Scholasticism, the enemy of orthodoxy?

It's not so much scholasticism as it is certain doctrines.

we are down with Scholasticism, the issue is that the West ran with it further than they should have when it comes to Christianity. in its proper place, Scholasticism I am sure has a notch somewhere in our faith.

ArmyMatt said:

we are down with Scholasticism, the issue is that the West ran with it further than they should have when it comes to Christianity. in its proper place, Scholasticism I am sure has a notch somewhere in our faith.

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This.

Marcus Plested wrote an excellent book called Orthodoxy and Aquinas where he does a great job demonstrating that Aquinas' Scholastic ideas were initially well received among Orthodox hierarchs and scholars. The problem isn't even so much with Aquinas as much as it is with his intellectual descendants who went way off the rails. It is said that Aquinas had a vision of God's glory and, from that point on, referred to his work as straw.

I would defer that kinda question to your priest or bishop. there is a nugget of Truth in many things, and I would assume that work as well, but you need to discern the good from the bad.

Wryetui said:

So you would say that "Summa Theologica" is a good work and it can be read by orthodox people?

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Of course it can be read by Orthodox people, and it really should be given that most people who speak about the evils of Scholasticism often have no idea what Scholasticism actually advocates. Reading something and accepting its ideas are two different things. We shouldn't close ourselves off to works and ideas that aren't Orthodox. That is cultic. Read away, but also read good Orthodox responses to the Summa.

So the opposed to scholasticism, on Orthodoxy is what? Scholasticism uses reason and intellect to reach God, what do Orthodox use?

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"Scholasticism" is a big tent, and Orthodoxy is, in reality, opposed to a very small number of things in that tent. For instance, Aquinas failed to distinguish between God's essence and His energies, and he also believed in created grace. That said, his entire opus should not necessarily be discarded because of his mistakes. That would be throwing the baby out with the bath water.

Scholasticism does not use reason and intellect to reach God, but rather a few mistaken modern Scholastic philosophers. Aquinas flat-out denied that this was what he was doing, or that this could be done. What Aquinas did was show that the created order of things provide evidence that God exists, and that reason can help us figure out what logically follows from certain things that have been revealed to us by God. He always upheld the importance of revelation and always held that God was infinitely beyond human understanding, and always will be.

I recommend reading some of the Orthodox scholars who have studied Aquinas, such as Fr. Andrew Louth, Archimandrite Panteleimon Manoussakis, and the already mentioned Marcus Plested. I believe they all have videos on youtube in which they discuss Aquinas.

Fr. Andrew Louth:
Archimandrite Panteleimon Manoussakis:
Marcus Plested:

Scholasticism is not a totally uniform approach, as others pointed out. For instance, at a more mystical pole we could place Anselm of Canterbury. At a thoroughly philosophical pole, William of Ockham. There are the Sentences of Peter Lombard, which I think any orthodox person should read at least for the sacramental theology presented therein. Then there are authors like Duns Scotus who was so obtuse in his argument as to be mostly unreadable. So, there is productive scholasticism and there is unproductive scholasticism. It is the same with the Fathers, few read Eusebius of Caesarea for theological reflection and Gregory of Nyssa was profound in his insights on the Holy Spirit, but often criticized for some of his other thoughts; Augustine is a totally mixed bag, etc.

yeah, most of the "isms" out there only become problematic when we humans take them to places where they should not be taken....which we often do.

Wryetui said:

So the opposed to scholasticism, on Orthodoxy is what? Scholasticism uses reason and intellect to reach God, what do Orthodox use?

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Skills located in the cerebral hemisphere opposite that which favors rational and philosophical abstraction. Wholehearted participation in the Living Tradition of the Church is what activates these skills and brings "reason" online for us.