How Should We Then Live? by Francis A. Schaeffer
Week 2: Chapter 2 — The Middle Ages
Read Chapter 2 of How Should We Then Live? Key art and architecture discussed: Aquinas's synthesis, the paintings and cathedral architecture of the medieval period (e.g., Giotto, the great Gothic cathedrals).
Previewing Week 2 of How Should We Then Live?
Read 3 of 7 discussion questions below. Unlock the complete 13-week guide when you’re ready.
Schaeffer shows how medieval culture inherited both the glory of a Christian foundation and planted seeds of its own undoing — particularly through Thomas Aquinas's elevation of human reason alongside divine revelation.
Discussion Questions
7 questions1.Schaeffer argues that the medieval period was simultaneously built on a Christian foundation and internally unstable. What does he identify as the primary source of that instability? In your own words, what was the problem with Aquinas's synthesis?
2.Schaeffer uses the concept of the 'nature-grace' split to describe the tension introduced in the medieval period: nature (including human reason) was given a degree of independence from grace (revelation). Why does he regard this separation as so dangerous? Do you agree?
3.The great Gothic cathedrals — soaring, light-filled, reaching heavenward — expressed a culture that still believed heaven and earth were connected. How does the architecture of an age reflect its deepest beliefs? What does the architecture of your own community reveal about what people value?