A new epoch for scholasticism dawned in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries through contact with the Greek philosophy of the Moors in Spain and the subsequent recovery of some original treatises of Aristotle (see p. 67). For a time the Church endeavored to suppress the great philosopher, but, failing to do so, soon utilized his works for its own defense, and even made reason identical with Aristotle, whose authority was not to be disputed. A group of most prominent schoolmen arose, and, as a result of the discussions of Aquinas (1225-1274), Duns Scotus (1274-1308), and William of Occam (1280-1347), it came to be held that truth is established by the _fiat_ of God, and that ecclesiastical dogmas are, consequently, not matters of reason, but purely of faith. As a result of this breach between revelation and reason, there arose two types of truth, and a tendency to choose that type which was supported by reason.
=Scholastic Education.=--The schoolmen were thus throughout attempting to rationalize the teachings of the Church, and to present them in scientific form. As an education, scholasticism aimed also at furnishing a training in dialectic and intellectual discipline that should make the student both keen and learned in the knowledge of the times. The scholastic course of study, which was given at first in the monastic and episcopal schools and later in the universities, consisted in the beliefs of the Church and the limited learning of the times arranged in a systematized form largely on the deductive basis of the Aristotelian logic. This knowledge could all be grouped under the head of philosophical theology. The best illustration of the formal and dogmatic way in which these doctrines were usually presented can be found in the _Sententiæ_ of Peter the Lombard (1100-1160) and the _Summa Theologiæ_ of Aquinas (1225-1274), which were the standard texts of the day upon theology. The work of Aquinas has four main parts, under each of which is grouped a number of problems. Every problem is concerned with some fundamental doctrine, and is further divided into several subtopics. After the problem has been stated, first the arguments and authorities for the various solutions other than the orthodox one are given and refuted in regular order, then the proper solution with its arguments is set forth, and finally, the different objections to it are answered in a similarly systematic way. Peter the Lombard’s work has a like arrangement.