Barth labeled his Theology "Dialectical Theology", a reference to existentialism
.
The predominance of Classic Liberalism resulted in many reactionary
movements amongst conservative believers. Evangelical
theology, Pentecostal or Renewal theology and Fundamentalist theology, often combined with Dispensationalism
, all moved from the fringe into the academy. Marxism
stimulated the significant rise of Liberation Theology
which can be interpreted as a rejection of Academic Theology that fails to challenge the establishment
and help the poor.
From the late 19th century to the early twentieth groups established themselves that derived many of their beliefs from Protestant evangelical groups but significantly differed in doctrine. These include the Jehovah's Witnesses
, the Latter Day Saints and others. Many of these groups use the Protestant version of the bible and typically interpret it in a fundamentalist fashion, adding, however, special prophecy or scriptures, and typically denying the trinity and the full deity of Jesus Christ.
Ecumenical Theology sought to discover a common consensus on theological matters that could bring the many Christian denominations together. As a movement it was successful in helping to provide a basis for the establishment of the World Council of Churches
and for some reconciliation between more established denominations. But ecumenical theology was nearly always the concern of liberal theologians, especially Protestant ones. The movement for ecumenism was opposed especially by fundamentalists and viewed as flawed by many neo-orthodox and confessional Lutheran
theologians.
The pattern of challenge from a changing world, liberal response from official representatives and orthodox backlash from conservatives is found also in the history of Islam and Judaism. Reform Judaism
represents a liberal interpretation as against Orthodox Judaism
, and moderate or Liberal Islam continues to be theologically distinct from Islamic Fundamentalism
, notably its Wahabi
and Deobandi
Schools.
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
of theology
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
in Greek
Greek philosophy
Ancient Greek philosophy arose in the 6th century BCE and continued through the Hellenistic period, at which point Ancient Greece was incorporated in the Roman Empire...
thought, Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
, Judaism
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
and Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
from the time of Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
to the present.
Classical Greek theology
Various forms of systematic and philosophical reflection on Ancient Greek religionAncient Greek religion
Greek religion encompasses the collection of beliefs and rituals practiced in ancient Greece in the form of both popular public religion and cult practices. These different groups varied enough for it to be possible to speak of Greek religions or "cults" in the plural, though most of them shared...
and Greek mythology
Greek mythology
Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...
arose in the classical period—from Hesiod
Hesiod
Hesiod was a Greek oral poet generally thought by scholars to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer. His is the first European poetry in which the poet regards himself as a topic, an individual with a distinctive role to play. Ancient authors credited him and...
's attempts to organize the diverse materials of mythology into a unified Theogony
Theogony
The Theogony is a poem by Hesiod describing the origins and genealogies of the gods of the ancient Greeks, composed circa 700 BC...
to the more properly philosophical analysis reportedly carried out by Socrates
Socrates
Socrates was a classical Greek Athenian philosopher. Credited as one of the founders of Western philosophy, he is an enigmatic figure known chiefly through the accounts of later classical writers, especially the writings of his students Plato and Xenophon, and the plays of his contemporary ...
.
Influential texts include:
- HesiodHesiodHesiod was a Greek oral poet generally thought by scholars to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer. His is the first European poetry in which the poet regards himself as a topic, an individual with a distinctive role to play. Ancient authors credited him and...
's TheogonyTheogonyThe Theogony is a poem by Hesiod describing the origins and genealogies of the gods of the ancient Greeks, composed circa 700 BC...
(c. 700 BC) - PlatoPlatoPlato , was a Classical Greek philosopher, mathematician, student of Socrates, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. Along with his mentor, Socrates, and his student, Aristotle, Plato helped to lay the...
's TimaeusTimaeus (dialogue)Timaeus is one of Plato's dialogues, mostly in the form of a long monologue given by the title character, written circa 360 BC. The work puts forward speculation on the nature of the physical world and human beings. It is followed by the dialogue Critias.Speakers of the dialogue are Socrates,...
(c.360 BC360 BCYear 360 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Ambustus and Visolus...
) - AristotleAristotleAristotle was a Greek philosopher and polymath, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. His writings cover many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, linguistics, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology...
's MetaphysicsMetaphysics (Aristotle)Metaphysics is one of the principal works of Aristotle and the first major work of the branch of philosophy with the same name. The principal subject is "being qua being", or being understood as being. It examines what can be asserted about anything that exists just because of its existence and...
Book Lambda (c.330 BC330 BCYear 330 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Crassus and Venno...
)
Hellenistic theology
Hellenistic civilization
Hellenistic civilization represents the zenith of Greek influence in the ancient world from 323 BCE to about 146 BCE...
period among both Greek- and Latin-speaking thinkers. Among the very diverse movements of Hellenistic philosophy in which theological reflection could be found were Skepticism
Skepticism
Skepticism has many definitions, but generally refers to any questioning attitude towards knowledge, facts, or opinions/beliefs stated as facts, or doubt regarding claims that are taken for granted elsewhere...
, Cynicism, Stoicism
Stoicism
Stoicism is a school of Hellenistic philosophy founded in Athens by Zeno of Citium in the early . The Stoics taught that destructive emotions resulted from errors in judgment, and that a sage, or person of "moral and intellectual perfection," would not suffer such emotions.Stoics were concerned...
, Epicureanism
Epicureanism
Epicureanism is a system of philosophy based upon the teachings of Epicurus, founded around 307 BC. Epicurus was an atomic materialist, following in the steps of Democritus. His materialism led him to a general attack on superstition and divine intervention. Following Aristippus—about whom...
, Middle Platonism
Middle Platonism
Middle Platonism is the modern name given to a stage in the development of Plato's philosophy, lasting from about 90 BC, when Antiochus of Ascalon rejected the scepticism of the New Academy, until the development of Neoplatonism under Plotinus in the 3rd century. Middle Platonism absorbed many...
, and Neoplatonism
Neoplatonism
Neoplatonism , is the modern term for a school of religious and mystical philosophy that took shape in the 3rd century AD, based on the teachings of Plato and earlier Platonists, with its earliest contributor believed to be Plotinus, and his teacher Ammonius Saccas...
. The Skeptics were to have a larger impact on Western reasoning than the Cynics; but this would not occur until after its having been reified during the middle years of the Roman Empire when it passed into the mainstream of Western thought.
Influential texts include:
- CleanthesCleanthesCleanthes , of Assos, was a Greek Stoic philosopher and the successor to Zeno as the second head of the Stoic school in Athens. Originally a boxer, he came to Athens where he took up philosophy, listening to Zeno's lectures. He supported himself by working as water-carrier at night. After the...
' Hymn to Zeus (3rd century BC) - CiceroCiceroMarcus Tullius Cicero , was a Roman philosopher, statesman, lawyer, political theorist, and Roman constitutionalist. He came from a wealthy municipal family of the equestrian order, and is widely considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists.He introduced the Romans to the chief...
's de Natura DeorumDe Natura DeorumDe Natura Deorum is a philosophical dialogue by Roman orator Cicero written in 45 BC. It is laid out in three "books", each of which discuss the theology of different Roman and Greek philosophers...
(45 BC45 BCYear 45 BC was either a common year starting on Thursday, Friday or Saturday or a leap year starting on Friday or Saturday and the first year of the Julian calendar and a leap year starting on Friday of the Proleptic Julian calendar...
) - LucretiusLucretiusTitus Lucretius Carus was a Roman poet and philosopher. His only known work is an epic philosophical poem laying out the beliefs of Epicureanism, De rerum natura, translated into English as On the Nature of Things or "On the Nature of the Universe".Virtually no details have come down concerning...
' de Rerum NaturaOn the Nature of ThingsDe rerum natura is a 1st century BC didactic poem by the Roman poet and philosopher Lucretius with the goal of explaining Epicurean philosophy to a Roman audience. The poem, written in some 7,400 dactylic hexameters, is divided into six untitled books, and explores Epicurean physics through richly...
(1st century BC) - EpictetusEpictetusEpictetus was a Greek sage and Stoic philosopher. He was born a slave at Hierapolis, Phrygia , and lived in Rome until banishment when he went to Nicopolis in northwestern Greece where he lived the rest of his life. His teachings were noted down and published by his pupil Arrian in his Discourses...
' EnchiridionEnchiridion of EpictetusThe Enchiridion, or Handbook of Epictetus, , often shortened to simply "The Handbook", is a short manual of Stoic ethical advice compiled by Arrian, who had been a pupil of Epictetus at the beginning of the 2nd century....
(135135Year 135 was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Lupercus and Atilianus...
) - PlotinusPlotinusPlotinus was a major philosopher of the ancient world. In his system of theory there are the three principles: the One, the Intellect, and the Soul. His teacher was Ammonius Saccas and he is of the Platonic tradition...
' EnneadsEnneadsThe Six Enneads, sometimes abbreviated to The Enneads or Enneads , is the collection of writings of Plotinus, edited and compiled by his student Porphyry . Plotinus was a student of Ammonius Saccas and they were founders of Neoplatonism...
(c.235235Year 235 was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Severus and Quintianus...
and after).
Hellenistic theology, which could be deemed to last until the suppression of the Athenian
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
Academy
Academy
An academy is an institution of higher learning, research, or honorary membership.The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 385 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the goddess of wisdom and skill, north of Athens, Greece. In the western world academia is the...
in 529
529
Year 529 was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Decius without colleague...
by Justinian I
Justinian I
Justinian I ; , ; 483– 13 or 14 November 565), commonly known as Justinian the Great, was Byzantine Emperor from 527 to 565. During his reign, Justinian sought to revive the Empire's greatness and reconquer the lost western half of the classical Roman Empire.One of the most important figures of...
, overlaps with early Jewish and early Christian theology (see below), and several strands of thought important particularly to early Christian thought arise within Hellenistic circles: attempts to explain the apparent caprice of the gods, Atheism
Atheism
Atheism is, in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of deities. In a narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities...
, the development of monotheism
Monotheism
Monotheism is the belief in the existence of one and only one god. Monotheism is characteristic of the Baha'i Faith, Christianity, Druzism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Samaritanism, Sikhism and Zoroastrianism.While they profess the existence of only one deity, monotheistic religions may still...
, the idea of God as first cause or form of the Good, the dualism
Dualism
Dualism denotes a state of two parts. The term 'dualism' was originally coined to denote co-eternal binary opposition, a meaning that is preserved in metaphysical and philosophical duality discourse but has been diluted in general or common usages. Dualism can refer to moral dualism, Dualism (from...
of spirit and matter in humanity, and redemption (the release of the spirit from its material prison to a higher spiritual world) through knowledge.
See also Greek mythology, Hellenistic rationalism and Ancient Greek religion – Theology
The 1st and 2nd centuries
Rabbi
In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...
nic exegesis (Midrash
Midrash
The Hebrew term Midrash is a homiletic method of biblical exegesis. The term also refers to the whole compilation of homiletic teachings on the Bible....
) and legal discussion (Mishnah
Mishnah
The Mishnah or Mishna is the first major written redaction of the Jewish oral traditions called the "Oral Torah". It is also the first major work of Rabbinic Judaism. It was redacted c...
and Tosfeta) that eventually began to be written down towards the end of the 2nd century AD.
Important figures (known as Tannaim
Tannaim
The Tannaim were the Rabbinic sages whose views are recorded in the Mishnah, from approximately 70-200 CE. The period of the Tannaim, also referred to as the Mishnaic period, lasted about 130 years...
) include
- Hillel the ElderHillel the ElderHillel was a famous Jewish religious leader, one of the most important figures in Jewish history. He is associated with the development of the Mishnah and the Talmud...
(working c.30 BC30 BCYear 30 BC was either a common year starting on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday or a leap year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar and a common year starting on Wednesday of the Proleptic Julian calendar...
to 1010Year 10 was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, throughout Roman Empire, it was known as the year of the consulship of Dolabella and Silanus...
AD) - Shamai (c. 50 BC50 BCYear 50 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Paullus and Marcellus...
to 3030Year 30 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Vinicius and Longinus...
AD) - Gamliel I (died c. 5050Year 50 was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Vetus and Nerullinus...
) - Yohanan ben Zakkai (1st century AD)
- Gamliel II (1st century D)
- Rabbi AkivaRabbi AkivaAkiva ben Joseph simply known as Rabbi Akiva , was a tanna of the latter part of the 1st century and the beginning of the 2nd century . He was a great authority in the matter of Jewish tradition, and one of the most central and essential contributors to the Mishnah and Midrash Halakha...
(c. 5050Year 50 was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Vetus and Nerullinus...
to c. 135135Year 135 was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Lupercus and Atilianus...
) - Simeon bar YohaiSimeon bar YohaiSimeon bar Yochai, , also known by his acronym Rashbi, was a famous 1st-century tannaic sage in ancient Israel, active after the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE...
(2nd century AD) - Rabbi Judah haNasiJudah haNasiJudah the Prince, or Judah I, also known as Rebbi or Rabbeinu HaKadosh , was a 2nd-century CE rabbi and chief redactor and editor of the Mishnah. He was a key leader of the Jewish community during the Roman occupation of Judea . He was of the Davidic line, the royal line of King David, hence the...
(2nd century AD).
On the other hand, there is the attempt to accommodate traditional Jewish exegesis of the Jewish Scriptures and tradition with Greek philosophy
Greek philosophy
Ancient Greek philosophy arose in the 6th century BCE and continued through the Hellenistic period, at which point Ancient Greece was incorporated in the Roman Empire...
—a strand of thought of which Philo
Philo
Philo , known also as Philo of Alexandria , Philo Judaeus, Philo Judaeus of Alexandria, Yedidia, "Philon", and Philo the Jew, was a Hellenistic Jewish Biblical philosopher born in Alexandria....
(c.20 BC
20 BC
Year 20 BC was either a common year starting on Wednesday or Thursday or a leap year starting on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday of the Julian calendar and a common year starting on Tuesday of the Proleptic Julian calendar...
to 40
40
Year 40 was a leap year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Augustus without colleague...
AD) is the best known proponent. The destruction of the Jerusalem temple
Temple in Jerusalem
The Temple in Jerusalem or Holy Temple , refers to one of a series of structures which were historically located on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem, the current site of the Dome of the Rock. Historically, these successive temples stood at this location and functioned as the centre of...
in 70 AD and the dispersion
Diaspora
A diaspora is "the movement, migration, or scattering of people away from an established or ancestral homeland" or "people dispersed by whatever cause to more than one location", or "people settled far from their ancestral homelands".The word has come to refer to historical mass-dispersions of...
of many Jews from Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
had a profound effect on Jewish Theology.
In the period of the Talmud
In the centuries after its compilation, discussion and commentary upon the MishnahMishnah
The Mishnah or Mishna is the first major written redaction of the Jewish oral traditions called the "Oral Torah". It is also the first major work of Rabbinic Judaism. It was redacted c...
flourished in Jewish academies in Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
and in Babylon
Babylon
Babylon was an Akkadian city-state of ancient Mesopotamia, the remains of which are found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Province, Iraq, about 85 kilometers south of Baghdad...
. Collections of opinions from these discussions, known as Gemara
Gemara
The Gemara is the component of the Talmud comprising rabbinical analysis of and commentary on the Mishnah. After the Mishnah was published by Rabbi Judah the Prince The Gemara (also transliterated Gemora or, less commonly, Gemorra; from Aramaic גמרא gamar; literally, "[to] study" or "learning by...
were eventually edited together and placed with the Mishnah itself, in both Israel (around 350 AD – the Jerusalem Talmud
Jerusalem Talmud
The Jerusalem Talmud, talmud meaning "instruction", "learning", , is a collection of Rabbinic notes on the 2nd-century Mishnah which was compiled in the Land of Israel during the 4th-5th century. The voluminous text is also known as the Palestinian Talmud or Talmud de-Eretz Yisrael...
) and Babylon (around 550 AD, with further editing in the two centuries that followed – the Babylonian Talmud
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
).
Important figures (known as Amoraim) include
- Samuel of Nehardea (Shmuel) (c. 165165Year 165 was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Orfitus and Pudens...
-c. 257257Year 257 was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Valerianus and Gallienus...
) - Resh LakishResh LakishSimeon ben Lakish , better known by his nickname Resh Lakish, was an amora who lived in the Roman province of Syria Palaestina in the third century CE...
(born c. 200200Year 200 was a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Severus and Victorinus...
) - Hillel, son of Gamaliel IIIHillel, son of Gamaliel IIIHillel, son of Gamaliel III, was a Jewish scholar in the 3rd century CE. He was son of Gamaliel III, brother of Judah II, and probably a pupil of his grandfather Judah I.Of his early history nothing is known...
(3rd century) - Abba ArikaAbba ArikaAbba Arika was a Jewish Talmudist who lived in Babylonia, known as an amora of the 3rd century who established at Sura the systematic study of the rabbinic traditions, which, using the Mishnah as text, led to the compilation of the Talmud...
(Rav) (died 247247Year 247 was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Philippus and Severus...
) - Rabbi YochananYochanan bar NafchaRabbi Yochanan ;...
(died c. 279279Year 279 was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Probus and Paternus...
) - AbayeAbayeAbaye was a rabbi of the Jewish Talmud who lived in Babylonia [בבל], known as an amora [אמורא] born about the close of the third century; died 339 . His father, Kaylil, was the brother of Rabbah bar Nachmani, a teacher at the Academy of Pumbedita. Abaye's real name was Nachmani, after his...
(278278Year 278 was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Probus and Lupus...
-c. 338338Year 338 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Ursus and Polemius...
) - AbbahuAbbahuAbbahu was a Jewish Talmudist, known as an amora, who lived in the Land of Israel, of the 3rd amoraic generation , sometimes cited as R. Abbahu of Caesarea . His rabbinic education was acquired mainly at Tiberias, in the academy presided over by R. Johanan, with whom his relations were almost...
(died c. 320320Year 320 was a leap year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Constantinus and Constantinus...
) - Ashi (352352Year 352 was a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Decentius and Paulus...
-427427Year 427 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Hierus and Ardabur...
)
Theologies of the New Testament
The New TestamentNew Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
contains evidence of some of the earliest forms of reflection upon the meanings and implications of Christian faith, mostly in the form of guidance offered to Christian congregations on how to live a life consistent with their convictions – notably in the Pauline corpus
Paul of Tarsus
Paul the Apostle , also known as Saul of Tarsus, is described in the Christian New Testament as one of the most influential early Christian missionaries, with the writings ascribed to him by the church forming a considerable portion of the New Testament...
and Johannine corpus
Authorship of the Johannine works
Authorship of the Johannine works has been debated by scholars since at least the 2nd century. The main debate centers on who authored the writings, and which of the writings, if any, can be ascribed to a common author.Ancient tradition attributes all the books to John the Apostle...
.
Patristic theology
A huge quantity of theological reflection emerged in the early centuries of the Christian church – in a wide variety of genres, in a variety of contexts, and in several languages – much of it the product of attempts to discuss how Christian faith should be lived in cultures very different from the one in which it was born. So, for instance, a good deal of the Greek languageGreek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
literature can be read as an attempt to come to terms with Hellenistic culture. The period sees the slow emergence of orthodoxy
Orthodoxy
The word orthodox, from Greek orthos + doxa , is generally used to mean the adherence to accepted norms, more specifically to creeds, especially in religion...
(the idea of which seems to emerge out of the conflicts between catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
Christianity and Gnostic
Gnosticism
Gnosticism is a scholarly term for a set of religious beliefs and spiritual practices common to early Christianity, Hellenistic Judaism, Greco-Roman mystery religions, Zoroastrianism , and Neoplatonism.A common characteristic of some of these groups was the teaching that the realisation of Gnosis...
Christianity), the establishment of a Biblical canon
Biblical canon
A biblical canon, or canon of scripture, is a list of books considered to be authoritative as scripture by a particular religious community. The term itself was first coined by Christians, but the idea is found in Jewish sources. The internal wording of the text can also be specified, for example...
, debates about the doctrine of the Trinity
Trinity
The Christian doctrine of the Trinity defines God as three divine persons : the Father, the Son , and the Holy Spirit. The three persons are distinct yet coexist in unity, and are co-equal, co-eternal and consubstantial . Put another way, the three persons of the Trinity are of one being...
(most notably between the councils of Nicaea
First Council of Nicaea
The First Council of Nicaea was a council of Christian bishops convened in Nicaea in Bithynia by the Roman Emperor Constantine I in AD 325...
in 325
325
Year 325 was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Proculus and Paulinus...
and Constantinople
First Council of Constantinople
The First Council of Constantinople is recognized as the Second Ecumenical Council by the Assyrian Church of the East, the Oriental Orthodox, the Eastern Orthodox, the Roman Catholics, the Old Catholics, and a number of other Western Christian groups. It was the first Ecumenical Council held in...
in 381
381
Year 381 was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Syagrius and Eucherius...
), about Christology
Christology
Christology is the field of study within Christian theology which is primarily concerned with the nature and person of Jesus Christ as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament. Primary considerations include the relationship of Jesus' nature and person with the nature...
(most notably between the councils of Constantinople in 381 and Chalcedon
Council of Chalcedon
The Council of Chalcedon was a church council held from 8 October to 1 November, 451 AD, at Chalcedon , on the Asian side of the Bosporus. The council marked a significant turning point in the Christological debates that led to the separation of the church of the Eastern Roman Empire in the 5th...
in 451
451
Year 451 was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Marcianus and Adelfius...
), about the purity of the Church (for instance in the debates surrounding the Donatist
Donatist
Donatism was a Christian sect within the Roman province of Africa that flourished in the fourth and fifth centuries. It had its roots in the social pressures among the long-established Christian community of Roman North Africa , during the persecutions of Christians under Diocletian...
s), and about grace
Divine grace
In Christian theology, grace is God’s gift of God’s self to humankind. It is understood by Christians to be a spontaneous gift from God to man - "generous, free and totally unexpected and undeserved" - that takes the form of divine favour, love and clemency. It is an attribute of God that is most...
, free will
Free will
"To make my own decisions whether I am successful or not due to uncontrollable forces" -Troy MorrisonA pragmatic definition of free willFree will is the ability of agents to make choices free from certain kinds of constraints. The existence of free will and its exact nature and definition have long...
and predestination
Predestination
Predestination, in theology is the doctrine that all events have been willed by God. John Calvin interpreted biblical predestination to mean that God willed eternal damnation for some people and salvation for others...
(for instance in the debate between Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo , also known as Augustine, St. Augustine, St. Austin, St. Augoustinos, Blessed Augustine, or St. Augustine the Blessed, was Bishop of Hippo Regius . He was a Latin-speaking philosopher and theologian who lived in the Roman Africa Province...
and Pelagius
Pelagius
Pelagius was an ascetic who denied the need for divine aid in performing good works. For him, the only grace necessary was the declaration of the law; humans were not wounded by Adam's sin and were perfectly able to fulfill the law apart from any divine aid...
).
Influential texts and writers in the 2nd century include:
- The collection known as the Apostolic FathersApostolic FathersThe Apostolic Fathers are a small number of Early Christian authors who lived and wrote in the second half of the first century and the first half of the second century. They are acknowledged as leaders in the early church, although their writings were not included in the New Testament...
(mostly 2nd century) - Justin MartyrJustin MartyrJustin Martyr, also known as just Saint Justin , was an early Christian apologist. Most of his works are lost, but two apologies and a dialogue survive. He is considered a saint by the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church....
(c. 100100Year 100 was a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Traianus and Frontinus...
/114114Year 114 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Hasta and Vopiscus...
– c. 162162Year 162 was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Rusticus and Plautius...
/168168Year 168 was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Apronianus and Paullus...
) - Clement of AlexandriaClement of AlexandriaTitus Flavius Clemens , known as Clement of Alexandria , was a Christian theologian and the head of the noted Catechetical School of Alexandria. Clement is best remembered as the teacher of Origen...
(died c. 215215Year 215 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Laetus and Sulla...
) - Irenaeus of Lyons (c. 130130Year 130 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Catullinus and Aper...
– 202202Year 202 was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Severus and Antoninus...
) - Various ‘GnosticGnosticismGnosticism is a scholarly term for a set of religious beliefs and spiritual practices common to early Christianity, Hellenistic Judaism, Greco-Roman mystery religions, Zoroastrianism , and Neoplatonism.A common characteristic of some of these groups was the teaching that the realisation of Gnosis...
’ authors, such as Valentinius (c.100100Year 100 was a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Traianus and Frontinus...
-c. 153153Year 153 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Rusticus and Rufinus...
) and BasilidesBasilidesBasilides was an early Gnostic religious teacher in Alexandria, Egypt who taught from 117–138 AD, notes that to prove that the heretical sects were "later than the catholic Church," Clement of Alexandria assigns Christ's own teaching to the reigns of Augustus and Tiberius; that of the apostles,...
(c. 117117Year 117 was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Niger and Apronianus...
-138138Year 138 was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Niger and Camerinus...
) - Some of the texts commonly referred to as the New Testament apocryphaNew Testament apocryphaThe New Testament apocrypha are a number of writings by early Christians that claim to be accounts of Jesus and his teachings, the nature of God, or the teachings of his apostles and of their lives. These writings often have links with books regarded as "canonical"...
.
Influential texts and writers between c. 200
200
Year 200 was a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Severus and Victorinus...
and 325
325
Year 325 was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Proculus and Paulinus...
(the First Council of Nicaea
First Council of Nicaea
The First Council of Nicaea was a council of Christian bishops convened in Nicaea in Bithynia by the Roman Emperor Constantine I in AD 325...
) include:
- TertullianTertullianQuintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus, anglicised as Tertullian , was a prolific early Christian author from Carthage in the Roman province of Africa. He is the first Christian author to produce an extensive corpus of Latin Christian literature. He also was a notable early Christian apologist and...
(c. 155155Year 155 was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Severus and Rufinus...
-230230Year 230 was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Agricola and Clementinus...
) - HippolytusHippolytus (writer)Hippolytus of Rome was the most important 3rd-century theologian in the Christian Church in Rome, where he was probably born. Photios I of Constantinople describes him in his Bibliotheca Hippolytus of Rome (170 – 235) was the most important 3rd-century theologian in the Christian Church in Rome,...
(died 235235Year 235 was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Severus and Quintianus...
) - OrigenOrigenOrigen , or Origen Adamantius, 184/5–253/4, was an early Christian Alexandrian scholar and theologian, and one of the most distinguished writers of the early Church. As early as the fourth century, his orthodoxy was suspect, in part because he believed in the pre-existence of souls...
(c. 182182Year 182 was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Sura and Rufus...
-c.251251Year 251 was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Traianus and Etruscus...
) - CyprianCyprianCyprian was bishop of Carthage and an important Early Christian writer, many of whose Latin works are extant. He was born around the beginning of the 3rd century in North Africa, perhaps at Carthage, where he received a classical education...
(died c. 258258Year 258 was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Tuscus and Bassus...
) - AriusAriusArius was a Christian presbyter in Alexandria, Egypt of Libyan origins. His teachings about the nature of the Godhead, which emphasized the Father's divinity over the Son , and his opposition to the Athanasian or Trinitarian Christology, made him a controversial figure in the First Council of...
(256256Year 256 was a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Claudius and Glabrio...
-336336Year 336 was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Nepotianus and Facundus...
) - Other GnosticGnosticismGnosticism is a scholarly term for a set of religious beliefs and spiritual practices common to early Christianity, Hellenistic Judaism, Greco-Roman mystery religions, Zoroastrianism , and Neoplatonism.A common characteristic of some of these groups was the teaching that the realisation of Gnosis...
texts and texts from the New Testament apocryphaNew Testament apocryphaThe New Testament apocrypha are a number of writings by early Christians that claim to be accounts of Jesus and his teachings, the nature of God, or the teachings of his apostles and of their lives. These writings often have links with books regarded as "canonical"...
.
Texts from patristic authors before 325 AD are collected in the Ante-Nicene Fathers
Ante-Nicene Fathers
The Ante-Nicene Fathers, subtitled "The Writings of the Fathers Down to A.D. 325", is a collection of books in 10 volumes containing English translations of the majority of Early Christian writings. The period covers the beginning of Christianity until before the promulgation of the Nicene Creed...
.
- Athanasius (298298Year 298 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Faustus and Gallus...
-373373Year 373 was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Augustus and Valens...
) - The Cappadocian FathersCappadocian FathersThe Cappadocian Fathers are Basil the Great , who was bishop of Caesarea; Basil's brother Gregory of Nyssa , who was bishop of Nyssa; and a close friend, Gregory of Nazianzus , who became Patriarch of Constantinople...
(late 4th century) - AmbroseAmbroseAurelius Ambrosius, better known in English as Saint Ambrose , was a bishop of Milan who became one of the most influential ecclesiastical figures of the 4th century. He was one of the four original doctors of the Church.-Political career:Ambrose was born into a Roman Christian family between about...
(c. 340340Year 340 was a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Acindynus and Valerius...
-397397Year 397 was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Caesarius and Atticus...
) - JeromeJeromeSaint Jerome was a Roman Christian priest, confessor, theologian and historian, and who became a Doctor of the Church. He was the son of Eusebius, of the city of Stridon, which was on the border of Dalmatia and Pannonia...
(c. 347347Year 347 was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Rufinus and Eusebius...
-420420Year 420 was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Theodosius and Constantius...
) - Chrysostom (347347Year 347 was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Rufinus and Eusebius...
-407407Year 407 was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Honorius and Theodosius...
) - Augustine of HippoAugustine of HippoAugustine of Hippo , also known as Augustine, St. Augustine, St. Austin, St. Augoustinos, Blessed Augustine, or St. Augustine the Blessed, was Bishop of Hippo Regius . He was a Latin-speaking philosopher and theologian who lived in the Roman Africa Province...
(354354Year 354 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Constantius and Constantius...
-430430Year 430 was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Theodosius and Valentinianus...
) - Cyril of AlexandriaCyril of AlexandriaCyril of Alexandria was the Patriarch of Alexandria from 412 to 444. He came to power when the city was at its height of influence and power within the Roman Empire. Cyril wrote extensively and was a leading protagonist in the Christological controversies of the later 4th and 5th centuries...
(376376Year 376 was a leap year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Valens and Augustus...
-444444Year 444 was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Theodosius and Aginatius...
)
Texts from patristic authors after 325 AD are collected in the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers
A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, usually known as the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers , is a set of books containing translations of early Christian writings into English. It was published between 1886 and 1900...
. Important theological debates also surrounded the various Ecumenical Councils
Ecumenical council
An ecumenical council is a conference of ecclesiastical dignitaries and theological experts convened to discuss and settle matters of Church doctrine and practice....
– Nicaea
First Council of Nicaea
The First Council of Nicaea was a council of Christian bishops convened in Nicaea in Bithynia by the Roman Emperor Constantine I in AD 325...
in 325, Constantinople
First Council of Constantinople
The First Council of Constantinople is recognized as the Second Ecumenical Council by the Assyrian Church of the East, the Oriental Orthodox, the Eastern Orthodox, the Roman Catholics, the Old Catholics, and a number of other Western Christian groups. It was the first Ecumenical Council held in...
in 381, Ephesus in 431 and Chalcedon
Council of Chalcedon
The Council of Chalcedon was a church council held from 8 October to 1 November, 451 AD, at Chalcedon , on the Asian side of the Bosporus. The council marked a significant turning point in the Christological debates that led to the separation of the church of the Eastern Roman Empire in the 5th...
in 451
See also main articles on Patristics
Patristics
Patristics or Patrology is the study of Early Christian writers, known as the Church Fathers. The names derive from the Latin pater . The period is generally considered to run from the end of New Testament times or end of the Apostolic Age Patristics or Patrology is the study of Early Christian...
and Church Fathers
Church Fathers
The Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, Christian Fathers, or Fathers of the Church were early and influential theologians, eminent Christian teachers and great bishops. Their scholarly works were used as a precedent for centuries to come...
.
Medieval Jewish theology
We may divide medieval Jewish theologians into three categories: those primarily concerned with commentary upon Talmud (who can be further divided into the Genoim and the Rishonim); those whose main interests were more in the area of philosophical theology; and those who were part of the Karaite movement that rejected Talmud.The Geonim
The Geonim were Babylonian rabbis who taught Talmud and decided on issues on which no ruling had been rendered during the period of the Talmud. "Geon" is Hebrew for "genius."Prominent Geonim
Geonim
Geonim were the presidents of the two great Babylonian, Talmudic Academies of Sura and Pumbedita, in the Abbasid Caliphate, and were the generally accepted spiritual leaders of the Jewish community world wide in the early medieval era, in contrast to the Resh Galuta who wielded secular authority...
include:
- Amram GaonAmram GaonAmram Gaon was a famous Gaon or head of the Jewish Talmud Academy of Sura in the 9th century. He was the author of many Responsa, but his chief work was liturgical.He was the first to arrange a complete liturgy for the synagogue...
(died 875875Year 875 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar.- Europe :* December 29 – Charles the Bald, king of West Francia, is crowned emperor....
) - Saadia GaonSaadia GaonSaʻadiah ben Yosef Gaon was a prominent rabbi, Jewish philosopher, and exegete of the Geonic period.The first important rabbinic figure to write extensively in Arabic, he is considered the founder of Judeo-Arabic literature...
(892892Year 892 was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar.- Europe :* Poppo of Thuringia, count of the march in Thuringia, is deposed by the German Carolingian king Arnulf of Carinthia....
-942942Year 942 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar.- Asia :* Kaminarimon, the eight-pillared gate to Japan's Kinryuzan Sensouji Temple, is erected....
) - Hai GaonHai GaonHai ben Sherira , was a medieval Jewish theologian, rabbi and scholar who served as Gaon of the Talmudic academy of Pumbedita during the early 11th century. He was born in 939 and died on March 28, 1038...
(969969Year 969 was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar.- Byzantine Empire :* December 11 – John I Tzimiskes becomes Byzantine Emperor after assassinating Nikephoros II Phokas....
-1038) - Sherira GaonSherira GaonRav Sherira Gaon was the head of the Academy of Pumbeditha. He was one of the most prominent Geonim of his period, and the father of Hai Gaon, who succeeded him as gaon.Sherira was born in 906 and died in 1006. Rav Sherira Gaon (Hebrew: רב שרירא גאון or R. Sherira ben Ḥanina Gaon, Hebrew: רב...
(c. 900900Year 900 was a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar.- Asia :* April 21 – Namwaran and his children, Lady Angkatan and Bukah, are granted pardon by the Datu of Tondo, as represented Jayadewa, Lord Minister of Pila, which released them of all their debts as inscribed in the...
-c. 1000)
The Rishonim
The RishonimRishonim
"Rishon" redirects here. For the preon model in particle physics, see Harari Rishon Model. For the Israeli town, see Rishon LeZion.Rishonim were the leading Rabbis and Poskim who lived approximately during the 11th to 15th centuries, in the era before the writing of the Shulkhan Arukh and...
were the leading rabbis between approximately 1250 to 1550, that is in the era before the writing of the Shulkhan Arukh by Rabbi Yosef Karo
Yosef Karo
Joseph ben Ephraim Karo, also spelled Yosef Caro, or Qaro, was author of the last great codification of Jewish law, the Shulchan Aruch, which is still authoritative for all Jews pertaining to their respective communities...
, which is considered the most authoritative compilation of Jewish law since the Talmud.
Prominent Rishonim include:
- Solomon ben Isaac (RashiRashiShlomo Yitzhaki , or in Latin Salomon Isaacides, and today generally known by the acronym Rashi , was a medieval French rabbi famed as the author of a comprehensive commentary on the Talmud, as well as a comprehensive commentary on the Tanakh...
) (1040-1105) - Isaac AlfasiIsaac Alfasifor other Al-Fasi's see Al-Fasi disambiguationIsaac ben Jacob Alfasi ha-Cohen - also known as the Alfasi or by his Hebrew acronym Rif , was a Talmudist and posek...
(1013-1103) - Abraham Ben Mair ibn Ezra (Abenezra) (c. 1092-1167)
- Abraham ben David of Posquières (Rabad) (c. 1125-1198)
- Moshe ben Nahman (Nahmnanides) (1194-c. 1270)
- Ashur ben Jehiel (Rosh) (1250/1259-1328)
Medieval Jewish philosophy
- Solomon ibn GabirolSolomon ibn GabirolSolomon ibn Gabirol, also Solomon ben Judah , was an Andalucian Hebrew poet and Jewish philosopher with a Neoplatonic bent. He was born in Málaga about 1021; died about 1058 in Valencia.-Biography:...
(Avicdebron) (c.1021-1070) - Bahya ibn PaqudaBahya ibn PaqudaBahya ben Joseph ibn Paquda was a Jewish philosopher and rabbi who lived at Zaragoza, Spain, in the first half of the eleventh century...
(11th century) - Moses ibn EzraMoses ibn EzraRabbi Moses ben Jacob ibn Ezra, known as ha-Sallah was a Jewish, Spanish philosopher, linguist, and poet. He was born at Granada about 1055 – 1060, and died after 1138. Ezra is Jewish by religion but is also considered a great influence in the Arabic world in regards to his works...
(c. 1070-after 1138) - Moshe ben Maimon (MaimonidesMaimonidesMoses ben-Maimon, called Maimonides and also known as Mūsā ibn Maymūn in Arabic, or Rambam , was a preeminent medieval Jewish philosopher and one of the greatest Torah scholars and physicians of the Middle Ages...
) (1135-1204) - Levi ben Gershon (GersonidesGersonidesLevi ben Gershon, better known by his Latinised name as Gersonides or the abbreviation of first letters as RaLBaG , philosopher, Talmudist, mathematician, astronomer/astrologer. He was born at Bagnols in Languedoc, France...
) (1288-1334) - Hasdai CrescasHasdai CrescasHasdai ben Judah Crescas was a Jewish philosopher and a renowned halakhist...
(1340-1410)
Karaite theologians
- Benjamin NahawandiBenjamin NahawandiBenjamin Nahawandi or Benjamin ben Moses or Benyamin ben Moshe al-Nahawendi was one of the greatest of the Karaite scholars of the early Middle Ages. His influence was so far-reaching that some regard him as the proper originator of Karaism as it has come down through the ages. The Karaite...
(late 8th century – early 9th century) - Jacob ben ReubenJacob ben Reuben (Karaite)Jacob ben Reuben was a Karaite scholar and Bible exegete of the eleventh century. He wrote a brief Hebrew language commentary on the entire Bible, which he entitled Sefer ha-'Osher, because, as he says in the introduction, the reader will find therein sufficient information, and will not need to...
(11th century) - Aaron ben JosephAaron ben Joseph of ConstantinopleAaron ben Joseph of Constantinople , was an eminent teacher, philosopher, physician, and liturgical poet in Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire.-Background:Aaron ben Joseph was born in Sulchat, Crimea...
(c. 1260-1320) - Aaron ben Elijah, the younger (c. 1300-1369)
- Elijah ben Moses ben Menahem (Bashyazi) (c. 1420-c.1490)
Byzantine theology
While the Western Roman Empire declined and fell, the Eastern Roman Empire, centred on Constantinople, remained standing until 1453, and was the home of a wide range of theological activity that was seen as standing in strong continuity with the theology of the Patristic period; indeed the division between Patristic and Byzantine theology would not be recognised by many Orthodox theologians and historians.Mystical theology
- Pseudo-Dionysius the AreopagitePseudo-Dionysius the AreopagitePseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite, also known as Pseudo-Denys, was a Christian theologian and philosopher of the late 5th to early 6th century, the author of the Corpus Areopagiticum . The author is identified as "Dionysos" in the corpus, which later incorrectly came to be attributed to Dionysius...
(working c. 500500Year 500 was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Patricius and Hypatius...
) - Symeon the New TheologianSymeon the New TheologianSymeon the New Theologian was a Byzantine Christian monk and poet who was the last of three saints canonized by the Eastern Orthodox church and given the title of "Theologian"...
(949949Year 949 was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar.- Asia :* Sayf al-Daula raids into the Byzantine theme of Lykandos but is defeated. The Byzantines counter-attack and seize Germanikeia, defeating an army from Tarsus, and the raiding as far south as Antioch...
-1022) - Gregory PalamasGregory PalamasGregory Palamas was a monk of Mount Athos in Greece and later the Archbishop of Thessaloniki known as a preeminent theologian of Hesychasm. The teachings embodied in his writings defending Hesychasm against the attack of Barlaam are sometimes referred to as Palamism, his followers as Palamites...
(1296-1359)
Christological controversy after Chalcedon
- Severus of AntiochSeverus of AntiochSeverus, Patriarch of Antioch , born approximately 465 in Sozopolis in Pisidia, was by birth and education a pagan, who was baptized in the "precinct of the divine martyr Leontius" at Tripoli, Lebanon.- Life :...
(c. 465465Year 465 was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Hermenericus and Basiliscus...
-518518Year 518 was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Paulus without colleague...
) - Leontius of JerusalemLeontius (writer)Leontius , theological writer, born at Constantinople, flourished during the sixth century. He is variously styled Byzantinus, Hierosolymitanus Leontius (c. 485 – c. 543), theological writer, born at Constantinople, flourished during the sixth century. He is variously styled Byzantinus,...
(working 538538Year 538 was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Iohannes without colleague...
-544544Year 544 was a leap year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 544 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.- Byzantine Empire :* Belisarius is sent back to Italy to...
) - Maximus the ConfessorMaximus the ConfessorMaximus the Confessor was a Christian monk, theologian, and scholar. In his early life, he was a civil servant, and an aide to the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius...
(c. 580580Year 580 was a leap year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 580 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.- Europe :* Ethelbert becomes king of Kent.* The Roman...
-682682Year 682 was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 682 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.- Europe :* Jarrow Priory is established by Benedict...
) - Catholic–Orthodox theological differencesCatholic–Orthodox theological differencesThis article discusses Catholic–Orthodox theological differences, based on the views of some Eastern Orthodox Church and Catholic Church theologians on what they see as differences between their theologies, along with ecclesiastical differences...
Iconoclasts and iconophiles
- Patriarch Germanus I of Constantinople (patriarch 715715Year 715 was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 715 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.- Europe :* September 26 – Battle of Compiègne:...
-730730Year 730 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 730 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.- Europe :* Charles Martel defeats the last independent...
) - John of DamascusJohn of DamascusSaint John of Damascus was a Syrian monk and priest...
(676676Year 676 was a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 676 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.- Asia :* In Japan, Emperor Temmu promulgate a decree...
-749749Year 749 was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 749 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.- Europe :* June – Aistulf succeeds his...
) - Theodore the StuditeTheodore the StuditeTheodore the Studite was a Byzantine Greek monk and abbot of the Stoudios monastery in Constantinople. He played a major role in the revivals both of Byzantine monasticism and of classical literary genres in Byzantium...
(c. 758758Year 758 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 758 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.- Asia :* Emperor Junnin succeeds Empress Kōken on the...
-c.826826Year 826 was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar.- Religion :* June 24 – The Danish king Harald Klak accepts Christianity.- Deaths :...
)
Before the Carolingian Empire
When the Western Roman Empire fragmented under the impact of various 'barbarian' invasions, the Empire-wide intellectual culture that had underpinned late Patristic theology had its interconnections cut. Theology tended to become more localised, more diverse, more fragmented. The classically-clothed Christianity preserved in Italy by men like BoethiusAnicius Manlius Severinus Boethius
Anicius Manlius Severinus Boëthius, commonly called Boethius was a philosopher of the early 6th century. He was born in Rome to an ancient and important family which included emperors Petronius Maximus and Olybrius and many consuls. His father, Flavius Manlius Boethius, was consul in 487 after...
and Cassiodorus
Cassiodorus
Flavius Magnus Aurelius Cassiodorus Senator , commonly known as Cassiodorus, was a Roman statesman and writer, serving in the administration of Theodoric the Great, king of the Ostrogoths. Senator was part of his surname, not his rank.- Life :Cassiodorus was born at Scylletium, near Catanzaro in...
was different from the vigorous Frankish
Franks
The Franks were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a...
Christianity documented by Gregory of Tours
Gregory of Tours
Saint Gregory of Tours was a Gallo-Roman historian and Bishop of Tours, which made him a leading prelate of Gaul. He was born Georgius Florentius, later adding the name Gregorius in honour of his maternal great-grandfather...
which was different again from the Christianity that flourished in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
and Northumbria
Northumbria
Northumbria was a medieval kingdom of the Angles, in what is now Northern England and South-East Scotland, becoming subsequently an earldom in a united Anglo-Saxon kingdom of England. The name reflects the approximate southern limit to the kingdom's territory, the Humber Estuary.Northumbria was...
in the 7th and 8th centuries. Throughout this period, theology tended to be a more monastic
Monasticism
Monasticism is a religious way of life characterized by the practice of renouncing worldly pursuits to fully devote one's self to spiritual work...
affair, flourishing in monastic havens where the conditions and resources for theological learning could be maintained.
Important writers include:
- Caesarius of Arles (c. 468468Year 468 was a leap year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Anthemius without colleague...
-542542Year 542 was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. From this year forward, the appointment of particular Roman consuls was abandoned and the office was merged with that of Byzantine emperor...
) - BoethiusAnicius Manlius Severinus BoethiusAnicius Manlius Severinus Boëthius, commonly called Boethius was a philosopher of the early 6th century. He was born in Rome to an ancient and important family which included emperors Petronius Maximus and Olybrius and many consuls. His father, Flavius Manlius Boethius, was consul in 487 after...
(480480Year 480 was a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Basilius without colleague...
-524524Year 524 was a leap year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Iustinus and Opilio...
) - CassiodorusCassiodorusFlavius Magnus Aurelius Cassiodorus Senator , commonly known as Cassiodorus, was a Roman statesman and writer, serving in the administration of Theodoric the Great, king of the Ostrogoths. Senator was part of his surname, not his rank.- Life :Cassiodorus was born at Scylletium, near Catanzaro in...
(c. 480480Year 480 was a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Basilius without colleague...
-c. 585585Year 585 was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 585 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.- Europe :* The Suebi kingdom on the Iberian peninsula...
) - Pope Gregory IPope Gregory IPope Gregory I , better known in English as Gregory the Great, was pope from 3 September 590 until his death...
(c. 540540Year 540 was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Iustinus without colleague...
-604604Year 604 was a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 604 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.- Byzantine Empire :* The Sassanids destroy the...
) - Isidore of SevilleIsidore of SevilleSaint Isidore of Seville served as Archbishop of Seville for more than three decades and is considered, as the historian Montalembert put it in an oft-quoted phrase, "le dernier savant du monde ancien"...
(c. 560560Year 560 was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 560 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.- Europe :* Ceawlin of Wessex becomes King of Wessex .*...
-636636Year 636 was a leap year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 636 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.- Byzantine Empire :* August 20 – Battle of Yarmuk:...
) - BedeBedeBede , also referred to as Saint Bede or the Venerable Bede , was a monk at the Northumbrian monastery of Saint Peter at Monkwearmouth, today part of Sunderland, England, and of its companion monastery, Saint Paul's, in modern Jarrow , both in the Kingdom of Northumbria...
(672672Year 672 was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 672 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.- Europe :* Wamba succeeds Reccaswinth as king of the...
-736736Year 736 was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 736 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.- Asia :* The scholar-priest Rōben invites Shinshō to give...
)
Theology in the time of Charlemagne
Both because it made communication between different Christian centres easier, and because there was a concerted effort by its rulers to encourage educational and religious reforms and to develop greater uniformity in Christian thought and practice across their territories, the establishment of the Carolingian EmpireCarolingian Empire
Carolingian Empire is a historiographical term which has been used to refer to the realm of the Franks under the Carolingian dynasty in the Early Middle Ages. This dynasty is seen as the founders of France and Germany, and its beginning date is based on the crowning of Charlemagne, or Charles the...
saw an explosion of theological inquiry, and theological controversy. Controversy flared, for instance, around 'Spanish Adoptionism
Adoptionism
Adoptionism, sometimes called dynamic monarchianism, is a minority Christian belief that Jesus was adopted as God's son at his baptism...
, around the views on predestination of Gottschalk
Gottschalk (theologian)
Gottschalk of Orbais was a Saxon theologian, monk and poet who is best known for being an early advocate of the doctrine of two-fold predestination...
, or around the eucharistic views of Ratramnus
Ratramnus
Ratramnus, a Frankish monk of the monastery of Corbie, was a Carolingian theologian known best for his writings on the Eucharist and predestination. His Eucharistic treatise, De corpora et sanguine Domini , was a counterpoint to his abbot Paschasius Radbertus’ realist Eucharistic theology...
.
Important writers include:
- AlcuinAlcuinAlcuin of York or Ealhwine, nicknamed Albinus or Flaccus was an English scholar, ecclesiastic, poet and teacher from York, Northumbria. He was born around 735 and became the student of Archbishop Ecgbert at York...
(c. 735735Year 735 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 735 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.- Asia :* A smallpox epidemic starts in Ancient Japan,...
-804804Year 804 was a leap year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar.- Asia :* Japanese monk Kukai visits China, from which he brings back texts of Shingon ....
) - The Spanish AdoptionistsAdoptionismAdoptionism, sometimes called dynamic monarchianism, is a minority Christian belief that Jesus was adopted as God's son at his baptism...
Felix of UrgelFelix, Bishop of UrgelFelix, Bishop of Urgel was a Christian bishop and theologian in the eighth century.Felix became Bishop at an unknown date and lived at the monastery Sant Sadurní de Tabernoles in the foothills of the Pyrenees....
and Elipandus of Toledo (late 8th century) - Claudius of TurinClaudius of TurinClaudius of Turin was the Catholic bishop of Turin from 817 until his death. He was a courtier of Louis the Pious and was a writer during the Carolingian Renaissance. He is most noted for teaching iconoclasm, a radical idea at that time in Latin Church, and for some teachings that prefigured...
(?-839839Year 839 was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar.- Europe :* Louis the Pious attempts to divide his empire among his sons.* Ethelwulf succeeds Egbert as king of Wessex....
) - Rabanus MaurusRabanus MaurusRabanus Maurus Magnentius , also known as Hrabanus or Rhabanus, was a Frankish Benedictine monk, the archbishop of Mainz in Germany and a theologian. He was the author of the encyclopaedia De rerum naturis . He also wrote treatises on education and grammar and commentaries on the Bible...
(c. 780780Year 780 was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 780 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.- Byzantine Empire :* Constantine VI becomes Byzantine...
-856856Year 856 was a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar.- Asia :* December 22 – Another deadly earthquake strikes Damghan, Iran, killing 200,000 people.- Europe :...
) - RadbertusRadbertusSt. Paschasius Radbertus , was a Frankish Benedictine monk, theologian, and Abbot of Corbie who wrote numerous treatises, expositions and biographies during the Frankish Carolingian era. His feast day is April 26.-Life:...
(c. 790790Year 790 was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 790 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.- Byzantine Empire :* A revolt against Empress Irene...
-865865Year 865 was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar.- Europe :* Ethelred succeeds as king of Wessex .* Louis the German divides his kingdom among his sons....
) - RatramnusRatramnusRatramnus, a Frankish monk of the monastery of Corbie, was a Carolingian theologian known best for his writings on the Eucharist and predestination. His Eucharistic treatise, De corpora et sanguine Domini , was a counterpoint to his abbot Paschasius Radbertus’ realist Eucharistic theology...
(died c.868868Year 868 was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar.- Africa :* Ahmad ibn Tulun, a Turkish mameluk general in Arab army founds Tulunid dynasty in Egypt....
) - Hincmar (806806Year 806 was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar.- Asia :* Emperor Heizei succeeds Emperor Kammu as Emperor of Japan....
-882882Year 882 was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar.- Europe :* Carloman, King of the West Franks, becomes sole king upon the death of his brother....
) - GottschalkGottschalk (theologian)Gottschalk of Orbais was a Saxon theologian, monk and poet who is best known for being an early advocate of the doctrine of two-fold predestination...
(c. 808808Year 808 was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar.- Europe :* King Eardwulf is driven out of North-East England and succeeded by Alfwold II, but Eardwulf is restored following Alfwold’s death.- Births :* Gottschalk, German theologian* Walafrid Strabo, Swabian monk and...
-c. 867867Year 867 was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar.- Byzantine Empire :* September – Basil I becomes sole ruler of the Byzantine Empire.* Macedonian dynasty is started....
) - Johannes Scotus EriugenaJohannes Scotus EriugenaJohannes Scotus Eriugena was an Irish theologian, Neoplatonist philosopher, and poet. He is known for having translated and made commentaries upon the work of Pseudo-Dionysius.-Name:...
(c. 815815Year 815 was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar.- Europe :* Bulgaria and the Byzantine Empire sign the Treaty of 815 in Constantinople....
-877877Year 877 was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar.- Europe :* The Danes take Exeter, England.* A flotilla of 120 Danish ships is lost in a storm off Swanage....
)
Before Scholasticism
With the division and decline of the Carolingian Empire, notable theological activity was preserved in some of the Cathedral schools that had begun to rise to prominence under it – for instance at AuxerreAuxerre
Auxerre is a commune in the Bourgogne region in north-central France, between Paris and Dijon. It is the capital of the Yonne department.Auxerre's population today is about 45,000...
in the 9th century or Chartres
Chartres
Chartres is a commune and capital of the Eure-et-Loir department in northern France. It is located southwest of Paris.-Geography:Chartres is built on the left bank of the Eure River, on a hill crowned by its famous cathedral, the spires of which are a landmark in the surrounding country...
in the 11th. Intellectual influences from the Arabic world (including works of classical authors preserved by Islamic scholars) percolated into the Christian West via Spain, influencing such theologians as Gerbert of Aurillac, who went on to become Pope Sylvester II and mentor to Otto III. (Otto was the fourth ruler of the Germanic Ottonian
Ottonian
The Ottonian dynasty was a dynasty of Germanic Kings , named after its first emperor but also known as the Saxon dynasty after the family's origin. The family itself is also sometimes known as the Liudolfings, after its earliest known member Liudolf and one of its primary leading-names...
Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
, successor to the Carolingian Empire). With hindsight, one might say that a new note was struck when a controversy about the meaning of the eucharist blew up around Berengar of Tours
Berengar of Tours
Berengar of Tours was a French 11th century Christian theologian and Archdeacon of Angers, a scholar whose leadership of the cathedral school at Chartres set an example of intellectual inquiry through the revived tools of dialectic that was soon followed at cathedral schools of Laon and Paris, ...
in the 11th century: hints of a new confidence in the intellectual investigation of the faith that perhaps foreshadowed the explosion of theological argument that was to take place in the 12th century.
Notable authors include:
- Heiric of AuxerreHeiric of AuxerreHeiric of Auxerre was a French Benedictine theologian and writer.He was an oblate of the monastery of St. Germanus of Auxerre, from a young age. He studied with Servatus Lupus and Haymo of Auxerre. His own students included Remigius of Auxerre and Hucbald.His Miracula sancti Germani was a verse...
(c. 835835Year 835 was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar.- Europe :* Ragnar Lodbrok rises to power ....
-887887Year 887 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar.- Europe :* The city of Toledo rises against the Umayyad leader....
) - Remigius of AuxerreRemigius of AuxerreRemigius of Auxerre was a Benedictine monk during the Carolingian period, a teacher of Latin grammar, and a prolific author of commentaries on classical Greek and Latin texts...
(c. 841841Year 841 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar.- Europe :* June 25 – Battle of Fontenay: Louis the German and Charles the Bald defeat Lothar....
-908908Year 908 was a leap year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar.- Asia :* The Battle of Belach Mugna is fought.* Zhu Wen kills the last Tang Dynasty emperor.- Deaths :* Al-Muktafi, Abbasid caliph...
) - Gerbert of Aurillac (c. 950950Year 950 was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar.- Europe :* Duke Boleslav I of Bohemia makes peace with Otto I....
-1003) - Fulbert of ChartresFulbert of ChartresFulbert of Chartres –10 April 1028) was the bishop of the Cathedral of Chartres from 1006 till 1028. He was a teacher at the Cathedral school there, he was responsible for the advancement of the celebration of the Feast day of “Nativity of the Virgin”, and he was responsible for one of the...
(died 1028) - Berengar of ToursBerengar of ToursBerengar of Tours was a French 11th century Christian theologian and Archdeacon of Angers, a scholar whose leadership of the cathedral school at Chartres set an example of intellectual inquiry through the revived tools of dialectic that was soon followed at cathedral schools of Laon and Paris, ...
(c. 999999Year 999 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar.- Europe :* Silesia is incorporated into territory ruled by Boleslaus I of Poland.* The Orsay commune is founded.- Asia :...
-1088) - LanfrancLanfrancLanfranc was Archbishop of Canterbury, and a Lombard by birth.-Early life:Lanfranc was born in the early years of the 11th century at Pavia, where later tradition held that his father, Hanbald, held a rank broadly equivalent to magistrate...
(died 1089)
Early Scholasticism and its contemporaries
Anselm of CanterburyAnselm of Canterbury
Anselm of Canterbury , also called of Aosta for his birthplace, and of Bec for his home monastery, was a Benedictine monk, a philosopher, and a prelate of the church who held the office of Archbishop of Canterbury from 1093 to 1109...
is sometimes misleadingly called the 'Father of Scholasticism' because of the prominent place that reason has in his theology; instead of establishing his points by appeal to authority, he presents arguments to demonstrate why it is that the things he believes on authority must be so. His particular approach, however, was not very influential in his time, and he kept his distance from the Cathedral Schools. We should look instead to the production of the gloss
Gloss
A gloss is a brief notation of the meaning of a word or wording in a text. It may be in the language of the text, or in the reader's language if that is different....
on Scripture associated with Anselm of Laon
Anselm of Laon
Anselm of Laon was a French theologian and founder of a school of scholars who helped to pioneer biblical hermeneutics.Remembered in the century after his death as "Anselmus" or "Anselm", his name was more properly "Ansellus" or, in Modern French, "Anseau."Born of very humble parents at Laon...
, the rise to prominence of dialectic
Dialectic
Dialectic is a method of argument for resolving disagreement that has been central to Indic and European philosophy since antiquity. The word dialectic originated in Ancient Greece, and was made popular by Plato in the Socratic dialogues...
(middle subject of the medieval trivium) in the work of Abelard, and the production by Peter Lombard
Peter Lombard
Peter Lombard was a scholastic theologian and bishop and author of Four Books of Sentences, which became the standard textbook of theology, for which he is also known as Magister Sententiarum-Biography:Peter Lombard was born in Lumellogno , in...
of a collection of Sentences
Sentences
The Four Books of Sentences is a book of theology written by Peter Lombard in the twelfth century. It is a systematic compilation of theology, written around 1150; it derives its name from the sententiae or authoritative statements on biblical passages that it gathered together.-Origin and...
or opinions of the Church Fathers and other authorities. Scholasticism proper can be thought of as the kind of theology that emerges when, in the Cathedral schools and their successors, the tools of dialectic are pressed into use to comment upon, explain, and develop the gloss and the sentences.
Notable authors include:
- Anselm of Canterbury
Anselm of CanterburyAnselm of Canterbury , also called of Aosta for his birthplace, and of Bec for his home monastery, was a Benedictine monk, a philosopher, and a prelate of the church who held the office of Archbishop of Canterbury from 1093 to 1109...
(1033/1034-1109) - Anselm of LaonAnselm of LaonAnselm of Laon was a French theologian and founder of a school of scholars who helped to pioneer biblical hermeneutics.Remembered in the century after his death as "Anselmus" or "Anselm", his name was more properly "Ansellus" or, in Modern French, "Anseau."Born of very humble parents at Laon...
(died 1117) - Hugh of St VictorHugh of St VictorHugh of Saint Victor was born perhaps in France, or more probably in Saxony. His origins and early life are rather obscure. He studied and taught at the Augustinian Abbey of Saint Victor in Paris after which he is named. His writings include works of theology, mysticism, philosophy and the arts...
(1078-1151) - Peter AbelardPeter AbelardPeter Abelard was a medieval French scholastic philosopher, theologian and preeminent logician. The story of his affair with and love for Héloïse has become legendary...
(1079-1142) - Bernard of ClairvauxBernard of ClairvauxBernard of Clairvaux, O.Cist was a French abbot and the primary builder of the reforming Cistercian order.After the death of his mother, Bernard sought admission into the Cistercian order. Three years later, he was sent to found a new abbey at an isolated clearing in a glen known as the Val...
(1090-1153) - Hildegard of BingenHildegard of BingenBlessed Hildegard of Bingen , also known as Saint Hildegard, and Sibyl of the Rhine, was a German writer, composer, philosopher, Christian mystic, Benedictine abbess, visionary, and polymath. Elected a magistra by her fellow nuns in 1136, she founded the monasteries of Rupertsberg in 1150 and...
(1098-1179) - Peter LombardPeter LombardPeter Lombard was a scholastic theologian and bishop and author of Four Books of Sentences, which became the standard textbook of theology, for which he is also known as Magister Sententiarum-Biography:Peter Lombard was born in Lumellogno , in...
(c. 1100-1160) - Joachim of FioreJoachim of FioreJoachim of Fiore, also known as Joachim of Flora and in Italian Gioacchino da Fiore , was the founder of the monastic order of San Giovanni in Fiore . He was a mystic, a theologian and an esoterist...
(c. 1135-1202)
High Scholasticism and its contemporaries
The 13th century saw the attempted suppression of various groups perceived as heterodox, such as the Cathars and WaldensiansWaldensians
Waldensians, Waldenses or Vaudois are names for a Christian movement of the later Middle Ages, descendants of which still exist in various regions, primarily in North-Western Italy. There is considerable uncertainty about the earlier history of the Waldenses because of a lack of extant source...
and the associated rise of the mendicant orders
Mendicant Orders
The mendicant orders are religious orders which depend directly on the charity of the people for their livelihood. In principle, they do not own property, either individually or collectively , believing that this was the most pure way of life to copy followed by Jesus Christ, in order that all...
(notably the Franciscan
Franciscan
Most Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....
s and Dominicans
Dominican Order
The Order of Preachers , after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic and approved by Pope Honorius III on 22 December 1216 in France...
), in part intended as a form of orthodox alternative to the heretical groups. Those two orders quickly became contexts for some of the most intense scholatsic theologizing, producing such 'high scholastic' theologians as Alexander of Hales
Alexander of Hales
Alexander Hales also called Doctor Irrefragabilis and Theologorum Monarcha was a notable thinker important in the history of scholasticism and the Franciscan School.-Life:Alexander was born at Hales ,...
(Franciscan) and Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas, O.P. , also Thomas of Aquin or Aquino, was an Italian Dominican priest of the Catholic Church, and an immensely influential philosopher and theologian in the tradition of scholasticism, known as Doctor Angelicus, Doctor Communis, or Doctor Universalis...
(Dominican), or the rather less obviously scholastic Bonaventure
Bonaventure
Saint Bonaventure, O.F.M., , born John of Fidanza , was an Italian medieval scholastic theologian and philosopher. The seventh Minister General of the Order of Friars Minor, he was also a Cardinal Bishop of Albano. He was canonized on 14 April 1482 by Pope Sixtus IV and declared a Doctor of the...
(Franciscan). The century also saw a flourishing of mystical theology
Mysticism
Mysticism is the knowledge of, and especially the personal experience of, states of consciousness, i.e. levels of being, beyond normal human perception, including experience and even communion with a supreme being.-Classical origins:...
, with women such as Mechthild of Magdeburg
Mechthild of Magdeburg
Mechthild of Magdeburg , a Beguine, was a medieval mystic, whose book Das fließende Licht der Gottheit described her visions of God....
playing a prominent role. In addition, the century can be seen as period in which the study of natural philosophy that could anachronistically be called 'science' began once again to flourish in theological soil, in the hands of such men as Robert Grosseteste
Robert Grosseteste
Robert Grosseteste or Grossetete was an English statesman, scholastic philosopher, theologian and Bishop of Lincoln. He was born of humble parents at Stradbroke in Suffolk. A.C...
and Roger Bacon
Roger Bacon
Roger Bacon, O.F.M. , also known as Doctor Mirabilis , was an English philosopher and Franciscan friar who placed considerable emphasis on the study of nature through empirical methods...
.
Notable authors include:
- Saint DominicSaint DominicSaint Dominic , also known as Dominic of Osma, often called Dominic de Guzmán and Domingo Félix de Guzmán was the founder of the Friars Preachers, popularly called the Dominicans or Order of Preachers , a Catholic religious order...
(1170-1221) - Robert GrossetesteRobert GrossetesteRobert Grosseteste or Grossetete was an English statesman, scholastic philosopher, theologian and Bishop of Lincoln. He was born of humble parents at Stradbroke in Suffolk. A.C...
(c. 1175-1253) - Francis of AssisiFrancis of AssisiSaint Francis of Assisi was an Italian Catholic friar and preacher. He founded the men's Franciscan Order, the women’s Order of St. Clare, and the lay Third Order of Saint Francis. St...
(1182-1226) - Alexander of HalesAlexander of HalesAlexander Hales also called Doctor Irrefragabilis and Theologorum Monarcha was a notable thinker important in the history of scholasticism and the Franciscan School.-Life:Alexander was born at Hales ,...
(died 1245) - Mechthild of MagdeburgMechthild of MagdeburgMechthild of Magdeburg , a Beguine, was a medieval mystic, whose book Das fließende Licht der Gottheit described her visions of God....
(1210-1285) - Roger BaconRoger BaconRoger Bacon, O.F.M. , also known as Doctor Mirabilis , was an English philosopher and Franciscan friar who placed considerable emphasis on the study of nature through empirical methods...
(1214-1294) - BonaventureBonaventureSaint Bonaventure, O.F.M., , born John of Fidanza , was an Italian medieval scholastic theologian and philosopher. The seventh Minister General of the Order of Friars Minor, he was also a Cardinal Bishop of Albano. He was canonized on 14 April 1482 by Pope Sixtus IV and declared a Doctor of the...
(1221-1274) - Thomas AquinasThomas AquinasThomas Aquinas, O.P. , also Thomas of Aquin or Aquino, was an Italian Dominican priest of the Catholic Church, and an immensely influential philosopher and theologian in the tradition of scholasticism, known as Doctor Angelicus, Doctor Communis, or Doctor Universalis...
(1225-1274) - Angela of FolignoAngela of FolignoAngela of Foligno was a Christian author, Franciscan tertiary, and mystic. She was noted not only for her spiritual writings, but also for founding a religious order.-Early life and conversion:...
(1248-1309)
Late Scholasticism and its contemporaries
Scholastic theology continued to develop as the 13th century gave way to the fourteenth, becoming ever more complex and subtle in its distinctions and arguments. The 14th century saw in particular the rise to dominance of the nominalistNominalism
Nominalism is a metaphysical view in philosophy according to which general or abstract terms and predicates exist, while universals or abstract objects, which are sometimes thought to correspond to these terms, do not exist. Thus, there are at least two main versions of nominalism...
or voluntarist theologies of men like William of Ockham
William of Ockham
William of Ockham was an English Franciscan friar and scholastic philosopher, who is believed to have been born in Ockham, a small village in Surrey. He is considered to be one of the major figures of medieval thought and was at the centre of the major intellectual and political controversies of...
. The 14th century was also a time in which movements of widely varying character worked for the reform of the institutional church, such as conciliarism
Conciliarism
Conciliarism, or the conciliar movement, was a reform movement in the 14th, 15th and 16th century Roman Catholic Church which held that final authority in spiritual matters resided with the Roman Church as a corporation of Christians, embodied by a general church council, not with the pope...
, Lollardy
Lollardy
Lollardy was a political and religious movement that existed from the mid-14th century to the English Reformation. The term "Lollard" refers to the followers of John Wycliffe, a prominent theologian who was dismissed from the University of Oxford in 1381 for criticism of the Church, especially his...
and the Hussite
Hussite
The Hussites were a Christian movement following the teachings of Czech reformer Jan Hus , who became one of the forerunners of the Protestant Reformation...
s. Spiritual movements such as the Devotio Moderna
Devotio Moderna
Devotio Moderna, or Modern Devotion, was a 14th century new religious movement, with Gerard Groote as a key founder. Other well known members included Thomas à Kempis who was the likely author of the book The Imitation of Christ which proved to be highly influential for centuries.Groote's initial...
also flourished.
Notable authors include:
- Meister EckhartMeister EckhartEckhart von Hochheim O.P. , commonly known as Meister Eckhart, was a German theologian, philosopher and mystic, born near Gotha, in the Landgraviate of Thuringia in the Holy Roman Empire. Meister is German for "Master", referring to the academic title Magister in theologia he obtained in Paris...
(1260-1328) - Duns ScotusDuns ScotusBlessed John Duns Scotus, O.F.M. was one of the more important theologians and philosophers of the High Middle Ages. He was nicknamed Doctor Subtilis for his penetrating and subtle manner of thought....
(1266-1308) - Marsilius of PaduaMarsilius of PaduaMarsilius of Padua Marsilius of Padua Marsilius of Padua (Italian Marsilio or Marsiglio da Padova; (circa 1275 – circa 1342) was an Italian scholar, trained in medicine who practiced a variety of professions. He was also an important 14th century political figure...
(1270-1342) - William of OckhamWilliam of OckhamWilliam of Ockham was an English Franciscan friar and scholastic philosopher, who is believed to have been born in Ockham, a small village in Surrey. He is considered to be one of the major figures of medieval thought and was at the centre of the major intellectual and political controversies of...
(c. 1285-1349) - John WycliffeJohn WycliffeJohn Wycliffe was an English Scholastic philosopher, theologian, lay preacher, translator, reformer and university teacher who was known as an early dissident in the Roman Catholic Church during the 14th century. His followers were known as Lollards, a somewhat rebellious movement, which preached...
(c. 1320-1384) - Julian of NorwichJulian of NorwichJulian of Norwich is regarded as one of the most important English mystics. She is venerated in the Anglican and Lutheran churches, but has never been canonized, or officially beatified, by the Catholic Church, probably because so little is known of her life aside from her writings, including the...
(1342-1413) - Geert GrooteGeert GrooteGerard Groote , otherwise Gerrit or Gerhard Groet, in Latin Gerardus Magnus, was a Dutch preacher and founder of the Brethren of the Common Life and a key figure in the Devotio Moderna movement....
(1340-1384) - Catherine of SienaCatherine of SienaSaint Catherine of Siena, T.O.S.D, was a tertiary of the Dominican Order, and a Scholastic philosopher and theologian. She also worked to bring the papacy of Gregory XI back to Rome from its displacement in France, and to establish peace among the Italian city-states. She was proclaimed a Doctor...
(1347-1380) - Jean GersonJean GersonJean Charlier de Gerson , French scholar, educator, reformer, and poet, Chancellor of the University of Paris, a guiding light of the conciliar movement and one of the most prominent theologians at the Council of Constance, was born at the village of Gerson, in the bishopric of Reims in...
(1363-1429) - Jan HusJan HusJan Hus , often referred to in English as John Hus or John Huss, was a Czech priest, philosopher, reformer, and master at Charles University in Prague...
(c. 1369-1415) - Thomas a KempisThomas à KempisThomas à Kempis was a late Medieval Catholic monk and the probable author of The Imitation of Christ, which is one of the best known Christian books on devotion. His name means, "Thomas of Kempen", his home town and in German he is known as Thomas von Kempen...
(1380-1471)
See also Scholasticism
Scholasticism
Scholasticism is a method of critical thought which dominated teaching by the academics of medieval universities in Europe from about 1100–1500, and a program of employing that method in articulating and defending orthodoxy in an increasingly pluralistic context...
The beginnings of Kalam
Islamic theologyIslamic theology
Islamic theology is a branch of Islamic studies regarding the beliefs associated with the Islamic faith. Any religious belief system, or creed, can be considered an example of aqidah. However, this term has taken a significant technical usage in Islamic history and theology, denoting those...
or Kalam
Kalam
ʿIlm al-Kalām is the Islamic philosophical discipline of seeking theological principles through dialectic. Kalām in Islamic practice relates to the discipline of seeking theological knowledge through debate and argument. A scholar of kalām is referred to as a mutakallim...
, in the sense of ordered, rational reflection upon Allah and his Qur'an, is commonly held to begin at the end of the 7th century – the 1st century A.H. – with debates about divine and human freedom.
The Qadariyyah were those who defended a fairly strong view of human freedom, and included
- Ma'bad ibn Khalid al-JuhaniMa'bad al-JuhaniMa'bad ibn Kalid al-Juhani was from the tribe of Juhainah which lived and still live in around the city of Medinah in Saudi Arabia. He was Qadari who was declared as misguided by some of the companions of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He was crucified by the orders of the Caliph Abd al-Malik in...
(d.699699Year 699 was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 699 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.- Asia :* Umayyad troops invade Armenia and secure...
) - Ghaylan ibn Marwan al Dimashqi (d.749749Year 749 was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 749 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.- Europe :* June – Aistulf succeeds his...
)
'The Jabriyyah were their opponents, and included
- Jahm ibn Safwan (d.745)
Mu'tazilah
The Qadariyyah evolved into Mu‘tazilah which for some time was the dominant form of kalam, imposed as official orthodoxy under the AbbasidAbbasid
The Abbasid Caliphate or, more simply, the Abbasids , was the third of the Islamic caliphates. It was ruled by the Abbasid dynasty of caliphs, who built their capital in Baghdad after overthrowing the Umayyad caliphate from all but the al-Andalus region....
dynasty, until the accession of Al-Mutawakkil
Al-Mutawakkil
Al-Mutawakkil ʻAlā Allāh Jaʻfar ibn al-Muʻtasim was an Abbasid caliph who reigned in Samarra from 847 until 861...
in 847
847
Year 847 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar.- Europe :* Bari is captured by the Saracens....
, after which it was suppressed. For the five principal doctrines of Mutazilism, see the main article. Prominent Mutazilite theologians include:
- Wasil ibn AtaWasil ibn AtaWasil ibn Ata was an important Muslim theologian and jurist of his time, and by many accounts is considered to be the founder of the Mutazilite school of Islamic thought....
(c. 700700Year 700 was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 700 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.- North America :* The Mount Edziza volcanic complex...
-748748Year 748 was a leap year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 748 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.- Asia :* January – An earthquake strikes the Middle...
) - Abu Huthail al-‘Allaf (c. 750750Year 750 was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 750 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.- Asia :* Gopala is proclaimed as the first ruler of...
–c.849849Year 849 was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar.- Asia :* In the Tang Dynasty Chinese capital city of Chang'an, an imperial prince was impeached from his position by officials at court for erecting a building that obstructed a street in the northwesternmost ward in South...
) - Ibrahim al-Nazzam (died c. 846846Year 846 was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar.- Europe :* Nominoe occupies Nantes and Rennes, he makes raids in Anjou and threatens Bayeux...
) - al-JahizAl-JahizAl-Jāḥiẓ was an Arabic prose writer and author of works of literature, Mu'tazili theology, and politico-religious polemics.In biology, Al-Jahiz introduced the concept of food chains and also proposed a scheme of animal evolution that entailed...
(c. 776776Year 776 was a leap year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 776 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.- Europe :* April 14 – Charlemagne spends Easter in...
-869869Year 869 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar.- Asia :* May 26 – An earthquake and tsunami devastate a large part of the Sanriku coast near Sendai, Japan....
) - al-Jubba'iAl-Jubba'iAbu 'Ali Muhammad al-Jubba'i was an Arab Mu'tazili theologian and philosopher of the 10th century. Born in Khuzistan, he studied in Basra where he trained Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari, who went on to found his own theological tradition, and his son Abd al-Salam al-Jubba'i.-References:...
(died 916916Year 916 was a leap year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar.- Asia :* Abaoji of the Khitan empire adopts Chinese court rituals....
) - al-Qadi Abdul Jabbar (died 1025)
- al-MawardiAl-MawardiAbu al-Hasan Ali Ibn Muhammad Ibn Habib al-Mawardi , known in Latin as Alboacen , was an Arab Muslim jurist of the Shafi'i school most remembered for his works on religion, government, the caliphate, and public and constitutional law during a time of political turmoil...
(974974Year 974 was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar.- Africa :* The Carmathians are defeated in Egypt by Jawhar as-Siqilli; Fatimid rule is consolidated there....
-1058) - Zamakhshari (died 1144)
Ash'aryah
From the late 10th century onwards, Mutazilite kalam, opposition to which had hitherto been almost indistinguishable from opposition to kalam itself, found a new opponent within kalam: Ash'ariAsh'ari
The Ashʿari theology is a school of early Muslim speculative theology founded by the theologian Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari...
kalam. Asharite kalam rose to become the dominant form of Islamic kalam, and helped distinguish kalam from falasafa—from philosophy (a distinction which is less clear when considering Mutazilite thought).
Prominent Asharites include:
- Abu l'Hasan al-Ashari (died 945945Year 945 was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar.- Asia :* The Buwayhid Dynasty takes control of Baghdad ....
) - Abu Bakr al-BaqillaniAl-BaqillaniAbu Bakr Muḥammad ibn al-Ṭayyib al-Bāqillānī was an Ashari Islamic scholar and Maliki lawyer, influential in popularising SunniAsharism.Born in Basra c. 950, he spent most of his life in Baghdad, and studied under disciples of al-Ash'ari. He held the office of chief Qadi outside the capital of the...
(died 1013) - Abu'l Ma'ali al-Juwayni (1028-1085)
- Al-GhazaliAl-GhazaliAbu Hāmed Mohammad ibn Mohammad al-Ghazzālī , known as Algazel to the western medieval world, born and died in Tus, in the Khorasan province of Persia was a Persian Muslim theologian, jurist, philosopher, and mystic....
(died 1111) - Fakhr al-Din Razi (died 1209)
Note should also be taken of the variant of Asharism known as Maturidism. Prominent Maturidi
Maturidi
In Islam, a Maturidi is one who follows Abu Mansur Al Maturidi's theology, which is a close variant of the Ash'ari theology . The Maturidis, Ash'aris and Atharis are all part of Sunni Islam, which makes up the overwhelming majority of Muslims...
authors include:
- Abu Mansur Al MaturidiAbu Mansur Al MaturidiMuhammad Abu Mansur al-Maturidi was an Iranian Muslim theologian, and a scholar of Islamic jurisprudence and Qur'anic exegesis. Al Maturidi is one of the pioneers of Islamic Jurisprudence scholars and his two works are considered to be authoritative on the subject...
(died 944944Year 944 was a leap year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar.- Africa :* The city of Algiers is founded by the Zirid king Buluggin ibn Ziri....
) - al-Nasafi (died 1114)
Falasafa (Islamic philosophy)
Whilst the boundaries are sometimes rather porous, scholars of Islamic thought often make a distinction between Falasafa (Islamic philosophyIslamic philosophy
Islamic philosophy is a branch of Islamic studies. It is the continuous search for Hekma in the light of Islamic view of life, universe, ethics, society, and so on...
) and Kalam (Islamic theology). Prominent writers normally held to stand on the Falasafa side of the divide include:
- Al-KindīAl-Kindi' , known as "the Philosopher of the Arabs", was a Muslim Arab philosopher, mathematician, physician, and musician. Al-Kindi was the first of the Muslim peripatetic philosophers, and is unanimously hailed as the "father of Islamic or Arabic philosophy" for his synthesis, adaptation and promotion...
(died 873873Year 873 was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar.- Europe :* The Vikings raid Dorestad.* Al-Andalus: Second uprising of Toledo due to ethnic tensions in two years.- Asia :...
) - Al-RaziAl-RaziMuhammad ibn Zakariyā Rāzī , known as Rhazes or Rasis after medieval Latinists, was a Persian polymath,a prominent figure in Islamic Golden Age, physician, alchemist and chemist, philosopher, and scholar....
(865865Year 865 was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar.- Europe :* Ethelred succeeds as king of Wessex .* Louis the German divides his kingdom among his sons....
-925925Year 925 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar.- Europe :* Alfonso IV the Monk becomes king of Leon....
) - Al-FarabiAl-Farabi' known in the West as Alpharabius , was a scientist and philosopher of the Islamic world...
(870870Year 870 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar.- Europe :* Prague Castle is founded....
-950950Year 950 was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar.- Europe :* Duke Boleslav I of Bohemia makes peace with Otto I....
) - Ibn MiskawayhIbn MiskawayhAbu 'Ali Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Ya'qub Ibn Miskawayh, also known as Ibn Miskawayh or Ebn Meskavayh was a Persian chancery official of the Buwayhid era, and philosopher and historian from Rey, Iran...
(932932Year 932 was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar.- Asia :* After an initial defeat, Mardavij took Tabaristan and Gurgan. Makan, whose attempts to recover his territories failed, entered the service of the Samanids.- Europe :* St...
-1030) - Ibn Sina (Latinised form: AvicennaAvicennaAbū ʿAlī al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Sīnā , commonly known as Ibn Sīnā or by his Latinized name Avicenna, was a Persian polymath, who wrote almost 450 treatises on a wide range of subjects, of which around 240 have survived...
) (980980Year 980 was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar.- Europe :* Otto II renounces his claim to Lorraine.* The Viking ring castle of Trelleborg is constructed in Denmark....
-1037) - Ibn HazmIbn HazmAbū Muḥammad ʿAlī ibn Aḥmad ibn Saʿīd ibn Ḥazm ) was an Andalusian philosopher, litterateur, psychologist, historian, jurist and theologian born in Córdoba, present-day Spain...
(994994Year 994 was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar.- Europe :* Sweyn Forkbeard marries Sigrid the Haughty.* Otto III reaches his majority and begins to rule Germany in his own right....
-1069) - Ibn BajjahIbn BajjahAbū-Bakr Muhammad ibn Yahya ibn al-Sāyigh , known as Ibn Bājjah , was an Andalusian polymath: an astronomer, logician, musician, philosopher, physician, physicist, psychologist, botanist, poet and scientist. He was known in the West by his Latinized name, Avempace...
(died 1138) - Ibn TufailIbn TufailIbn Tufail was an Andalusian Muslim polymath: an Arabic writer, novelist, Islamic philosopher, Islamic theologian, physician, vizier,...
(c. 1110-1185) - Ibn Rushd (Latinised form: AverroesAverroes' , better known just as Ibn Rushd , and in European literature as Averroes , was a Muslim polymath; a master of Aristotelian philosophy, Islamic philosophy, Islamic theology, Maliki law and jurisprudence, logic, psychology, politics, Arabic music theory, and the sciences of medicine, astronomy,...
) (1126-1198)
Reformation and Counter-Reformation Christian theology
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
yielded scholars the ability to read the scriptures in their original languages and this in part stimulated the Reformation
Protestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
, a theological movement that protested
Protestation at Speyer
On April 19, 1529 six Fürsten and 14 Imperial Free Cities, representing the Protestant minority, petitioned the Reichstag at Speyer against the Reichsacht against Martin Luther, as well as the proscription of his works and teachings, and called for the unhindered spread of the "evangelical" On...
the outlawing of their faith at the Second Diet of Speyer
Second Diet of Speyer
The Diet of Speyer or the Diet of Spires was a diet of the Holy Roman Empire in 1529 in the Imperial City of Speyer . The diet condemned the results of the Diet of Speyer of 1526 and prohibited future reformation...
. Its main themes were Justification by faith
Sola fide
Sola fide , also historically known as the doctrine of justification by faith alone, is a Christian theological doctrine that distinguishes most Protestant denominations from Catholicism, Eastern Christianity, and some in the Restoration Movement.The doctrine of sola fide or "by faith alone"...
, the Bible as the only source of Christian teaching
Sola scriptura
Sola scriptura is the doctrine that the Bible contains all knowledge necessary for salvation and holiness. Consequently, sola scriptura demands that only those doctrines are to be admitted or confessed that are found directly within or indirectly by using valid logical deduction or valid...
, and the Priesthood of all believers
Priesthood of all believers
The universal priesthood or the priesthood of all believers, as it would come to be known in the present day, is a Christian doctrine believed to be derived from several passages of the New Testament...
, and. Important figures include Luther
Martin Luther
Martin Luther was a German priest, professor of theology and iconic figure of the Protestant Reformation. He strongly disputed the claim that freedom from God's punishment for sin could be purchased with money. He confronted indulgence salesman Johann Tetzel with his Ninety-Five Theses in 1517...
, Melanchthon
Philipp Melanchthon
Philipp Melanchthon , born Philipp Schwartzerdt, was a German reformer, collaborator with Martin Luther, the first systematic theologian of the Protestant Reformation, intellectual leader of the Lutheran Reformation, and an influential designer of educational systems...
, Bucer
Martin Bucer
Martin Bucer was a Protestant reformer based in Strasbourg who influenced Lutheran, Calvinist, and Anglican doctrines and practices. Bucer was originally a member of the Dominican Order, but after meeting and being influenced by Martin Luther in 1518 he arranged for his monastic vows to be annulled...
, Zwingli
Huldrych Zwingli
Ulrich Zwingli was a leader of the Reformation in Switzerland. Born during a time of emerging Swiss patriotism and increasing criticism of the Swiss mercenary system, he attended the University of Vienna and the University of Basel, a scholarly centre of humanism...
, Calvin
John Calvin
John Calvin was an influential French theologian and pastor during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system of Christian theology later called Calvinism. Originally trained as a humanist lawyer, he broke from the Roman Catholic Church around 1530...
, and the Anabaptists. Calvinist
Calvinism
Calvinism is a Protestant theological system and an approach to the Christian life...
theology was developed by successors such as Beza
Theodore Beza
Theodore Beza was a French Protestant Christian theologian and scholar who played an important role in the Reformation...
, the English Puritans and Turretin
Francis Turretin
Francis Turretin was a Swiss-Italian Protestant theologian.Turretin is especially known as a zealous opponent of the theology of the Academy of Saumur , as an earnest defender of the Calvinistic orthodoxy represented by the Synod of Dort, and as one of the authors of the Helvetic...
. Lutheran theology entered a period
Lutheran Orthodoxy
Lutheran orthodoxy was an era in the history of Lutheranism, which began in 1580 from the writing of the Book of Concord and ended at the Age of Enlightenment. Lutheran orthodoxy was paralleled by similar eras in Calvinism and tridentine Roman Catholicism after the...
of doctrinal unity with the adoption of the Book of Concord
Book of Concord
The Book of Concord or Concordia is the historic doctrinal standard of the Lutheran Church, consisting of ten credal documents recognized as authoritative in Lutheranism since the 16th century...
and preserved it through the work of theologians such as Chemnitz
Martin Chemnitz
Martin Chemnitz was an eminent second-generation Lutheran theologian, reformer, churchman, and confessor...
and Gerhard
Johann Gerhard
Johann Gerhard was a Lutheran church leader and Lutheran Scholastic theologian during the period of Orthodoxy.-Biography:He was born in the German city of Quedlinburg...
.
The Roman Catholic Counter-Reformation
Counter-Reformation
The Counter-Reformation was the period of Catholic revival beginning with the Council of Trent and ending at the close of the Thirty Years' War, 1648 as a response to the Protestant Reformation.The Counter-Reformation was a comprehensive effort, composed of four major elements:#Ecclesiastical or...
spearheaded by the Jesuits under Ignatius Loyola took their theology from the decisions of the Council of Trent
Council of Trent
The Council of Trent was the 16th-century Ecumenical Council of the Roman Catholic Church. It is considered to be one of the Church's most important councils. It convened in Trent between December 13, 1545, and December 4, 1563 in twenty-five sessions for three periods...
and developed Second Scholasticism
Second scholasticism
In philosophy, the term second scholasticism denotes the 16th-century revival of the scholastic system of philosophy, that arose, in part, to counter the Protestant Reformation, by returning to biblical language usage, and to the Fathers of the Church...
, which they pitted against Lutheran Scholasticism
Lutheran scholasticism
Lutheran scholasticism was a theological method that gradually developed during the era of Lutheran Orthodoxy. Theologians used the neo-Aristotelian form of presentation, already popular in academia, in their writings and lectures...
. The overall result of the Reformation was to highlight distinctions of belief that had previously co-existed uneasily.
The Fall of Constantinople
Fall of Constantinople
The Fall of Constantinople was the capture of the capital of the Byzantine Empire, which occurred after a siege by the Ottoman Empire, under the command of Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II, against the defending army commanded by Byzantine Emperor Constantine XI...
in the East, 1453, led to a significant shift of gravity to the rising state of Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, the "Third Rome". The Renaissance stimulated a program of reforms by patriarchs of prayer books. A movement called the "Old Believers
Old Believers
In the context of Russian Orthodox church history, the Old Believers separated after 1666 from the official Russian Orthodox Church as a protest against church reforms introduced by Patriarch Nikon between 1652–66...
" consequently resulted and influenced Russian Orthodox Theology in the direction of conservatism
Conservatism
Conservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes the maintenance of traditional institutions and supports, at the most, minimal and gradual change in society. Some conservatives seek to preserve things as they are, emphasizing stability and continuity, while others oppose modernism...
and Erastianism.
Modern Christian theology
Nicene Creed
The Nicene Creed is the creed or profession of faith that is most widely used in Christian liturgy. It is called Nicene because, in its original form, it was adopted in the city of Nicaea by the first ecumenical council, which met there in the year 325.The Nicene Creed has been normative to the...
and Chalcedonian Creed
Chalcedonian Creed
The Confession of Chalcedon , also known as the Doctrine of the Hypostatic Union or the Two-Nature Doctrine, was adopted at the Council of Chalcedon in 451 in Asia Minor. That Council of Chalcedon is one of the first seven Ecumenical Councils accepted by Eastern Orthodox, Catholic, and many...
. these included Unitarians
Unitarianism
Unitarianism is a Christian theological movement, named for its understanding of God as one person, in direct contrast to Trinitarianism which defines God as three persons coexisting consubstantially as one in being....
and Universalists. A major issue for Protestants became the degree to which Man contributes to his salvation. The debate is often viewied as synergism
Synergism
In theology, synergism is the position of those who hold that salvation involves some form of cooperation between divine grace and human freedom...
versus monergism
Monergism
Monergism describes the position in Christian theology of those who believe that God, through the Holy Spirit, works to bring about effectually the salvation of individuals through spiritual regeneration without cooperation from the individual...
, though the labels Calvinist and Arminian are more frequently used, referring to the conclusion of the Synod of Dort
Synod of Dort
The Synod of Dort was a National Synod held in Dordrecht in 1618-1619, by the Dutch Reformed Church, to settle a divisive controversy initiated by the rise of Arminianism. The first meeting was on November 13, 1618, and the final meeting, the 154th, was on May 9, 1619...
.
The 19th century saw the rise of biblical criticism
Biblical criticism
Biblical criticism is the scholarly "study and investigation of Biblical writings that seeks to make discerning judgments about these writings." It asks when and where a particular text originated; how, why, by whom, for whom, and in what circumstances it was produced; what influences were at work...
, new knowledge of religious diversity
Multiculturalism
Multiculturalism is the appreciation, acceptance or promotion of multiple cultures, applied to the demographic make-up of a specific place, usually at the organizational level, e.g...
in other continents and above all the growth of science
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
. This led many church men to espouse a form of Deism
Deism
Deism in religious philosophy is the belief that reason and observation of the natural world, without the need for organized religion, can determine that the universe is the product of an all-powerful creator. According to deists, the creator does not intervene in human affairs or suspend the...
. This, along with concepts such as the brotherhood of man and a rejection of miracle
Miracle
A miracle often denotes an event attributed to divine intervention. Alternatively, it may be an event attributed to a miracle worker, saint, or religious leader. A miracle is sometimes thought of as a perceptible interruption of the laws of nature. Others suggest that a god may work with the laws...
s led to what is called "Classical liberalism
Liberal Christianity
Liberal Christianity, sometimes called liberal theology, is an umbrella term covering diverse, philosophically and biblically informed religious movements and ideas within Christianity from the late 18th century and onward...
". Immensely influential in its day, classic liberalism suffered badly as a result of the two world wars and fell prey to the criticisms of postmodernism
Postmodernism
Postmodernism is a philosophical movement evolved in reaction to modernism, the tendency in contemporary culture to accept only objective truth and to be inherently suspicious towards a global cultural narrative or meta-narrative. Postmodernist thought is an intentional departure from the...
.
Vladimir Lossky
Vladimir Lossky
Vladimir Nikolayevich Lossky was an influential Eastern Orthodox theologian in exile from Russia. He emphasized theosis as the main principle of Orthodox Christianity....
is a famous Eastern Orthodox theologian writing in the 20th century for the Greek church.
Postmodern theology
Process theology
Process theology is a school of thought influenced by the metaphysical process philosophy of Alfred North Whitehead and further developed by Charles Hartshorne . While there are process theologies that are similar, but unrelated to the work of Whitehead the term is generally applied to the...
, Feminist theology
Feminist theology
Feminist theology is a movement found in several religions, including Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism, and New Thought, to reconsider the traditions, practices, scriptures, and theologies of those religions from a feminist perspective...
and Queer Theology and most importantly Neo-orthodox Theology. Karl Barth
Karl Barth
Karl Barth was a Swiss Reformed theologian whom critics hold to be among the most important Christian thinkers of the 20th century; Pope Pius XII described him as the most important theologian since Thomas Aquinas...
, Rudolf Bultmann
Rudolf Bultmann
Rudolf Karl Bultmann was a German theologian of Lutheran background, who was for three decades professor of New Testament studies at the University of Marburg...
and Reinhold Niebuhr
Reinhold Niebuhr
Karl Paul Reinhold Niebuhr was an American theologian and commentator on public affairs. Starting as a leftist minister in the 1920s indebted to theological liberalism, he shifted to the new Neo-Orthodox theology in the 1930s, explaining how the sin of pride created evil in the world...
were Neo-Orthodoxies main representatives. In particular Barth labeled his Theology "Dialectical Theology", a reference to existentialism
Existentialism
Existentialism is a term applied to a school of 19th- and 20th-century philosophers who, despite profound doctrinal differences, shared the belief that philosophical thinking begins with the human subject—not merely the thinking subject, but the acting, feeling, living human individual...
.
The predominance of Classic Liberalism resulted in many reactionary
Reactionary
The term reactionary refers to viewpoints that seek to return to a previous state in a society. The term is meant to describe one end of a political spectrum whose opposite pole is "radical". While it has not been generally considered a term of praise it has been adopted as a self-description by...
movements amongst conservative believers. Evangelical
Evangelicalism
Evangelicalism is a Protestant Christian movement which began in Great Britain in the 1730s and gained popularity in the United States during the series of Great Awakenings of the 18th and 19th century.Its key commitments are:...
theology, Pentecostal or Renewal theology and Fundamentalist theology, often combined with Dispensationalism
Dispensationalism
Dispensationalism is a nineteenth-century evangelical development based on a futurist biblical hermeneutic that sees a series of chronologically successive "dispensations" or periods in history in which God relates to human beings in different ways under different Biblical covenants.As a system,...
, all moved from the fringe into the academy. Marxism
Marxism
Marxism is an economic and sociopolitical worldview and method of socioeconomic inquiry that centers upon a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change, and an analysis and critique of the development of capitalism. Marxism was pioneered in the early to mid 19th...
stimulated the significant rise of Liberation Theology
Liberation theology
Liberation theology is a Christian movement in political theology which interprets the teachings of Jesus Christ in terms of a liberation from unjust economic, political, or social conditions...
which can be interpreted as a rejection of Academic Theology that fails to challenge the establishment
The Establishment
The Establishment is a term used to refer to a visible dominant group or elite that holds power or authority in a nation. The term suggests a closed social group which selects its own members...
and help the poor.
From the late 19th century to the early twentieth groups established themselves that derived many of their beliefs from Protestant evangelical groups but significantly differed in doctrine. These include the Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The religion reports worldwide membership of over 7 million adherents involved in evangelism, convention attendance of over 12 million, and annual...
, the Latter Day Saints and others. Many of these groups use the Protestant version of the bible and typically interpret it in a fundamentalist fashion, adding, however, special prophecy or scriptures, and typically denying the trinity and the full deity of Jesus Christ.
Ecumenical Theology sought to discover a common consensus on theological matters that could bring the many Christian denominations together. As a movement it was successful in helping to provide a basis for the establishment of the World Council of Churches
World Council of Churches
The World Council of Churches is a worldwide fellowship of 349 global, regional and sub-regional, national and local churches seeking unity, a common witness and Christian service. It is a Christian ecumenical organization that is based in the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, Switzerland...
and for some reconciliation between more established denominations. But ecumenical theology was nearly always the concern of liberal theologians, especially Protestant ones. The movement for ecumenism was opposed especially by fundamentalists and viewed as flawed by many neo-orthodox and confessional Lutheran
Confessional Lutheran
Confessional Lutheran is a name used by certain Lutheran Christians to designate themselves as those who accept the doctrines taught in the Book of Concord of 1580 in their entirety, because they believe them to be completely faithful to the teachings of the Bible...
theologians.
The pattern of challenge from a changing world, liberal response from official representatives and orthodox backlash from conservatives is found also in the history of Islam and Judaism. Reform Judaism
Reform Judaism
Reform Judaism refers to various beliefs, practices and organizations associated with the Reform Jewish movement in North America, the United Kingdom and elsewhere. In general, it maintains that Judaism and Jewish traditions should be modernized and should be compatible with participation in the...
represents a liberal interpretation as against Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism , is the approach to Judaism which adheres to the traditional interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin and subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and...
, and moderate or Liberal Islam continues to be theologically distinct from Islamic Fundamentalism
Islamic fundamentalism
Islamic fundamentalism is a term used to describe religious ideologies seen as advocating a return to the "fundamentals" of Islam: the Quran and the Sunnah. Definitions of the term vary. According to Christine L...
, notably its Wahabi
Wahhabism
Wahhabism is a religious movement or a branch of Islam. It was developed by an 18th century Muslim theologian from Najd, Saudi Arabia. Ibn Abdul Al-Wahhab advocated purging Islam of what he considered to be impurities and innovations...
and Deobandi
Deobandi
Deobandi is a movement of Sunni Islam. The movement began at Darul Uloom Deoband in Deoband, India, where its foundation was laid on 30 May 1866.-History:...
Schools.