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  • Essay / Analysis of Peter Abelard's Approach to Religious Matters

    Table of ContentsIntroductionTopic AnalysisConclusionBibliographyIntroductionPeter Abelard was a well-known French professor and philosopher who was punished to live as a monk during his life. This was due to the fact that he had impregnated his student, Héloïse. During his life as a monk, he practiced scholasticism, which questions religious questions based on logic and reason, leading St. Bernard of Clairvaux to harshly condemn him. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why violent video games should not be banned"? Get an original essay In this essay, I will argue that Abelard's approach to religious issues is heavily influenced by the authority of the Bible and of Greek philosophy, which is the major reason why it resolves religious content while ignoring the authority of the Church. As a result, this raises Bernard's antagonism, as Abelard boldly questions the Church's writings based on human logic. Analysis of the subject First, Abelard uses Greek logic or philosophy, as the highest authority to resolve the writings of the Church, as he maintains based on Greek philosophy. “Aristotle, the most far-sighted philosopher of all, advised his students to accept this questioning with complete will” so that we can perceive the truth after the questioning. It is clearly cited that Abelard has a high opinion of Aristotle by praising him and using Aristotle's wisdom as a principle in his life. He insists that we must question and doubt to be better readers and better Christians, so we must decipher our own conclusions based on evidence. Therefore, Abelard judges the Church's writings based on Greek philosophy and suggests that the key to becoming better Christians is to follow Aristotle's wisdom. Additionally, Abelard believes that when the writings of the saints contradict each other, then there is an error in translation or the text has been corrupted. Simply put, Abelard uses Greek philosophy by saying that if things cannot be understood logically, then they are caused by human error. However, if Abelard believes that the Church has a higher authority, he would not dare question them, much less discuss the writings. Instead, he will judge Greek philosophy based on the writings of the Church. Furthermore, Clanchy (1997, p. 229) states that "Abelard's Theology, in contrast, is written in a debate style." This proves how intensively Abelard uses Greek philosophy to argue since the debate style, which consists of arguing to stimulate critical thinking, is widely used in the Socrates method. Thus, having Greek philosophy as the basis of his arguments proves the importance of its authority in Abelard's arguments. Additionally, the second highest authority on Abelard's approach is the Bible because he uses biblical quotes as part of his arguments and he practices the teachings of the Bible. For example, Abelard uses biblical lines from Wisdom and Matthew, such as "the saints will judge the nations" and "it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks through you." According to this, Abelard then hypothesizes that it is the writer who lacks wit and who causes the reader's incomprehension. Therefore, Abelard still clings to the teaching of the Bible and attributes the error to human error. He still believes in the Spirit of the Father. Furthermore, Murray (1997, p. 151) states that according to Abelard, we must use knowledge because it is a gift from God. Furthermore, Abelard believes that “the testimony of..9-55.