Read other Scholastic thinkers?

[StJoseph8]

Is it beneficial to read some of the other Scholastic thinkers like St. Bonaventue, St. Anslem, and Bl. Duns Scotus in addition to St. Thomas Aquinas? I’m currently focused on Aquinas. It seems that they differed in some key topics like essence/existence or act and potency and I was wondering if would just confuse me if I read fellow Scholastics who disagreed with him.

 

[Phillip_Rolfes]

Is it beneficial to read some of the other Scholastic thinkers like St. Bonaventue, St. Anslem, and Bl. Duns Scotus in addition to St. Thomas Aquinas? I’m currently focused on Aquinas. It seems that they differed in some key topics like essence/existence or act and potency and I was wondering if would just confuse me if I read fellow Scholastics who disagreed with him.

Considering that St. Bonaventure, like St. Thomas Aquinas, is revered as a “Doctor of the Church” among Roman Catholics, his writings are held in as high a regard as those of Aquinas (at least in theory).

Bl. John Duns Scotus, if memory serves me correctly, was the theologian who most aptly defended the idea of the Immaculate Conception long prior to it being dogmatized by Pope Pius IX. So My guess is that he’d be a fairly important read as well.

Another Scholastic thinker that no one really ever talks about, despite his also being a “Doctor of the Church” is St. Anthony of Padua. Might be worth looking in to him as well.

 

[reggieM]

Is it beneficial to read some of the other Scholastic thinkers like St. Bonaventue, St. Anslem, and Bl. Duns Scotus in addition to St. Thomas Aquinas? I’m currently focused on Aquinas. It seems that they differed in some key topics like essence/existence or act and potency and I was wondering if would just confuse me if I read fellow Scholastics who disagreed with him.

Personally, I think just reading philosophical works on your own will lead you to a certain amount of confusion anyway. It depends how deeply you want to get into it, but when you see other good Catholic philosophers who disagree in some areas, that can be a good thing also. It can show us that philosophy has limits. It’s only what human reason does and we shouldn’t make it be more than it really is (some people tend to act like St. Thomas’ teaching is divine doctrine, but he especially knew that it is not that).

 

[Mintaka]

Depending on your cast of mind, a lot of Scholastic theologians and philosophers will give you some very interesting devotional thoughts. They came up with some beautiful analogies from Scripture, too; and some of their quotes and comments turn out to be extremely apt to one’s own life.