12. Philosophy and Theosophy

[What the Arabs possessed of false mysticism and pantheistic teachings in general, they sought to support with Aristotle. Scholastics had to ask themselves whether this was really the true Aristotle imported to Europe by the Arabs]. One had to say to oneself: if what the Arabs brought over as an interpretation of Aristotle is true, then Aristotelianism would be a scientific basis that would be suitable for refuting Christianity. Now let us imagine how the scholastics must have felt about this? On the one hand, they held firmly to the truth of Christianity, but on the other hand, according to all tradition, they could not help but admit that logic, the thinking technique of Aristotle, was the true, the correct one. This dichotomy gave rise to the scholastics' task: to prove that Aristotle's logic could be applied, that his philosophy could be practiced, and that it was precisely through him that one had the instrument to truly comprehend and understand Christianity. It was a task set by the development of the times. Aristotelianism had to be treated in such a way that it became clear: What had been brought by the Arabs as the teachings of Aristotle was then only a misunderstanding of the same if it proved hostile to Christianity. That one only had to interpret it correctly in order to have the foundation for understanding Christianity: That was the task which scholasticism set itself and to which the whole of Aquinas' writings were devoted. [It was therefore necessary to demonstrate that Christian doctrines could be supported precisely on the basis of a correctly understood Aristotle. This was the only way to effectively combat the half-materialism and blurred pantheism coming from the East.