Old Western Culture A Christian Approach to the Great Books Year 3: Christendom Unit 3 The Medieval Mind Aquinas and Dante Workbook and Answer Key Please Note: This workbook may be periodically updated, expanded, or revised. Download the latest revision at www.romanroadsmedia.com/materials. Version 1.0.0
ROMAN ROADS MEDIA Roman Roads Media is a publisher of classical Christian curriculum. Just as the first century roads of the Roman Empire were the physical means by which the early church spread the gospel far and wide, so Roman Roads Media uses today s technology in print and media to bring timeless truth, goodness, and beauty into your home. Roman Roads Media: classical education, in your home. About Old Western Culture OLD WESTERN CULTURE is a literature curriculum covering the Great Books of Western Civilization. It is a classical curriculum, based on the great books of western civilization. It is a Christian curriculum, which sees the history and literature of the West through the eyes of the Bible and historic Christianity. It is an integrated humanities curriculum, bringing together literature, history, philosophy, doctrine, geography, and art. And it is a homeschool oriented curriculum, made by homeschoolers with the needs of homeschooled in mind, including flexibility, affordability, and ease-of-use. Year 1: The Greeks Unit 1: The Epics The Poems of Homer Unit 2: Drama and Lyric The Tragedies, Comedies, and Minor Poems Unit 3: The Histories Herodotus, Thucydides, and Xenophon Unit 4: The Philosophers Aristotle and Plato Year 2: The Romans Unit 1: The Aeneid Vergil and Other Roman Epics Unit 2: The Historians From Idea to Empire Unit 3: Early Christianity Clement, Ignatius, Irenaeus, Justin Martyr, and Eusebius Unit 4: Nicene Christianity Athanasius, Augustine, and Boethius Year 3: Christendom Unit 1: Early Medievals The Growth of European Christianity Unit 2: The Defense of the Faith Scholastics of the High Middle Ages Unit 3: The Medieval Mind Dante and Aquinas Unit 4: The Reformation Erasmus, Calvin, Cranmer, Spencer, and Chaucer Year 4: Early Moderns Unit 1: Rise of England Metaphysical Poets, Milton, Shakespeare, and Bunyan Unit 2: The Enlightenment Liberal THought and the Sparks of Revolution Unit 3: The Victorian Poets Neoclassical Poetry, Victorian Poetry, and Romantic Poetry Unit 4: The Novels Austen, Dickens, Dostoevsky, and Lewis. Published by Roman Roads Media 739 S Hayes St, Moscow, Idaho 83843 509-592-4548 www.romanroadsmedia.com Old Western Culture: Christendom, Copyright 2017 by Roman Roads Media, LLC Cover Design: Rachel Rosales and Daniel Foucachon. Copyediting and Interior Layout: Valerie Anne Bost and Daniel Foucachon. Editors: by Andrea Pliego and Lydia Foucachon. General Editor: Daniel Foucachon. All rights reserved.
Table of Contents Introduction and Overview................................................2 Lesson 1: Introduction to The Medieval Mind...................................6 Lesson 2: Aquinas Compendium I............................................9 Lesson 3: Aquinas Compendium II.......................................... 13 Lesson 4: Aquinas Compendium III........................................ 17 Lesson 5: Introduction to Dante........................................... 21 Lesson 6: Dante s Inferno I................................................23 Lesson 7: Dante s Inferno II...............................................27 Lesson 8: Dante s Purgatorio I.............................................. 31 Lesson 9: Dante s Purgatorio II............................................ 34 Lesson 10: Dante s Paradiso I..............................................38 Lesson 11: Dante s Paradiso II............................................ 42 Lesson 12: Conclusion.................................................. 45 Answer Key............................................................47 1
Old Western Culture Year 3: Christendom Unit 3: The Medieval Mind Introduction and Overview I f you could take only ten books to a deserted island on which you were to be marooned for the rest of your life, what would they be? As Mortimer Adler says, this is no game we are all in precisely that position. We are simply unable to read all the books there are; therefore, we had better choose well. Some books exercise our minds by their rigor and move our spirits by their beauty with every reading. Some books help us communicate with our culture because they have been a common element in education for centuries. Some books aid our understanding of the physical world by a clear exposition of careful observations by powerful minds. But very few books do any of these things well. And as C. S. Lewis says, old books give us a radically different perspective on life and our assumptions, and no modern books can do this at all, no matter how good they are. As Christians, we understand that ours is an historical faith, one that originated, developed, and grew in certain times at certain places. To study and understand the long stream of history and thought and to comprehend our place in that stream is to increase our appreciation of our cultural inheritance, our ability to use wisely and build faithfully upon that inheritance, and our ability to understand and respond to God s work in history. A Reading of Homer, Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, 1885 The conclusion we may draw from all of this is that the old books are best, and the best of the old books are the best of all. That is why we read the great books. Join us in Old Western Culture as we explore the best of the old books from a Christian perspective! About the instructor Dani and Wes Callihan in 2011 Wesley Callihan grew up on a farm in Idaho and earned a bachelor s in history from the University of Idaho in 1983. He has taught at Logos School, the University of Idaho, and New St. Andrews College (all in Moscow, Idaho) and at Veritas Academy in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He has written curriculum for a number of Christian schools, including several members of the Association of Classical and Christian Schools. Veritas Press has published his great books study guides for homeschoolers. Mr. Callihan speaks regularly at conferences for classical Christian educators in home and private schools and teaches summer intensive Latin courses. He has written columns and short fiction for Credenda/Agenda and Antithesis, and contributed to the book Classical Education and the Home School, published by Canon Press. In 1997 Mr. 2
Callihan launched Schola Classical Tutorials, a program of live Internet courses in the great books and the classical languages, as another ongoing contribution to the growing classical Christian education movement. Wes and his wife, Dani, have six children, five of them married, and a growing brood of grandchildren. Wes and Dani live near Wes s parents in an old farmhouse in northern Idaho where they all use the cold winters as an excuse to read and the hot summers as another excuse to read. How to Use This Course The Callihan Clan in 2011 Old Western Culture is a four-year curriculum covering the great books of Western Civilization. The four years are divided into The Greeks, The Romans, Christendom, and Early Moderns. For centuries, study of the great books lay at the heart of what it meant to be educated. It was the education of the Church Fathers, of the Medieval Church, of the Reformers, and of the Founding Fathers of the United States. Old Western Culture is a classical and Christian integrated high school (grades 9 12) humanities curriculum created with the purpose of preserving a knowledge of the books and ideas that shaped Western Civilization. Recommended Schedule Old Western Culture is designed to accommodate a traditional nine-week term (for a thirty-six week school year). A recommended schedule is provided below. We expect the average student to spend one to three hours per day on this course: first completing the assigned readings and answering the workbook questions under the Reading header, and then watching the lectures and answering the video questions under the Lecture header. Materials Video Lessons. Instructor Wes Callihan s deep knowledge of the classics and decades of teaching experience are a rich resource for homeschool families. Each unit is divided into twelve lectures. The Great Books. Old Western Culture immerses students in reading the classics themselves rather than just reading about them. Families have two options for acquiring the texts: 1. Use or purchase your own texts. Chances are, you already own at least some of these classics, so feel free to use your own copies. A list of recommended translations, including Amazon links, can be found at romanroadsmedia.com, but specific translations or editions are not required. 2. Use the Old Western Culture Readers. Many units of Old Western Culture now have readers that gather all the assigned reading into one volume. Purchase a paperback copy ($22 each), order an Amazon Kindle edition ($1 each), or download a PDF (free). Visit romanroadsmedia.com for more information. The Student Workbook. Purchase a hard copy, or visit romanroadsmedia.com/materials to download a free PDF. The workbook questions allow students to test their understanding of the reading assignments and the lectures. The Answer Key at the end of the workbook provides very 3
Old Western Culture Year 3: Christendom Unit 3: The Medieval Mind concise answers to the essay questions. They are not intended to be comprehensive. In many cases entire papers could be written in response to an essay question from this workbook, and students are encouraged to pursue questions which spark their curiosity. Use the short answers as a baseline for further conversation and expanded answers. Exams. Two exams are available (Exam A and Exam B) for download from the Materials page on romanroadsmedia.com. Students may use one for practice, or for retake. The Teacher s Edition of the Exam (seperate PDF) includes answers as well as notes on grading. Additional Resources. Visit romanroadsmedia.com/materials for an up-to-date list of additional resources. Note: Throughout all materials, we have avoided referencing original works by edition-specific page numbers. We instead provide location identifiers such as book, chapter, section, and line numbers in order to maintain the flexibility to use multiple translation options. Additional Assignments In addition to the reading, lectures, and workbook questions, students will complete the following: Term Paper. Students may choose a paper topic from the discussion questions at the end of each lesson, expand on an essay question from any lesson, or choose a topic of their own based on the works or themes of this term. The term paper should be 750 1,200 words long and should persuasively articulate a thesis while drawing on examples from the original works. Final Exam. Visit www.romanroadsmedia.com/materials to download the most recent final exams. Two options, Exam A and Exam B, are provided. The exams are similar in style and difficulty, but the content varies. Students who score lower than 90 percent on Exam A should take Exam B two days later to help reinforce subject mastery. Age Level In Old Western Culture students will encounter mature themes such as paganism, sexual immorality, detailed battle descriptions (mostly in actual reading), and nudity in classical painting and sculpture. We recommend the series for ages fourteen and above, but of course parents will want to consider the maturity levels of their own children and discuss these issues with them. 4
R e c o m m e n d e d Nine-Week Schedule Key: F Watch Lectures t Answer Workbook Questions l Read Texts y Complete Additional Assignments Week Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday 1 F Lecture 1 t Lecture Questions l Compendium, chs 1 15 l Compendium, chs 72 83 t Reading Questions F Lecture 2 t Lecture Questions 2 l Compendium chs 103 107, 114 117 l Compendium chs 127 130, 142 150 t Reading Questions F Lecture 3 t Lecture Questions l Compendium, chs. 151 157 3 l Compendium, chs 172 184, 241 246 t Reading Questions F Lecture 4 t Lecture Questions l Optional: The Cat in the Hat, by Dr. Seuss F Lecture 5 t Lecture Questions 4 l Inferno, Cantos 1-10 l Inferno, Cantos 11 17 t Reading Questions F Lecture 6 t Lecture Questions l Inferno, Cantos 18 30 5 l Inferno, Cantos 31 34 t Reading Questions F Lecture 7 t Lecture Questions l Purgatorio, Cantos 1 8 l Purgatorio, Cantos 9 15 l Purgatorio, Cantos 16 17 t Reading Questions 6 F Lecture 8 t Lecture Questions l Purgatorio, Cantos 18 24 l Purgatorio, Cantos 25 33 t Reading Questions F Lecture 9 t Lecture Questions l Paradiso, Cantos 15 17 7 l Paradiso, Cantos 1 6 l Paradiso, Cantos 7 14 F Lecture 10 l Paradiso, Cantos 18 24 t Reading Questions t Lecture Questions 8 l Paradiso, Cantos 25 31 l Paradiso, Cantos 32 33 t Reading Questions F Lecture 11 t Lecture Questions F Lecture 12 t Lecture Questions y Paper: Draft Due 9 y Exam A y Exam B (if Exam A score is below 90%) y Paper: Final Due 5
Old Western Culture Year 3: Christendom Unit 3: The Medieval Mind Lesson 1 Introduction to The Medieval Mind reading No reading for this lesson. lecture Watch Lecture 1, and then answer the following questions. 1. Why were Aquinas and Dante the greatest figures of the high Middle Ages? 2. When did these two great figures live? Into what era of history do their lives and works fall? 3. What group did Aquinas join that caused strife with his family? What did his family do to try to keep him from the Dominicans? 6
4. What was the intended purpose of the Summa Theologica? 5. Why is Aquinas called the Great Doctor of the Roman Catholic Church? Discussion Questions Historically Aquinas has been respected by the church but sometimes Christians have questioned his value. What have Christians been concerned about? How could Aquinas actually aid Christians in interacting with the pagan philosophers? 7
Old Western Culture Year 3: Christendom Unit 3: The Medieval Mind Lesson 2 Aquinas Compendium I reading Read Anselm s Compendium, chapters 1-15 and 72-83. Complete all reading and study questions from reading before watching the lecture. 1. How does Aquinas define faith? (Chapter 2, paragraph 1) 2. What three truths must be known concerning the divinity? (Chapter 2, paragraph 2) 3. According to Aquinas, why is succession not found in God? (Chapter 8, paragraph 1 and 2) 4. Why can t God s essence be other than His existence? (Chapter 11, paragraph 1) 8
5. Why according to Aquinas are some things created more excellent than others? (Chapter 73, paragraph 1 2) Lecture Watch Lecture 2, and then answer the following questions. 6. How did the rediscovery of Aristotle s Logic in the 11 th century give rise to a rebirth of scholastic efforts in all areas of knowledge? 7. Aquinas intended to write his Compendium organized under which three headings? What would each part be about? 9
Old Western Culture Year 3: Christendom Unit 3: The Medieval Mind 8. For Aquinas, what was theology about? What does it mean to really understand a thing? 9. What change to the study of causes did a number of philosophers propose at the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of the Modern Age? 10. If, as Aquinas shows, God is wholly one and not divided into parts, how do we reconcile our talking about Him in terms of different attributes or elements? 10
11. What two aspects of our intellect did Aquinas categorize and examine? Discussion What are some negative effects of post-medieval philosophy which asks us to understand the nature of the world around us apart from God as the Final Cause? 11
Old Western Culture Year 3: Christendom Unit 3: The Medieval Mind Lesson 3 Aquinas Compendium II reading Read Aquinas Compendium, Chapters 103 107, 114 117, 127 130, and 142 150. Remember: Complete all reading and study questions from reading before watching the lecture. 1. What are all actions and movements of every creature and being directed to? What is their end or goal? (Chapter 103, paragraph 1, 2) 2. How does Aquinas define evil? (Chapter 114) 3. With this definition of evil, how does Aquinas say that evil can corrupt good? (Chapter 117, paragraph 1) 4. How does Aquinas explain God governing man s will? And how does Aquinas reconcile this with freedom of choice? (Chapter 129, paragraph 5) 12
5. How does Aquinas explain that God s permission of evil is still consistent with his divine goodness? (Chapter 142, paragraph 1-3) 6. Who does Aquinas say is the only one who can forgive sin? How does he explain this? (Chapter 146, paragraph 1) 13
Old Western Culture Year 3: Christendom Unit 3: The Medieval Mind Lecture Watch Lecture 3, and then answer the following questions. 7. What according to Aquinas is the end (purpose) of the intellectual creature? 8. How does he say that we reach this last end? 9. What is evil not, according to Aquinas? How is God not the author of evil? 10. What three rules did the Medieval Christian church have toward astrology? 14
11. What does Aquinas say is the function of providence? Discussion Question Do you agree with Aquinas definition and explanation of evil? Why or why not? 15
Old Western Culture Year 3: Christendom Unit 3: The Medieval Mind Lesson 4 Aquinas Compendium III reading Read Aquinas Compendium, Chapters. 151 157, 172 184, and 241 246. 1. In discussing the separation of the soul and body in death, and later, the body s resurrection, what does Aquinas say is the soul s natural desire, and why must that desire be fulfilled? (Chapter 151, paragraph 1) 2. What reasons did Aquinas give for only one resurrection of the body? (Chapter 155, paragraph 2) 3. Even though there will be no need for nourishment or reproduction in the resurrection, what did Aquinas believe about the bodily members contributing to those functions? (Chapter 157, paragraph 1) 16
4. What is the definite way of arriving at happiness? Why does Aquinas believe this? (Chapter 172, paragraph 2) 5. Where does Aquinas say that final happiness and misery reside? (Chapter 173, paragraph 1) 6. What, according to Aquinas, is the difference between mortal sins and venial sins? (Chapter 175, paragraph 1) 17
Old Western Culture Year 3: Christendom Unit 3: The Medieval Mind 7. What reason did Aquinas give for all being judged to receive glory or punishment? (Chapter 243, paragraph 9) Lecture Watch Lecture 4, and then answer the following questions. 8. According to Aquinas, what is the role of the body in our pursuit of knowledge? 9. What is the form of the body? 10. How does Aquinas deal with the kind of body we will have in the resurrection? 18
11. What was Aquinas trying to do with his twelve articles on faith? 12. According to Aquinas, how can we become more like God? Discussion Question On a practical level, what does learning and gaining knowledge to become more like God look like? 19
Old Western Culture Year 3: Christendom Unit 3: The Medieval Mind Lesson 5 Introduction to Dante reading No reading for this lesson. lecture Watch Lecture 5, and then answer the following questions. 1. What was the political climate in the Republic of Florence during Dante s time? 2. What did Dante hope would end Florence s strife? Was his hope realized? 3. What was Dante s perspective on civil conflict? How does civil conflict relate to exile? 20
4. What was Dante s conclusion about Beatrice s significance to him? 5. What does Virgil stand for in the narrative? 6. In what rhyme scheme was The Divine Comedy written? 7. Why should we read an epic poem in big chunks? Discussion Question Write a three-stanza (9 lines) poem using terza rima on a topic of your choice. Do you believe using poetry is more effective to communicate your thoughts? Why or why not? 21
Old Western Culture Year 3: Christendom Unit 3: The Medieval Mind Lesson 6 Dante s Inferno I reading Read Cantos 1 17 of Dante s Inferno. 1. Where does Dante find himself at the beginning of the work? (Canto 1, lines 1 2) 2. What three animals does Dante encounter? (Canto 1, lines 32 51) 3. What time was it when he started? (Canto 1, 37 40) 4. What ancient beings are invoked in the beginning of Canto 2 to aid the poet? (Canto 2, lines 7 9) 5. In the inscription over Hell s Gate, who does it say created Hell? What attribute(s) of God does Dante think most motivated Him to create Hell? (Canto 3, lines 4 6) 22
6. Who is the ferryman who steers the boat over Acheron? (Canto 3, Line 94) 7. After crossing the Acheron, where does Dante find himself? (Canto 4, line 45) 8. Who does Dante converse with in Canto 10, starting in line 31? From their interaction, what is striking about their interaction? 9. Why is the seventh circle of hell divided into three rings? (Canto 11, lines 28-33) 10. What main sin does Virgil say is dealt with in the second ring of the seventh circle of Hell? Which violations are being punished here? (Canto 11, lines 52 60) 23
Old Western Culture Year 3: Christendom Unit 3: The Medieval Mind 11. What are three of the more famous names Nessus the Centaur points out to Dante in the river of boiling blood? (Canto 12, lines 106 136) 12. Why does Virgil ask for the cord Dante used as a belt? (Canto 16, lines 106 136) Lecture Watch Lecture 6, and then answer the following questions. 13. Why must Dante go through all of Space (Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven)? 14. What three ladies from Heaven send Virgil to Dante s aid? 15. What four unexpected things are responsible for Hell? 16. Who truly rules Hell? 24
17. What is Virgil s response when Dante asks if anyone had ever escaped Hell? 18. Why are the thieves in Hell punished by their bodies blending together? Discussion Questions Think of a well-known leader, such as the president or leader of your country. Where might that person belong in Dante s cosmology? Does he or she belong in Hell, Purgatory, or Heaven, and why? Compare notes with a classmate. Did you place the chosen leader in the same place? Discuss any difference in conclusions. 25
Old Western Culture Year 3: Christendom Unit 3: The Medieval Mind Lesson 7 Dante s Inferno II reading Read Cantos 18 34 of Dante s Inferno. 1. What punishment is given to the Simoniacs in the Third Bolgia in Canto 19, lines 1 30? 2. How does Dante respond to Pope Nicholas III? (Canto 19, lines 100 117) 3. What punishment causes Dante to be overcome with grief and compassion in Canto 20, lines 10 25? Why? 4. Why must Dante hide behind a rock in Canto 21? What does Virgil say that causes Malacoda to give way? (Canto 21, lines 58 85) 26
5. What action at the end of Canto 22 and the beginning of Canto 23 angers the demons and sets them after Virgil and Dante? (Canto 22 lines 100 133, Canto 23 lines 19 24) 6. What odd punishment does Dante watch in Canto 25, lines 49 79? 7. What famous man is found in the Ninth Bolgia, with the Sowers of Scandal and Schism? How is he being punished? (Canto 28, lines 30 45) 8. Who are the three greatest sinners? Who did they betray, and what is their punishment? (Canto 34, lines 61 69) 9. What is the final word of the Inferno? (Canto 34, line 139) Lecture Watch Lecture 7, and then answer the following questions. 10. What is different about the punishment in Limbo? What is its significance? 27
Old Western Culture Year 3: Christendom Unit 3: The Medieval Mind 11. As what shape did Dante portray Hell? 12. What is Geryon s significance? 13. What does Virgil mean when he says, Here pity or here piety must die? 14. What mountain did Ulysses and his crew find? What sin is Ulysses punished for, and why? 28
15. What is unique about Brutus and Cassius being two of the greatest traitors, and how does this relate to Dante s political philosophy? 16. What is different about the sins punished in the ice? What does the ice represent? Discussion Question What should be our attitude towards those in Hell? 29
Old Western Culture Year 3: Christendom Unit 3: The Medieval Mind Lesson 8 Dante s Purgatorio I reading Read Cantos 1 17 of Dante s Purgatorio. 1. Who does Dante talk to about the excommunicated souls? Why is he in Purgatory? (Canto 3, lines 112-140) 2. What three souls does Dante talk to among the Late Repentant in Canto 5, lines 64 136? 3. What is the last request of the Proud in their paraphrase of the Lord s Prayer? (Canto 11, lines 22 24) 4. What are the three examples of generosity that the voice calls out in the terrace where Envy is punished? Who are the examples by? (Canto 13, lines 28 44) 30
5. What does Virgil say are the three kinds of ill love in Canto 17, lines 112 126? Lecture Watch Lecture 8, and then answer the following questions. 6. From Dante s perspective, what is Purgatory? What separates the torments of Purgatory from those of Hell? 7. What kind of sinners are in Dante s Purgatory? 8. What is the main difference between Purgatory and Hell? 31
Old Western Culture Year 3: Christendom Unit 3: The Medieval Mind 9. What is the significance of Cato a pagan being at the base of Purgatory? 10. What do the three steps to the gate of Purgatory represent? 11. What do the seven Ps stand for that the angel inscribes on Dante s forehead? 12. What does the angel say concerning the keys Peter gave him? 13. What is the significance of the punishment of the prideful? Discussion Questions Is Purgatory a picture of sanctification? If so, in what way? 32
Lesson 9 Dante s Purgatorio II reading Read Cantos 17 33 of Dante s Purgatorio. 1. What dream does Dante have in Canto 19, lines 4 33? 2. What causes the mountain to tremble in Canto 21, lines 67 72? Who did Statius long to meet on earth? (lines 100 02) 3. How did Forese Donati advance so high up on the mountain, though he was a late repentant and had been dead only five years? (Canto 23, lines 75 93) 33
Old Western Culture Year 3: Christendom Unit 3: The Medieval Mind 4. What is the punishment for Lust in Canto 25, lines 121 126? 5. What does Virgil do at the end of Canto 27, lines 127 142? 6. What does Beatrice say in Dante s hearing when they reunite in Canto 30, lines 136 145? What is Dante s response in Canto 31, lines 34 36? 7. In Canto 33, lines 127 145, what river does Beatrice instruct Matilda to finally lead Dante to drink from, and what does it do? 8. What is the last word of the Purgatorio? (Canto 33, line 145) 34
Lecture Watch Lecture 9, and then answer the following questions. 9. In Canto 15, what example does Virgil give to show that love increases with the more people participating in it? 10. What did Lewis say concerning magic and astrology? 11. What problem arose in Dante s day, and how did he treat it in his Comedy? 12. What does Virgil say drives all human behavior? 35
Old Western Culture Year 3: Christendom Unit 3: The Medieval Mind 13. What does Dante say causes a person to be released from Purgatory? 14. What was Dante s point when he suggested that facial bones indicate Homo and Dei? 15. What is the allegorical pageant towards the end of the book? What might the pageant be a depiction of? Discussion Question What do you think of the Medieval understanding of the stars and planets influencing mankind? Is there anything today that we say influences us that we might be tempted to blame when things go wrong? 36
Lesson 10 Dante s Paradiso I reading Read Cantos 1 17 of Dante s Paradiso. 1. How does Beatrice help Dante acclimatize to the strong light of the sun? (Canto 1, lines 46 54) 2. What does Piccarda tell Dante when he asks why the blessed souls do not wish to be in a higher sphere? (Canto 3, lines 64 78) 3. Who does Dante meet in the Sphere of Mercury? (Canto 6, lines 10 12) 4. What question does Dante want to ask Beatrice soon after this exchange, and what answer does she give? (Canto 7, lines 19-21; 112 120) 37
Old Western Culture Year 3: Christendom Unit 3: The Medieval Mind 5. Who does Folco introduce to Dante as having the highest rank in Venus? (Canto 9, lines 115 120) 6. What is Solomon s response to Beatrice s request that the spirits tell Dante whether their light will remain forever? (Canto 14, lines 34 60) 7. What encouragement does Cacciaguida give Dante at the end of his prophecy regarding Dante s hardships to come? (Canto 17, lines 97-99) Lecture Watch Lecture 10, and then answer the following questions. 8. What Muse does Dante invoke? Why does he use this image? 9. What does Dante hear as he stands on the top of Mount Purgatory and looks at Beatrice? 38
10. How does Beatrice explain their flight from Earth to the heavens? 11. How do Medieval authors explain our inability to hear the music of the spheres? What other thing has dulled us? 12. Why did Dante pause and tell the reader to keep reading only if they re in search of truth? 13. What is the relation between Mercury s composition and man? 39
Old Western Culture Year 3: Christendom Unit 3: The Medieval Mind 14. What does Dante ask Beatrice about the Jews, and what is Beatrice s response? Discussion Question Can you name other instances in western literature where a Muse is invoked? What is the purpose of invoking a Muse? 40
Lesson 11 Dante s Paradiso II reading Read Cantos 18 33 of Dante s Paradiso. 1. Who are three of the more famous souls Cacciaguida introduces to Dante in the Sphere of Mars? (Canto 18, lines 37 47) 2. What question does Dante ask the Eagle, and what is the Eagle s response? (Canto 19, lines 70 78; 103 111) 3. Why does Beatrice not smile in Canto 21, lines 1 12? 4. What is Beatrice s request to the spirits on behalf of Dante? (Canto 24, lines 1 9) 41
Old Western Culture Year 3: Christendom Unit 3: The Medieval Mind 5. What reason does St. James give Dante for his examination on hope? (Canto 25, lines 40 48) 6. What does Dante tell us about the Ninth Heaven, the Primum Mobile? (Canto 27, lines 106 120) 7. What is the last word of the Paradiso? (Canto 33, line 145) Lecture Watch Lecture 11, and then answer the following questions. 8. What influence did Medievals say the planets have in the lives of the people who were born under them? 42
9. What is the first thing Dante and Beatrice see on Mars, the planet of war? Why? 10. Name three famous theologians Dante finds in the sphere of the Sun. 11. What three questions are posed to Dante, and by whom? 12. How does Dante answer these three questions? 13. What does Dante see as he looks at the infinitesimal point of light? Discussion Question In light of the Medieval view of the cosmos, why might Dante be directing our attention to the stars at the end of each book? 43
Old Western Culture Year 3: Christendom Unit 3: The Medieval Mind Lesson 12 The Medieval Mind Conclusion reading No Reading for this lecture. lecture Watch Lecture 12, and then answer the following questions. 1. What ideas do we inherit from the Scholastic mindset? 2. How does this concept carry into modern Western Culture? 3. What are the liberal arts useful for? 44
4. How is the cultural rejection of God affecting education? Discussion Question Is classical Christian education as we know it today doing the job of reclaiming what we ve lost from old Western Culture? 45
Old Western Culture Year 3: Christendom Unit 3: The Medieval Mind Answer Key 46
Lesson 1 Introduction to The Medieval Mind 1. Aquinas was the greatest theologian, while Dante was the greatest poet. But their greatness extends far past the Middle Ages. Aquinas is a master theologian in all of history, and Dante a master poet. Aquinas in his theology and philosophy and Dante in his poetry cover much more than their material treats of in itself, rather they manage to sum up all of thought. 2. Aquinas lived in the 1200s and Dante lived in the 1300s. This was the time of the High Middle Ages (1100-1300). 3. Aquinas joined the ranks of the Dominican monks. His family took him to their castle and imprisoned him for a year to try and keep him from joining them. 4. Aquinas says it was something for beginners to prepare themselves for college. This work was meant for freshmen to have read through to prepare them for classes with Aquinas. 5. In all these works, Aquinas so massively influenced the Roman Catholic Church that to this day, he is considered the official doctor of the church. To be fully versed in Roman Catholic doctrine you must understand Aquinas. Lesson 2 Aquinas Compendium I 1. Aquinas defines faith this way: Faith is a certain foretaste of that knowledge which is to make us happy in the world to come. 2. The three truths to be known concerning the divinity are first, the unity of the divine essence, second, the Trinity of persons, and third, the effects wrought by the divinity. 3. Aquinas says that God is not subject to motion, and is whole and unchangeable. Therefore he cannot have something succeed or move away from him, basically losing a part of himself. 4. When we talk about a being existing, we say that it is. When we talk about a being s essence, we talk about what it is. Aquinas says that there is no composition in God, that the ultimate act in Him is existence itself. To Aquinas this proves that God s very existing is his essence. 5. Aquinas says God communicates a likeness of His goodness through created things, guiding them towards goodness. Aquinas adds that it was necessary for some things to be made better than others, and for some to act upon others, to lead them to perfection. 6. Logic is a tool by which we can organize our knowledge, and learn to think validly which equips us to understand and grapple with everything in the world around us. 7. He had intended to write his book organized under the three headings: faith, hope, and love, the three Christian virtues. The part about faith would be about belief and doctrine. Hope would be about the goal we strive toward in our Christian life. The third part, love, would be about how we strive toward it. 8. Theology for Aquinas is about looking at the nature of things, primarily in the light of their causes. For Aquinas, to really understand a thing is to study its cause or causes. The ultimate cause of everything is God. 9. A number of philosophers suggested that we should study and understand nature apart from their final causes. This new wave of philosophy said that final causes is an aspect of metaphysics that doesn t really matter. This was the beginning of a radical change in the thinking of Western culture. 10. When we talk about the character or the attributes of God, we do it from a human perspective; we don t know how to do it another 47
Old Western Culture Year 3: Christendom Unit 3: The Medieval Mind way. We talk as if they are distinct attributes or characteristics, but this is us trying to think about an infinitely different being. 11. According to Aquinas, we have a passive intellect that receives and holds knowledge, and another aspect of the intellect (active intellect) takes those forms of the world around us and reduces them to a universal (what Aquinas calls the intelligible species), so that the passive intellect can receive that information. Lesson 3 Aquinas Compendium II 1. All actions and movements of every creature are directed to the divine goodness as their end. 2. Aquinas says that evil is the privation of perfect being; a thing is called evil if it lacks a perfection it ought to have. 3. Aquinas says that knowing... evil is the privation of a due perfection, we can easily understand how evil corrupts good; this it does to the extent that is is the privation of good. 4. Aquinas says that natural things have tendencies inherent in their nature, and that will is a thing inherent in God that resides in man. ( the act of the will is from God alone, for He alone is the cause of a rational nature endowed with will. ) In this way Aquinas reconciles God moving a man s will, with freedom of choice. He says Therefore, if God moves man s will, this is evidently not opposed to freedom of choice, just as God s activity in natural things is not contrary to their nature. 5. Aquinas explains that without evil, certain things would not be governed by divine providence in accord with their nature; basically that smaller evils in good things are preferable in God s design to the greater evil of not being ultimately perfected by Him. He says if evil were completely excluded from things, much good would be rendered impossible. Consequently it is the concern of divine providence, not to safeguard all beings from evil, but to see to it that the evil which arises is ordained to some good. Aquinas basically says that God s purposes are all toward more good, and his permission of evil is only as it lends itself towards His desire for more and greater good. 6. Aquinas says that God alone can forgive sin. He explains this when he says for only the one against whom an offense is directed can forgive the offense. 7. The end of the intellectual creature to be achieved by its activity is the complete actuation of its simple act, by all of the intelligibles for which it has a potency, in this respect will become most like to God. Simply stated, Aquinas says the intellectual creature grows closer to the likeness of God by understanding and knowing more. And that is the end or goal of the intellectual creature. 8. Aquinas says our natural desire for knowledge cannot come to rest within us until we know the first cause in its essence God. Aquinas argues that the ultimate end of an intellectual creature is the vision of God in His essence. 9. Evil is not a thing, a substance, or a nature. It is the bend, the twist, or the kink in originally good things. When God created the universe, He created all things good. If evil were a nature or substance, than God would have had to create that but God is not the creator of evil. 10. The Medieval Christian church had three rules toward astrology: one, you may not worship the stars; only God should be worshipped. Two, you may not try to predict the future; that s God s province. And three, you may not blame your actions on the stars. 11. Aquinas says the function of providence is not to destroy, but to save the nature of the beings governed. 48
Lesson 4 Aquinas Compendium III 1. Aquinas says The soul s natural condition is to be united to the body, and so it has a natural desire for union with the body. The will cannot be perfectly at rest until the soul is again joined to the body. When this takes place, man rises from the dead. 2. If risen men were to die again, the soul would be separated again this is against the nature of the soul, so the soul would eventually rejoin the body and the body would have to rise again. The cycle would repeat infinitely, which Aquinas says is futile. 3. Aquinas believed that although risen men will not occupy themselves with activities of this sort, they will not lack the organs requisite for such functions. 4. The practice of virtue is the definite way of arriving at happiness. Aquinas says that nothing will reach its end unless it performs well the operations proper to it...to say that a man discharges his proper office is equivalent to saying that he acts virtuously; for the virtue of any being is that which makes its possessor good and also his work good... 5. Aquinas says that final happiness and misery can not be found in this life, because everything in this life is a means to an ultimate end. Even painful circumstances can be an agent of good toward a man who receives it well, and even a good circumstance can be an agent of evil to a man who uses it poorly. So ending in happiness or ending in misery can only be seen after this life ends. Everything in this life only leads along the way to one or the other ending. 6. Aquinas says that mortal sins are committed by turning away from our last end, and are not forgiven in the next world, but venial sins do not regard our last end, and are forgiven. 7. Aquinas used biblical references including 2 Corinthians 5:10: That everyone may receive the proper things of the body, according as he hath done, whether it be good or evil. 8. Aquinas says we are able to know by having bodies. Our material selves are part of our being a knower we re not just thinkers living in our heads, but we are knowers because we have bodies as well. 9. Aquinas says that the soul is the form of the body. The body is the matter, but the soul is the form. For eternal happiness, the soul requires the body of which it is the form. 10. Aquinas says the soul will remain perpetually in whatever last end it was found to have set for itself at the time of death. At the moment of death the soul is fixed in what state it was, and the body will accommodate itself to that. 11. Aquinas was trying to show that the discussion on faith can be dealt with systematically and in an organized fashion; he was trying to show that everything we wish to say about the Incarnation, the Trinity, the Son, and the Creation, Fall, and Redemption of man can be included under a certain number of heads for the pursuit of learning. 12. Learning, fulfilling our capacity to know, is part of how we become more like God. That s to be united with the pursuit of the hope of the Christian faith, and charity love for man, but knowledge is how we can think clearly about God and man. Lesson 5 Introduction to Dante 1. Florence was a Republic in Dante s time, but a much divided republic with many factions including the Guelphs and the Ghibellines who differed from each other but were also much divided within themselves. 49
Old Western Culture Year 3: Christendom Unit 3: The Medieval Mind 2. Dante heard that Henry of Luxembourg was marching toward Italy, and so Dante hoped that the Holy Roman Emperor would come and put an end to the strife. Unfortunately, Henry died in Northern Italy and never made it there. 3. Dante considered civil conflict a terrible evil because civil conflict occurs when a community or body that should be one is divided against itself. He considered exile to be a terrible state for similar reasons, for to be exiled from one s city is like being cut off from one s community and body and that community and body is harming itself by exiling one of its members. 4. For Dante, the beauty of Beatrice was something sent by God to remind him of the greater beauty, or source of beauty in the world. Beatrice s beauty was meant to stir up something in Dante to go beyond Beatrice. She was a signpost pointing to God. 5. Since it is fitting that sin receive appropriate compensation, if God failed to punish sin, He would not be fulfilling His responsibility. But irresponsibility is not fitting to God. Unpunished sin would also make the guilty equal to the innocent, and injustice equal to justice, neither of which is becoming to God. Therefore, since God must act consistently with His character, He must punish sin. 6. He wrote it in terza rima, where each stanza is composed of three lines. The first and third lines rhyme with each other, while the middle is different. 7. We should read it fairly quickly and in big chunks so we can get the sweep and feel of the whole poem at once. We need to take in the feel of the poem as a whole before focusing on the details. Lesson 6 Dante s Inferno I 1. Dante finds himself in a dark wood. 2. Dante encounters a leopard (panther with spotted skin), a lion, and a she-wolf. 3. The time was the beginning of the morning, / and up the sun was mounting with those stars / that with him were at the creation of the world. 4. The Muses are called upon to assist the poet in recounting the events he underwent. 5. The inscription says that God (the one who possesses divine Omnipotence, highest Wisdom, and Primal love) created Hell. And Dante says that Justice incited him to build it. But by describing God as divine Omnipotence, highest Wisdom, and Primal love, Dante reminds his readers that God did not abandon his perpetual Omnipotence, Wisdom, and Love, when He made Hell. 6. Charon is the ferryman. 7. Dante finds himself in Limbo, the place where are they that sinned not; and if they merit had, Tis not enough because they had not baptism Which is the portal of the Faith thou holdest; were residing. Dante placed noble pagans and those who had faith before Christ and had not therefore heard the Gospel or been baptized into this place just at the beginning of the descent into hell. 8. Farinata degli Uberti. He was a fellow Florentine with Dante, which is striking because of the coldness of their conversation. It becomes apparent that they were members of warring factions in Florence. (lines 46 47) 9. The seventh circle of hell contains the violent, but because it is possible to be violent against God, against ourselves, and against our neighbor, the seventh circle is divided into three 50
rings one for each of those subcategories of violence. 10. Fraud is dealt with in the second ring. Hypocrisy, flattery, and who deals in magic, / Falsification, theft, and simony, / Panders, and barrators, and the like-filth. 11. Nessu points out among others Alexander the Great, Dionysius, Attila the Hun, Pyrrhus, and Sextus Tarquinius. 12. Virgil casts one end of the rope into a ravine of water to summon the monster Geryon. 13. Because Dante is lost, he must regain his perspective and understanding of the universe and himself in relation to God. In order to do that, he must see the consequences of sins in Hell, the consequences of repentance in Purgatory, and the consequences of union with God in Heaven. 14. Beatrice, St. Mary, and St. Lucy looked down and saw that Dante was lost and sent Virgil to guide him. 15. Justice, wisdom, power, and love are responsible for Hell. 16. God is the King of Hell the prisoners do not rule the prison, but the warden does. Satan is the lowest inmate, not a king. God does not abandon Hell to be ruled by Satan. 17. Virgil answers that when he hadn t been there long, One came crowned in majesty and took with him all of the people from the Old Testament. Before that time, none had ever escaped. 18. The thieves in Hell have their bodies blended together due to the medieval concept of ownership and property property was seen as an extension of oneself, so if one steals another s property, it s a personal attack. The thieves refused to see this boundary between mine and yours, so they find themselves melt together and lose their identity. Lesson 7 Dante s Inferno II 1. They are set, heads down, into holes in the rock, with their legs and feet sticking out, set on fire. 2. Dante is pitiless towards him, saying that he is an idolater whose god is gold and silver. 3. Dante sees that the diviners, astrologers, magicians and the like have their heads turned backward and is moved to tears by the distortion of the human form. 4. Virgil instructs Dante to hide behind a rock while he negotiates their passage with the Malebranche demons. Virgil says that he has come equipped with the will of God and helpful fate, and that it is the will of Heaven to show this wild way to another. 5. A soul escapes the Malabranche demons and dives into a pit of pitch. The demons who try to go after it became stuck, and so they pursue Virgil and Dante. 6. Dante watches as a serpent is wrapped so tightly around a soul that they slowly reverse their forms. 7. Mohammed and the others are torn apart by a demon with a sword to punish them for their sins of division. 8. Judas Iscariot betrayed Christ, and Brutus and Cassius murdered Julius Caesar. They are lodged in the mouths of Lucifer, who chews them infinitely. 9. The final word of the Inferno is stars. 10. In Limbo there is no punishment; just eternal loss. The people there are the old pagans who never knew Christ and had only their conscience to follow. 11. He portrayed Hell as an inverted cone, with the narrow bottom of the cone at the center of the earth, and the top of the cone is under 51
Old Western Culture Year 3: Christendom Unit 3: The Medieval Mind Jerusalem. The rings slowly descend toward the center of Hell. 12. Dante and Virgil encounter a part of Hell they can t cross on their own, so they summon Geryon a winged mythical creature with a man s face and front, but the back of his body is like a serpent s. He is an image of fraud a fair face, but a foul behind. 13. Virgil rebukes Dante for feeling pity for people suffering in hell there is no repentance, their punishment is fixed, and now to feel pity for them is to feel regret for the punishment God Himself has given them. It is to feel sorry for what God has done. 14. Ulysses and his men found Mount Purgatory, and were caught and sucked into the sea. He was punished for the trick of the Trojan Horse even though it was a legitimate strategy in war. Dante placed Ulysses in Hell because culturally he is an Italian, a descendant of the Romans, and therefore anyone who had tricked the Romans was an enemy. Dante puts Ulysses where his culture would expect him to be. 15. Brutus and Cassius betrayed the monarch Julius Caesar. Julius Caesar imposed a peace on a dysfunctional empire, and Dante as a monarchist finds this idea of Julius Caesar attractive, and the idea of a traitor killing such a leader deserving of condemnation. 16. The sins punished in the fire above are sins that don t involve rejecting other people- they involve misusing others, but not rejecting. The ones punished in the ice involve rejecting the other and another human being, made in the image of God, stands for God. When you reject another, you reject God. The ice represents the coldness of heart in betraying others. Lesson 8 Dante s Purgatorio I 1. Dante meets Manfred, the grandson of the Empress Constance. He is in Purgatory because he was excommunicated by the church, but repented right before he died and now must wait on Purgatory for thirty times the span he spent in sin. 2. Dante listens to Jacopo del Cassero, Buonconte da Montefeltro, and Pia de Tolomei. 3. The Proud pray a paraphrase of deliver us from evil : This last petition verily, dear Lord, / Not for ourselves is made, who need it not, / But for their sake who have remained behind us. 4. Vinum non habent (they have no wine), the first called, an example from the Virgin Mary. I am Orestes, from Orestes, and Love those from whom you have had evil, from Jesus Christ. 5. The first ill love is that which wishes to succeed by his neighbor s failure; the second is that which fears his own loss of power, grace, honour, and renown when his neighbor rises in it, so loves instead when his neighbor declines in those traits; the third is that which resents an injury received and seeks revenge. 6. Purgatory, according to Dante, is the place where not the penalty, but the stain of sin is purged in the after-life. The difference is that those in Purgatory know they are going to Heaven and have some sort of community and are singing praises and hymns. 7. The sinners are those who are redeemed, who have died in faith and grace, but were not sufficiently repentant or devoted in life; so here, they are disciplining themselves in ways they should have done earlier. 52
8. The torments are similar in Purgatory and Hell the attitude of the sinners in each is the main difference. 9. Dante placed him there as a representative of human reason and common grace. 10. They represent the Medieval Catholic steps of repentance: confession, contrition, and satisfaction. 11. The Ps stand for the word peccatum the Latin word for sin. Each time Dante reaches a new stage, an angel appears and erases one of the Ps signifying that he has dealt with that sin adequately. 12. He says Peter bade him rather to err in opening the gates too often rather than keeping them shut. 13. They are loaded with great stones to bend their backs and necks. They are being assisted by the weight to show a posture of humility. Lesson 9 Dante s Purgatorio II 1. He is first confronted with an ugly woman, who changes into a very desirable woman she says that she is the siren who leads aside sailors from their journeys, when another woman with a saintly appearance comes. The saintly Lady tears the Siren s garments and showed what was in her stomach, and a great stench coming out of it woke Dante. 2. The mountain trembles when a soul is ready to move upward. Statius longed to live on earth at the same time as Virgil. Virgil at first did not allow Dante to give away the secret of his identity to Statius, but Dante inadvertently hints that something is afoot. So Virgil gives him permission to tell his name. 3. The prayers of his widow Nella guided him up the mountain. 4. The Lustful must walk in a wall of fire while singing hymns. 5. Virgil crowns Dante master of himself, saying that he has grown past the place where Virgil s powers can see, and instructs him to follow his will. 6. She says how much potential he had in his soul for growth, and that she tried to keep his eyes directed to the good. When he turned to false things his heart grew toward evil things so readily, that it was only through Beatrice s tearful pleas to Virgil that he could be led through Hell and Purgatory to finally learn the truth. Dante weeps and is repentant for being distracted by falsity. 7. Matilda leads Dante to drink from Eunoe- -the Eunoe river leads men to reawaken to virtue. 8. The last word of the Purgatorio is stars. 9. Virgil states that love is like a mirror if you light a candle in a room, it can only shed so much light. But if you position multiple mirrors around the candle, the light will be reflected far more. 10. Magic is the belief that man can control nature by certain tricks. Astrology is the belief that nature controls the man against our will. Lewis says that magic and astrology are opposed to each other. 11. The rise of astrology was a problem during Dante s time, so he had Virgil state that the stars though an influence on men cannot be determiners of fate. 12. All human behavior is driven by love even vice or wickedness is driven by some kind of misdirected love. (Expanding on this answer encouraged). 13. In Dante s theology, a person is free from Purgatory when he himself knows himself to be free. God is not forcing a person to remain 53
Old Western Culture Year 3: Christendom Unit 3: The Medieval Mind longer there; the heart clinging to one last love of old things is what causes it to stay. As soon as the heart is wholly devoted to God without any taint of clinging to old things, when the soul knows it is free, it springs automatically to Paradise. 14. Homo Dei means Man is of God it is literally written on the bones of his face. 15. At first the chariot in which he is riding contains a griffin, and the chariot is hitched to a tree various allegorical symbols which represent the history of the church, of mankind up until the Incarnation. In the second pageant, they see the history from Christ s day until now the troubles, the temporal governments, and so forth. This pageant is the depiction of how historical Christianity has interpreted the book of Revelation. Lesson 10 Dante s Paradiso I 1. She stares at the sun on his behalf, and he then looks into the sun s reflection in her eyes and follows the beam of light back to the sun itself and is able to look at it for longer than human eyes usually can bear. 2. Piccarda says Brother, our will is quieted by virtue / Of charity, that makes us wish alone / For what we have, nor gives us thirst for more. 3. Justinian, who was Caesar, known for reforming the Roman laws. 4. Beatrice guesses that Dante is wondering how just vengeance can deserve just punishment. She explains that man cannot humble himself low enough to compensate for the height of pride he reaches in sin so he cannot satisfy justice for himself. And all the other modes were insufficient / For justice, were it not the Son of God / Himself had humbled to become incarnate. 5. He introduces Rahab, the prostitute, who died before Christ s birth and so went to hell, but was the first to be taken up when Christ triumphed. 6. He explains how the light which they emit will remain as long as the festivity of Paradise shall be. 7. Cacciaguida says, Yet would I not thy neighbours thou shouldst envy, / Because thy life into the future reaches / Beyond the punishment of their perfidies. 8. He uses Apollo as an image of the Muse of song and poetry and calls on him as a literary device like old pagan poetry. 9. He begins to hear the music of the spheres all around him. 10. Everything tends toward its natural end, and Dante s natural end is God. He is moving in a direction that is natural to him, toward God. 11. Medieval authors explain our inability to hear the music of the spheres in a couple different ways. Some suggest that men have lived with the music of the spheres so long that we have grown used to it and do not notice it anymore. Others suggest that sin has dulled us so that we do not notice it. 12. He does so because he does not want to the reader reading just for the great poetry; but if you re ready to find and embrace the truth, he urges the reader to read on. It is a reference to the verse in Scripture that says do not hear the truth and harden your heart. 13. Mercury, according to the Medieval conception of the heavens, has the influence over people who were born under it it contributes flashiness, quick-wittedness, eloquence, etcetera. A person s temperament who is born under Mercury is mercurial. 14. He asks about the destruction of the Jews at the hands of the temporal government of the 54
Romans. Beatrice responds that it was a just punishment on the Jews for killing Christ. Lesson 11 Dante s Paradiso II 1. Joshua, Maccabeus, and Charlemagne. 2. Dante wonders, if a man is born without a way of hearing of Christ, and he does all the good he can, but dies without faith and baptism, where is the justice in condemning him? The Eagle responds The primal will, that in itself is good, / Ne er from itself, the Good Supreme, has moved. / So much is just as is accordant with it;...unto this kingdom never / Ascended one who had not faith in Christ, / Before or since he to the tree was nailed. The Eagle says that because it is in accord with that which is perfectly just (the will of God), therefore it must be just, even if we do not understand it. 3. Dante and Beatrice have ascended so high that were she to smile, Dante would be turned to ashes. 4. She asks that those who have been chosen for the Blessed Lamb s supper might give Dante a foretaste of the supper. 5. James states that because our Emperor, out of His grace, willed that Dante would face His nobles before his death, he must be able to tell what hope is, how it blossomed in his mind, and from what source it came to him. 6. This central heaven is in the mind of God which kindles the love that turns the universe, and pours movement outward so that the rest of universe moves around it. 7. The last word of the Paradiso is stars. 8. According to the Medievals, people who are born under that planet s influence on earth have different qualities: the moon produces inconstancy, Mercury produces quick-wit and eloquence and a flashy personality, Venus produces affection and love, the Sun produces wisdom and contemplation, Mars produces aggressiveness, Jupiter produces the kingly temperament, Saturn produces the introspective temperament. 9. The first thing Dante and Beatrice see on Mars is a cross. A cross signified to Dante the wars fought for souls of men. 10. Dante encounters Nathan the Prophet, John Chrysostom, and Anselm. 11. Peter asks, What is faith? James asks, What is hope? and John asks, What is love? 12. Dante answers the first question from Hebrews 11: Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the argument of things invisible. He answers James by saying, Hope is certainty of bliss to come. Dante answers John by saying that love is that power which his soul is joined to which moves toward God. 13. He thinks he sees three spheres because God is triune. And in one of these spheres he sees the human image of the Son. Lesson 12 The Medieval Mind Conclusion 1. Scholasticism was an attempt to organize and gather together into a systematic and coherent whole all of human knowledge, using logic and rhetoric. The Christians in that age pursued these goals because, as they pointed out, God is the creator of all things and all things are connected by being created by Him. 2. The educational systems we have are descendents of the Medieval concept of systematic and coherent learning. The Medieval universities gave rise to modern universities they are places where knowledge is gathered under one head.
3. The liberal arts are those arts of thinking, knowledge, and of learning that help us to see the world in a coherent, organized way. 4. As our culture rejects God, it disregards the source, origin, central thing, the thing that combines all things and causes them to cohere. We are no longer as a culture able to point out what coheres or ties all things together.