great thinkers = stupid

i was just dismissed from my medieval and reformation church history class.  we just finished a lecture over the lives and thoughts of abelard and aquinas.  having studied youth ministry during my undergraduate work i was exposed to these two men before.  often times hearing the same story a second, third, or forth time can be repetitive and boring.  however, the brilliance of abelard and aquinas have, in some way, transcended time, and i find their thoughts equally as fascinating, if not more so, the second time around.  

however, their lives really got me thinking today.  abelard was this brilliant theologian/philosopher.  he taught at notre dame in paris.  he challenged some previous thinkers ideas on atonement.  his resume was packed of exquisite accomplishments.  he also impregnated a colleague’s niece out of wedlock, became secretly married to her in order to maintain his position as a teacher (he had to be celibate), left the child in a monastery, and when found out by her uncle was emasculated.  then, after the marriage secret was out and his baby mama wanted to make the marriage work he decided that it’d be best, for repentance’s sake, for both of them to live in monasteries and only ever write each other until they died.  mind you, she was about 18, and he was a peer with her uncle.

then we have aquinas.  it was noted in class today that after paul (of the new testament) he may have had more influence on the catholic church than any other individual (either him or augustine).  this guy, wrote a book called summa theologica which is basically the grand daddy of all theological works of his time.  he attempted to tie up every loose end of theology in this work.  he was also a huge sexist.  he believed that women were “begotten men.”  in other words, they were deformed men.  he thought they did not have the reasoning capabilities of men and therefore couldn’t give be ordained. 

this guy is a freaking genius!  he logically drew the conclusion that women were not on par with men.  he’s freaking thomas aquinas, and he was, in essence, a straight up sexist.  i’m a 23 year old guy who, for a season of life, was ignorantly a moderate supporter of the patriarchal system (note: i no longer agree with that structure), but never did i ever say, at least consciously, that women didn’t have the mental know how to be ordained.  (note: my view was that GOD structured the church that way similar to how JESUS submits to the FATHER although they are equals…stupid i know.)  anyway, aquinas was a full fledged adult. one of the most brilliant minds to walk the planet, and he thought women were not equal to men.

all this to say, no one has it all sorted out.  even some of the greatest minds in church history had hiccups in their thoughts or in their lives.  do i still think abelard and aquinas were JESUS following men?  i certainly do, but even some of the most intelligent people make mistakes.  no one is perfect.  hopefully these stories help encourage you to, not accept imperfection, but relieve you from the desire we all have to be perfect (or maybe that’s just me).