How the Rediscovery of the Works of Aristotle Challenged the Church

Rediscovery of the Works of Aristotle challenged the Church in several ways as it triggered the Scientific Renaissance. This was characterized by many inventions and discoveries. It is the discoveries that challenged the Church then and continue to do even today. Some of these discoveries caused people to start doubting what the church and Christianity beliefs had made them to believe. The developments in the study of the universe especially brought contradictions in what was discovered and what the Church Taught. An example is that while it was discovered that the sun did not move, the Bible which was very fundamental to the Church had verses that implied that the Sun moved. Developments in Astronomy a result of the rediscovery of the works of Aristotle are hence an example of its challenge to the Church (Kretzmann & Stump, 2001). What Scholasticism is and how it attempted to Reconcile Faith with Reason Scholasticism is a method of teaching where learners are encouraged to reason dialectically. This tool for learning enables the learners to learn how to argue with those holding beliefs and ideas that are different from theirs hence are able to persuade them to join them (Alvarez, 1971). The sole objective of Scholasticism was to resolve ideas that were contradicting or conflicting. This is because even though the ideas and beliefs were different, they shared some common principles which brought out the conflicts as individuals argued on which ones were right hence in an attempt to find the answers, Scholasticism was invented. It attempted to reconcile reason and faith by looking using Aristotle's philosophy of human reasoning to explain the Christian faith that was characterized by supernatural contents that could not be easily understood. It sought to bring together the wisdom of the Christianity religion and that of the Aristotle and other Greeks. The movement sought to integrate the two, that is the secular beliefs and Christian beliefs so as to come up with an ordered system used reason to explain faith. 2. How Renaissance Altered Views of Humanity and the Human Relationship with God prevalent during the Middle Ages. Renaissance period which was characterized by numerous cultural changes altered views of humanity in many ways. It emphasized so much on reasoning that some views of humanity that initially were believed to be against humanity became morally right due to reasoning. Most of the issues that are perceived to be inhuman such as suicide for example have their root s in this period. This is because it was during this period that individuals reasoned that actions such as suicide were the better option (Alvarez, 1971). For example it was reasoned that it was better for old people to commit suicide than to continue living as they suffer the complications that come with old age. The stoics were amongst the humanists who supported suicide in the event that it was done under such circumstances. Suicide was now seen and described as good death as it relieved younger people the burden of taking care of or killing individuals who were too old. Humanists such as Plato and Aristotle argued against suicide claiming that no circumstances could justify it as it left the responsibilities of those who killed themselves abandoned and denied the community a citizen who could contribute to its development. Other philosophers such as Jewish and Christian religions however believed that such action were against God’s desire and human good as they affected human responsibility to god as he created life to be preserved. Philosophers such as Michel de Montaigne even challenged condemnation of suicide arguing that it was a moral thing to do under certain circumstances and that it should be perceived as a religious belief but as a matter of choice as every human being had the freedom to choose. During the middle ages, the prevalence of human relationship with God was very low. This can be attributed to the many scientific discoveries that challenged the church and its beliefs hence deviating people’s beliefs from its teachings. The many philosophers and their theories also caused confusion causing their relationship with God not to be as strong as it was before. The Humanists, what they said and how they Contributed to Modern Education. Humanists scholars who challenged some of the philosophers shaped and established intellectual landscape from the middle age period to the present day. These philosophers include Thomas More and Niccolo Machiavelli who criticized contemporary government and some of the secular beliefs. Their theories and teachings revived the Roman’s and Greek's way of thinking and ideas. The challenging of Aristotelian status quo by humanists such as Martin Luther led to the introduction of faith and justification ideas that were new, liberal and radical. The justification theory is very crucial to modern education as many fields of study call for justification to be made before they can be accepted. This goes for research too. 3. How Dangerous Beauty Reflects Values Dominant in Venice and how it depicts relationship patterns between man and women. The fact that Marco was discouraged by his family from veronica even though he loved her implies that individuals in Venice value wealth more than any other thing. Veronica’s decision to become a courtesan in an effort to get money that would support her and her mother reflects the same value of the Venice individuals preferring wealth so much that they could even compromise their principles. The fact that Veronica was not the only one and that even her mother and grandmother had done the same thing implies that prostitution is a dominant thing in Venice especially with men of high social standing. This value has negative impact on the relationship between men and women. This goes especially for the married couples. We observe that Marco's marriage started experiencing problems as he had no intimate relationship with his wife once he started being with Veronica. The marriage eventually broke up. It can be concluded that both the values discussed above negatively affect the relationship between men and women. 4. How Lady Jane show the dynastic and religious conflicts prominent in England in the 16th Century The two weeks that Lady Jane ruled England and her execution brought out the existing dynastic and religious conflicts prominent in the Kingdom. We observe she was not the right person to inherit the throne from Edward VI. The only reason Edward chose her to succeed him and not Mary his half sister who was the rightful heiress at the time was because just like he was, Jane was a staunch protestant while Mary was Catholic. There seems to have been a religious conflict as the English nobles did not want the throne to be given to a catholic. Mary went away and gathered herself support. She later came back and denounced Jane as the Queen of England. According to the law she was the rightful heiress hence the parliament could do nothing but proclaim her as the Queen. Mary then imprisoned Jane and her husband. This brings out the dynasty conflicts in England within the Royal families. When Mary married a Roman catholic Prince from Spain called Philip, the protestants in England rebelled and carried out demonstrations as they were against catholic religion. Some even called fore the restoration of Jane as the Queen. This made Mary to execute her so as to repress any future rebellions and unrest within the kingdom. It was observed that this marked the climax of religious and dynasty conflicts in the kingdom at the time as Protestants did not want to be ruled by Catholics while the Catholics did not want to lose their grip on the throne. It can hence be concluded that dynasty and religious conflicts were prominent in England during the 16th Century. 5. The Hundred Schools of Thought, their chief Theorists, and what they said. Especially Confucius. The hundred schools of thought were schools and philosophers that sprang up and got established from the period 770-221B. C. E in China. These schools flourished during an era that the country was experiencing culture and intellectual expansion. The thoughts that were developed during this time influence the country up to now. The schools developed were confucianism, school of law, languages, Moism , amongst several others. The theorists of confucianism were Xunzi who argued that humans are not born good but that goodness is a virtue that is developed with time through training of ones conducts and desire. Mengzi another confucianism theorists argued that every individual had a responsibility and obligation to every one else in the society and not just to those they were acquainted with. He explained that one had to be careful in their action as they affected many people. Kongzi argued that ideal human beings were those that were gentlemen. He also explained social stratification and political governance could only exist peacefully by ethical values. He argued that good leader needed to be virtues in order for them to rule well. He added that the best relationship was achieved when leaders remained leaders while subjects accordingly remained so. 6. Buddhist Thought. The Buddhist Thought is based on three fundamental principles namely impermanence, selflessness and unsatisfactoriness. The thought is that all; things in life come from one source and eventually go back to the same source. It explains that everything in the world is connected to each other and none can exist independently or occurs apart from the rest. Its view is that everything in the world undergoes transformation and some change during its existence. This according to the thought is that things do not cease to exist, they only change their state through transformation and exist in other forms. This thought is what explains the religion's belief in rebirth. 7. Historians talk about the revolution of the 11th Century, which launch a series of conflicts between Church and state. What form did these conflicts take? The 11th century was characterized by many conflicts between the Church and state. These conflicts were mainly between kings and Popes. As both parties sought to have more power than the other, conflicts arose. Initially monarchs had ruled both the throne and the church as it was believed that they had divine right. But then, in contrast the pope was believed to be God's vicar on earth hence having the divine authority from God to the state. (Elliott, 1877). This resulted to the church having more power in the West but as secular kingdoms flourished, power struggle between the two sprang up. The conflict was between the secular ideologies of the state and the sacred ideologies of the church. Eventually the church lost some of its powers to the state.