Anicius Manlius
Torquatus Severinus Boethius was
a statesman and
philosopher during the reign of Theodoric,
Ostrogothic emperor of
Rome. Boethius had
a good classical
education (educated in Athens and Alexandria)
and was particularly
infl uenced by Neoplatonism,
Aristotle and
Aristotelianism, and Stoicism.
He was in the midst of
a project to translate and even
unite Aristotle and
Plato when he broke off his academic
career in order to
serve as an imperial consul in 510 c.e.
Power had shifted away
from Italy to Constantinople,
leaving the Italian
emperor a weak rival. When
Boethius was unfairly
condemned for a conspiracy allied
with the Constantinople
authorities, he was imprisoned
for a couple of years
and then executed sometime
between 524 and 526.
Because his writings
were circulated and appreciated
by many later intellectuals,
Boethius has been called the
pioneer of medieval
thought and founder of the early
Middle Ages. His
knowledge of Greek made him a natural
link with Greco-Roman
civilization at a time when
the West was losing its
knowledge of Greek. His translation
of Aristotle was one of
the few that the West had
until the days of
Thomas Aquinas. His attempts to utilize
Aristotle for the
advantage of theology were 550
years ahead of the
Scholastics. He composed Consolation
of Philosophy while he
brooded and waited for his
execution in prison. He
also wrote on true education
(trivium and
quadrivium), translations of Porphyry,
and commentaries on
Cicero, and his own treatises on
logic, mathematics, and
theology. Although questions
have been raised about
the authorship of several of his
works and the depth of
his Christian convictions, strong
evidence for his
sympathies with the faith appear in fi ve
compositions (the
Opuscula sacra, or Theological Tractates)
written before 520. All
these works show fresh
vocabulary and borrowing
of Greek philosophies, perhaps
even excelling the
ideas of Augustine of Hippo.
The tract De fi de
catholica (On the Catholic Faith) tells
of his objections to
Arianism, the Sabellians, and Mani
and the Manichaeans,
while it confi rms the ecclesial
teachings. Because of
its clear-cut support for the Latin
Church, its authorship
is often called into question.
Consolation of
Philosophy was mandatory reading
for every respectable
intellectual for the next 1,000 years
after Boethius. He
imagines Lady Philosophy, the heroine
of such religious works
as the biblical book of Proverbs,
consoling him in his
dark night of the philosophical
soul. She helps him to
realize the fi ckleness of success and
the faithfulness of
divine providence. She tells him that
true happiness fl ows
from being at peace with God. If
success will not crown
present virtuous efforts, the balance
will be restored in the
next life. God stands outside
of time and is present
at all of our time (past, present,
and future) and offers
eternal life simultaneously without
impeding our free will
to choose virtue.
Though Consolation does
not bring up such Christian
mysteries as the
incarnation, the crucifi xion, and
the resurrection, its
fundamental premises are in line
with orthodox Christian
teaching. It is anchored in
Augustinian foundations
and may subtly show biblical
and liturgical
allusions.
Historians view
Consolation, together with the
Opuscula sacra, as
evidence that Boethius turned toward
religion and
particularly the Christian faith as he
got older. He is the fi
rst one to use the word theology
as a technical
Christian term denoting the study of the
nature of God.
Because the emperor
that he served was an Arian,
Boethius was regarded
as a Christian martyr and in
Italy especially is
regarded as a Catholic saint. His writings
were some of the fi rst
translations made into the
“vulgar” tongues
(Anglo-Saxon, German, Greek, and
French—all before
1300), and many great scholars of
the Middle Ages
continued to debate his arguments up
until the time of
Thomas Aquinas.
Hiç yorum yok:
Yorum Gönder