16 Scholastic Theology

Scholastic theology, which developed in the Middle Ages, was a distinctively Western deepening of the relation of faith and reason, in which theology becomes a discipline of the university, based on Aristotelian concepts of logic and science. Scholastic theology used a method of disputation to harmonize apparent logical contradictions in the theological tradition. Thomas Aquinas, one of the most important medieval scholastic theologians, developed a theory of analogy which made it possible to conceive of theology as an Aristotelian science consisting of logical deductions, even though its primary subject matter is an incomprehensible God. Aquinas is also important for his use of an Aristotelian concept of habit to explain the enduring presence of grace in the soul, which Roman Catholic theology calls sanctifying grace, the basis both of the virtues of the Christian life and also of our acceptance by God.