The Birth of Christian Culture and the Medieval University

Abstract

In itself the Gospel is not culture. But it is equally true that the heart of a believer touched by the Gospel message cannot but produce a culture that expresses the novelty of being in Christ, a “Christian” culture. This culture is articulated in a plurality of theoretical and practical forms that, in each case, is far from being definitive. The basis of “Christian culture” is Sacred Scripture, its key points being Christological and Trinitarian doctrine. The schools that arose in the Patristic era were not in competition with the classic paideia. Likewise, later on, Monastic, Cathedral and Presbyteral schools kept a religious character. They prepared for the birth of the Medieval Universities of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries that were made up of communities of teachers and students and supported by Imperial, regional or Ecclesiastical authorities. The challenge for them was how to harmonise “scientific” truth with religious truth, a challenge that is still very relevant today too.