Allows Expounding on Ancient Greek Ideas
Introduction
Historically, from the time of Jesus’ crucifixion and the founding of Christianity, the treatment of Christians depended on who ruled Rome. The long-term significance of the Edict of Milan’s in 313 (Rosenwein 1) authoritarian pronouncement gave the right for Christians worshiping and conducting their faith in God on their own terms without fear of disquieting treatment and more importantly without persecution. This scholastic undertaking discusses how the Edict of Milan ensuring the safety of believers during the evolution of the first Christian church resulting in emerging theological ideas aligned to the human condition. In doing so, thus, creating philosophical texts still studied in the 21st century. This discourse picks up from the “Edict” to “Patristic Thought” in Augustine’s “The City of God” (Rosenwein 14) in the 12th century - the greatest logician of the Middle Ages and the equally important Thomas Aquinas and scholasticism with his publication of “Summa Theologiae” (Rosenwein 429) as the world’s first nominalist philosopher.
About the Edict of Milan (313)
Incorrectly called the “Edict of Milan,” this documented between Constantine and Licinius remains available in the 21st century because of the rescript ordered by Licinius. Sent by Licinius to the prefect of Nicomedia, it arrived in Greek translation of the original Latin fount in the Ecclesiastical History written by Eusebius. The edict not only affected Christians but granted tolerance to other religious followers announcing all previous measures against Christians no longer proved valid (Rosenwein 3).
According to this edict, the Christians and people of other religions had full freedom to follow whatever religion they choose. Other conditions of this law further ordered previously confiscated private buildings belonging to Christians as well as churches restored without question (Rosenwein 3-4). The significance of the many sects of Christians existing at the time now having this freedom set in motion the formulation of the Roman Catholic Church as the first Christian church creating a power that grew to dictate rules over rulers throughout portions of the Middle Ages.
In doing so, the ideas based on canon laws coming from the popes ruling over the Church and its followers shaped the medieval mind of the great thinkers this academic project discusses further. The perspectives of the common human of both genders existing during the Medieval Ages remain absent from both Augustine and Aquinas’ texts. Clearly, the discourse about the two texts presented after this discussion of the “Edict” prove contributing examples of a new distinction credited to the Medieval civilization distinct from the ancient period that preceded them and early modern period that followed because of the nature of man in relation to monotheism now underpins Western Civilization.
Further, the “Edict of Milan as a critical milestone, marking the broader acceptance of the numerous religions existing at the time, but in particular Christianity, looks at how this change in attitude among this era changing it from a clandestine religion juxtaposed into the everyday life of Romans makes a good argument. This argument centers on how Rome establishing freedom of religion proved a lasting influence as a model for the American founders creating the Constitution of the United States and the nation’s acceptance and/or tolerance of religions.
Augustine “The City of God”
In this work by Augustine, he takes on the question of evil existing because humans have free will as a sacred gift God gives humans – a true sense of freedom. While Augustine provides how humans have no understanding of God’s mind and what might seem evil to people is not in reality evil. It is this sense of free will in connection to the influence on the philosophical underpinnings of the Bill of Rights and the Constitution of the United States provides the philosophical framework and the responsibility of humans in creating a better society use free will to reason what makes a better society (Rosenwein 14.
With the Divine Laws of God, guiding the moral and ethics of humanity according to Augustine’s “The City” humanity exists in the temporal plane placed here as a journey toward the eternal plane of Heaven. Due to the fact, this work emerges as a direct reaction to the sack of Rome by the Visigoths in 410 reveals the intention of the message relates to a traumatic historical event and gives a fundamental validity to Augustine’s point of view. This explanation of the historical event linked with theological philosophy brings about a better definition of secular purpose aligned to the temporal evils created by humanity through war. “For God’s providence constantly uses war to correct and chasten the corrupt morals of mankind, as it also uses such afflictions to train men in a righteous and laudable way of life ” (15). Fittingly, this influence on Western Christianity as explained by Rosenwein until well into the 12th century provides the example of the mindset of medieval humanity in the treatment of one another and thoughts about war and other ideals about freedom. This led to further evolution of philosophical explanations of the human experience. In part, this shows with the ensuing discussion of the work of Aquinas.
Aquinas’ “Summa Contra Gentiles”
Aquinas as a medieval scholar based his philosophy on the foundations of Aristotle as well. His “Summa against the Gentiles” intended use went to Christian missionaries in their endeavor to convert Muslims. Although Aquinas lived as a Dominican, his “Summa ” nonetheless philosophized his arguments involving “theological ideas that could be set forth through philosophy alone without the aid of biblical revelation” (Rosenwein 429). The significance of this links with the nature of humans as the creation of the Creator further connects to “the purpose of all creation, including human actions, institutions, and governments, is God” (Rosenwein 429).
The influence of the evolving mind of the medieval intellectuals such as Aquinas employing philosophy attempting provide a rational clarification reveal acquired knowledge, or the context of faith as a Christian. Without using theological text as already stated, and therefore, framing the “Summa” on philosophical precepts shows how Aquinas takes the Aristotle dictum that it remains the nature of humans desiring knowledge. This shows Aquinas holding how humans’ true goal and happiness is gaining the knowledge of the vision of God and the purpose in this vision of everything God makes, including the purpose of humanity in relation to God. In the Rosenwein text, the Chapter 122 she provides shows Aquinas discussing the naturalness of matrimony and the sin of fornication according to Divine Law (429). Thus understanding Divine Law provides the knowledge of the vision of God. This as an example provides further scholastic discourse of Divine Law – human understanding of it from a philosophical manner in the pursuit of happiness as defined by the intention of Divine Law and humanity’s pursuit of the natural happiness connected to freedom and equality among the species.
Again, this very idea provides the seeds of the Age of Enlightenment considerations of those thinkers asking the ideals of freedom as intended by the belief in God wanting this as a fundamental expression of His love for humanity. The understanding drawn from this particular text provided by Aquinas gives an understanding how philosophy is the aspect of all theologians but conversely, not all philosophers are theologians (429-430.
In the spirit of the freedom of choice humans have in connection to belief in the divine, theological knowledge based on faith revealed as a truth instead of sensory experience defining truth does not mean theological knowledge stands inferior in any way to philosophical knowledge. This is the outcome of the medieval thinking mind resulting from the freedom allowed by the “Edict of Milan” providing the means for those connected to Christianity Augustine and Aquinas as examples presented here) evolving in understanding the nature of humanity as a species apart from the creations of the Creator as intended.
Further, what emerges from this Cristian missionary guide Aquinas provides in “Summa” shows he argues that the purpose of humans in part means development of each one’s self toward “being.” Before the time of Aquinas, the traditional belief of the thought on medieval thought held the difference between God and His creations was the thing separating God from humanity (429-.
Finally, in Aquinas’ view, this difference between all creation and the Creator is a question of the degree of difference. Humans remain separated from God in that humans both do not and cannot have as much existence as the existence of God. Until Aquinas, the Church understood human existence created the main impediment in the realization of the spiritual destiny of humanity, whereas, in the “Summa” Aquinas holds how humanity’s spiritual destiny comes through the enhancement of human existence in “being” (429-430). In Aquinas’s view, the difference between God and his creatures is one of degree, and we are separate from God insofar as we do not have as much existence as God. Prior to Aquinas, traditional church thought maintained that existence was the chief impediment to the realization of our spiritual destiny. Aquinas held that our spiritual destiny consists precisely in the enhancement of our existence.
Conclusion
As posited in the introduction the connection between the “Edict”, the “Glosses”, and “Summa” shows how the ideals of freedom influencing the great doctrines of the Bill of Rights and the United States Constitution came about because of the changes during these three eras of the minds of those living during medieval history. The “Edict” allowed Christian evolution of the Church brought about new views of rational – logical – approaches to knowledge about the world in connection to the nature of humans as God intends, and with Aquinas how this exemplifies a new thought of humans’ existence as an ongoing act of becoming according to the intention of God. In
Works Cited
Augustine. Relating this world to the next: Agustin3e, The City of God, Rosenwein, Barbara H. (Ed).Reading the Middle Ages: Sources from Europe, Byzantium, and the Islamic World. © University of Toronto Press Incorporated 2014. Book
Aquinas, Thomas. Scholasticism: Summa against the Gentiles. Rosenwein, Barbara H. (Ed). Reading the Middle Ages: Sources from Europe, Byzantium, and the Islamic World. © University of Toronto Press Incorporated 2014. Book
Rosenwein, Barbara H. (Ed). Toleration or favouritism? Edict of Milan. Rosenwein, Barbara H. (Ed). Reading the Middle Ages: Sources from Europe, Byzantium, and the
Islamic World. © University of Toronto Press Incorporated 2014. Book
Rosenwein, Barbara H. (Ed). Reading the Middle Ages: Sources from Europe, Byzantium,
and the Islamic World. © University of Toronto Press Incorporated 2014. Book
