Deck 12: Christianity and the Medieval Mind

Question 1

Discuss the history and significance of the medieval university and Scholasticism.

Answer 1

The modern day university has its origins in medieval society.By the twelfth century,spurred by the resurgence of economic activity,the rise of towns,and the influx of heretofore unavailable Classical texts,education shifted from monastic and parish settings to cathedral schools located in the new urban centers of Western Europe.Growing out of these schools,groups of students and teachers formed guilds for higher learning;the Latin word universitas describes a guild of learners and teachers.These universities were arenas for intellectual inquiry and debate.The universities offered a basic Liberal Arts curriculum divided into two parts:the trivium,consisting of grammar,logic,and rhetoric;and the quadrivium,which comprised arithmetic,geometry,astronomy,and music.
The ancient Classical texts brought to Europe by the Muslims,such as Aristotle's works in the natural sciences,presented new intellectual and theological challenges to churchmen and scholars.The Scholastics engaged in an effort to reconcile the two primary modes of knowledge:faith and reason,the first as defended by theology,the second as exalted in Greek philosophy.Indeed,the Scholastic method was concerned with balancing opposing points of view and ultimately finding some form of reconciliation.The Scholastics were the humanists of the medieval world;they held that the human being,the noblest and most rational of God's creatures,was the link between the created universe and divine intelligence.They believed that human reason was the handmaiden of faith,and that reason-although incapable of transcending revelation-was essential to the understanding of God's divine plan.

Question 2

What is the role of mysticism in medieval culture?

Answer 2

Mystical,or visionary literature,reflected an individual's intuitive and direct knowledge of God and it conjured vivid images of the supernatural (thus providing a vocabulary by which the unknowable might actually be known).Christian mystics,such as Hildegard of Bingen,produced original works on such topics as the nature of the universe,the meaning of Scripture,and the destiny of the Christian soul.This type of literature complemented the more ubiquitous didactic religious literature that was meant to teach and instruct.

Question 3

The first of the mendicant orders created at the Fourth Lateran Council was which of the following?

A)Carmelites
B)Jesuits
C)Dominicans
D)Franciscans

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Explain the centrality and significance of the Church in medieval society.

Question 5

Hildegard of Bingen

A)was abbess of a Benedictine convent.
B)was a scholar of Latin and German.
C)wrote visionary texts and a wealth of diverse academic literature.
D)All these answers are correct.

Question 6

Which of the following was considered the greatest of the so-called Scholastics,a Dominican theologian and teacher,and author of the major treatise Summa Theologica?

A)Peter Abelard
B)Aristotle
C)Thomas Aquinas
D)Socrates

Question 7

Dante's Divine Comedy is which of the following literary types?

A)allegory
B)sermon
C)epic poem
D)song

Question 8

According to Dante,the most foul of all sins is

A)parsimony.
B)adultery.
C)treachery.
D)neglect.

Question 9

The intellectual melting pot of the medieval West was which of the following cities?

A)Bologna
B)Paris
C)Rome
D)Oxford

Question 10

Extreme unction is another name given to which of the following acts?

A)admittance to the Church
B)the union of man and wife
C)the joining of human being to God
D)final absolution before death

Question 11

Discuss the various mendicant orders within the Catholic Church and how these organizations affected their world.

Question 12

The intermediate step between Heaven and Hell was defined by the medieval church as

A)the Eucharist.
B)Hades.
C)Purgatory.
D)Lateran.

Question 13

Which scholar's Yes and No sought to balance multiple points of view in synthesizing a most-correct answer in terms of religious dogma?

A)Peter Abelard
B)Aristotle
C)Thomas Aquinas
D)Socrates

Question 14

Which of the following is NOT one of the three types of medieval drama?

A)miracle plays
B)mockery plays
C)mystery plays
D)morality plays

Question 15

Explain the "immortality ideology" as reflected in medieval literature such as Everyman and Dante's Commedia.

Question 16

The dominant political,religious,and cultural force of the European Middle Ages was which of the following?

A)the mendicant orders of friars
B)the feudal system
C)the Catholic Church
D)the medieval university

Question 17

Which of the following philosophers' writings was safeguarded throughout the Middle Ages by Arab scholars and caused great intellectual challenges in the West once released?

A)Peter Abelard
B)Aristotle
C)Thomas Aquinas
D)Socrates

Question 18

Pope Innocent III's On the Misery of the Human Condition is considered the greatest of medieval

A)allegories.
B)sermons.
C)epic poems.
D)songs.

Question 19

Grace is bestowed by following the

A)five faith pillars.
B)seven sacraments.
C)ten paths to righteousness.
D)holy communion.

Question 20

Which of the following is an accurate paraphrasing of the Augustinian credo regarding inquiry?

A)Reason is paramount.
B)The unasked question is never answered.
C)Faith precedes reason.
D)Science is just another face of GoD.