Neo-Scholastic Theology and Philosophy Collection (24 vols.)

Scholasticism was preeminent throughout the high and late Middle Ages, displaced only with the rise of humanism during the Renaissance. Medieval scholasticism was more a method than a system, focusing on authoritative texts, dialectics, and the drawing of ever-more-subtle distinctions. Its goals were the reconciliation of authorities and the production of terms and categories that would allow for clarity of thought. The humanists of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries attacked medieval scholasticism as incapable of dealing with issues of real moral and social importance and inadequate in its failure to understand that truth could not be corralled within human terminology. In many ways, this attack was unfair, based on a prejudice in favor of poetry and literature over logic and abstract speculation. Nevertheless, scholasticism was displaced in the universities of Europe.

In the nineteenth century, however, in response to the rise of various “Enlightenment” philosophies, scholasticism began receiving renewed interest. Many thinkers of the period saw in scholastic realism an alternative to both the subjectivism and the positivism that were increasingly dominating European thought. These Neo-Scholastics, as they became known, focused especially on the work of Thomas Aquinas; they are sometimes referred to as Neo-Thomists. Pope Leo XIII’s 1879 encyclical Aeterni Patris gave this movement a definitive character and a stamp of official approval within the Catholic Church. It was only with the rise of the Nouvelle Théologie and the Church’s theological shift after Vatican II that Neo-Scholasticism began to decline.

Nevertheless, the movement is of profound importance for the history of theology. In fact, in recent years it has received renewed attention as many theologians have reconsidered its achievements. The Neo-Scholastic Theology and Philosophy Collection offers some of the most important works of the movement. It’s a necessary edition to the library of anyone interested in the history of modern theology.

• Many of the key theological texts leading up to the Reformation were written within this philosophical framework.
• It’s a must-have if you’re interested in church history, including the Reformation and Catholic Counter-Reformation.
• It’s important for understanding such notable theologians as Aquinas and Anselm.