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Theology, Contemplation and the University

Theology was one of the original faculties of the medieval university, which grew out of the earlier monastic and cathedral schools, where theology was central. The purpose of theology in monastic education was to provide not simply information about theological topics, but to prepare one to contemplate God, contemplation being the true knowledge of God. Contemplation as the goal of intellectual development, however, goes behind the Christian education of monastery and university to the intellectual and cultural ideals of classical civilisation, as seen in Plato and Aristotle. A contrast is drawn between contemplation, for which the object of knowledge is an end in itself, and the way in which knowledge has come to be seen as essentially instrumental, ultimately as an object of consumption, so that the one who knows becomes consumer rather than contemplator. Some of the consequences of this shift in understanding, which undermines the traditional ideals of culture, are explored.

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