What was the significance of the work of Abelard and Magnus?
Peter Abelard (was one of the first Christian theologians to understand the importance of Aristotle’s philosophies. Abelard translated Aristotle’s works and introduced a new method of studying that became very popular in the Scholastic period.
He believed that theological questions should be solidly backed by arguments and counter-arguments. Abelard wanted to remove the inconsistencies that were prevalent in the Christian world regarding doctrines, and he wanted to arrive at a position, where the authority of Bible will be considered final.
Abelard’s work was highly significant because he questioned the variable statements of philosophers throughout history and wanted the Bible’s word to prevail. This was known as the dialectic method. The method was tagged controversial by some Christian thinkers, who said that such a method often questions the validity of religious assumptions.
However, Abelard explained that to an honest believer in Christianity who believed in the existence of God, all methods of inquiry will support his belief and not otherwise. The believer, he opined, need not be fearful from logic, reason or even study of nature itself.
St. Albertus Magnus was one of the first Christian philosophers, who made a comprehensive and detailed study of Aristotle’s works as well as the interpretations made by contemporary Islamic and Jewish scholars and philosophers.
Magnus studied Aristotle’s views on nature and did a very detailed study of nature himself. Magnus presented Aristotle’s knowledge of sensations, memory and intelligence to the scholars of the church. He believed that careful observation and rational human inferences could be used to achieve eternal salvation.
Magnus’s work was highly significant as he made great contributions to science and observation of Nature. Further, he incorporated these concepts within the realm of the church.