November 8—Bl. John Duns Scotus, Priest and Religious

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It only took 685 years for today’s saint to be beatified after his death! John Duns was a Franciscan priest and friar born about 1265/66 and died in 1308. He is called Duns Scotus meaning Duns the Scot because he was from Scotland. He was a philosopher and theologian graduating from Oxford University. He is called “the Subtle Doctor” because of his complex and nuanced thought. He taught a metaphysical argument for the existence of God through the concepts of cause and effect. He also advocated for free will by stating that a person cannot stop what the person is doing if there is no free will; and yet people can stop what they are doing! 

He also defended the teaching of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, following St. Anselm of Canterbury’s principle: “God could do it, it was appropriate, therefore he did it!” In other words, according to Bl. Pope Pius IX, who infallibly defined the dogma of the Immaculate Conception in 1854: “At the moment of her conception, Mary was preserved free from the stain of original sin, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ.” 

Philosophy is the handmaiden of theology! What this means is that the Church uses philosophy to help us understand what God supernaturally reveals to us by using our natural reasoning ability, which God gave to us! We are not fideists, meaning, all we do is believe blindly and not think. Nor are we rationalists, meaning, all we do is use our own unaided reason as the ultimate basis of truth or falsehood and thus not believe. We believe and we think! One is a supernatural gift, faith, and the other is a natural gift, reason. By using both we can share what we believe in a rational manner. Bl. Duns Scotus, pray for us!

*https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ce/JohnDunsScotus_-_full.jpg 

Justus van Gent, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

April 21--St. Anselm of Canterbury, Bishop and Doctor of the Church

Sometimes in one man, many gifts come together.  St. Anselm was such a man.  He was a renowned philosopher and theologian, the second Archbishop of Canterbury after the Norman conquest of England in the 11^th century, the father of Scholasticism, a Doctor of the Church, and last, but not least, saint.  In the 11^th century a new way of thinking developed that combined the insights of ancient philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle, with the Revelation of God as understood by theologians.  The person that is considered the father of this movement, Scholasticism, was Anselm.  He deeply loved the philosophy and theology of St. Augustine and further honed the necessary philosophical skills that made it clearer to a new audience that demanded concise and clear thinking.  His efforts influenced the entire Middle Ages and the greatest philosopher/theologian, St. Thomas Aquinas.

Clear thinking leads to greater understanding.  For him theology was “faith seeking understanding”, so that what we believed led to a better grasp of the mysteries of the faith.  Clear thinking also can lead to wisdom and fortitude, both gifts that Anselm had.  He was exiled twice under the Norman kings of England for his refusal to bow to their commands in how to administer the Church.  We can benefit from Anselm’s example to think clearly, love deeply, believe faithfully, and follow Mother Church obediently.  Thus may we too grow in our understanding of the mysteries of faith and apply the morals of God’s law to the circumstances of our times.