Chapter ID: CBB112035988

Intelligo ut credam, credo ut intelligam: Robert Grosseteste Between Faith and Reason (2016)

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Robert Grosseteste, bishop of Lincoln from 1235 to 1253, a theologian and a scientist was one of the most important bishops of England and probably of the whole of Europe. In this paper I have tried to examine whether or not it is possible to ‘classify’ the origins of his knowledge. My guiding principle has been trying to understand whether Grosseteste belonged to one of the two main schools of thought of the middle ages: was he a philosopher whose great knowledge (intelligo) allowed him to understand the secrets behind faith and the mysteries of God (ut credam); or was he rather a strong believer (credo), who simply needed faith to enhance his knowledge (ut intelligam) and to make progress on scientific understanding? In this article I have reflected over some of Grosseteste’s literary works, and examined the main philosophers and ideas influencing him. I have tried to demonstrate that it is possible to prove that Grosseteste was a scientist who needed to understand in order to believe, and a religious man who needed to believe in order to understand, but especially that Grosseteste went beyond classical theology because he applied his methodology of science to theology and, in my view, represented a synthesis of medieval thinking.

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Authors & Contributors
Cunningham, Jack P.
Hocknull, Mark
Sean Murphy
Christopher Bonfield
Gasper, Giles E. M.
Victor Salas
Concepts
Science and religion
Philosophy
Bible
Natural philosophy
Medicine and religion
Astrology
Time Periods
Medieval
13th century
14th century
Places
England
Great Britain
Italy
Europe
Institutions
Oxford University
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