All thinkers

Ruler / statesman · Medieval

Charlemagne

c. 747–814 · Carolingian Christendom

Blessed Latin

Styled “Blessed” by a local cult (Aachen) tolerated since his 1165 canonization by the antipope Paschal III; never formally beatified by Rome.

King of the Franks and, from Christmas 800, Emperor, Charlemagne built a Christian empire in which king and clergy together ordered worship, learning and law. Through Alcuin and the palace school he renewed Latin letters, the liturgy and the copying of Scripture, and legislated for a society publicly ordered to God.

Why he matters: He is the archetype of the Christian prince: the ruler who sees his authority as a trust from God for the protection of the Church and the common good, and who founded the schools from which medieval theology grew.

Where to be careful

His forced conversion of the Saxons and his meddling in doctrine (the Libri Carolini, the imposition of the Filioque) show the dangers of Caesaropapism that the Church later had to resist.

Reading

  • Two Lives of Charlemagne
    Einhard and Notker the Stammerer · The contemporary portraits; Einhard is sober, Notker legendary.
    Journal
  • Charlemagne: The Formation of a European Identity
    Rosamond McKitterick · The best modern scholarly study.
    Journal
  • Admonitio Generalis
    Charlemagne (with Alcuin), 789 · His program for a Christian people, in his own capitulary.
    Journal

Documented positions

Where this thinker stands on each dispute the test covers.

Settled teaching Its center Open question Beyond teaching, not condemned Condemned error
I

God and Being · What is, and whence it is.

Can reason know that God exists? Natural theology
Fideism or agnosticism Natural theology
How is God related to the world? Creation from nothing
Pantheism or emanation Creation from nothing
Is the world governed by purpose? Providence and final causes
Chance and mechanism Providence and final causes
II

Faith, Reason and Truth · How we know, and whom we trust.

Faith and reason: who has the last word? Fideism
Rationalism Fideism
Is truth objective? Objective truth
Relativism and pragmatism Objective truth
Who interprets revelation? Living Tradition and Magisterium
Private judgment Living Tradition and Magisterium
How should Scripture be read? Fundamentalist literalism
Critical reductionism Fundamentalist literalism
Does doctrine develop? Always the same, in the same words
Always the same, in the same words A living development
Are the world's learning and arts a danger or a gift? A gift to be baptized
A danger: Athens has nothing to do with Jerusalem A gift to be baptized
III

The Human Person · Soul, body, freedom and the Fall.

Is there a spiritual soul? Immortal spiritual soul
Mind is brain Immortal spiritual soul
Are you free? Free will
Determinism Free will
How fallen is human nature? Between
Totally depraved Basically good
The body and its desires Between
Contempt for the flesh Desire as its own law
Person and community Collectivism
Individualism Collectivism
Marriage, sex and the body's meaning Given by nature and grace
Given by nature and grace Defined by consent and identity
What is suffering for? A share in the Cross
An evil to be relieved A share in the Cross
IV

The Moral Life · Law, virtue, conscience and the good.

Is morality objective and knowable? Natural law
Relativism Natural law
Are some acts always wrong? Intrinsically evil acts
Consequentialism Intrinsically evil acts
What is conscience? Conscience bound to truth
Autonomous conscience Conscience bound to truth
What is happiness? Beatitude in God
Earthly flourishing Beatitude in God
V

Grace and Salvation · How God saves, and whom.

How are we made right with God? Infused, transforming grace
Forensic imputation Infused, transforming grace
Who can be saved? Strict exclusivism
Strict exclusivism Indifferentism
What is salvation for? Deification
Pardon and escape Deification
Hell and hope The many are lost
The many are lost All will be saved
Where does your eye rest in Christ: His divinity or His humanity? The eternal Word made flesh
The eternal Word made flesh The man Jesus of Nazareth
VI

Church and Society · Authority, the state, wealth and the nation.

Church and state Social kingship of Christ
Laicism Social kingship of Christ
Where does authority come from? Authority from God
Social contract Authority from God
Reform or tradition? Guided by tradition
Remake by reason Guided by tradition
The nation and the Church Nation or race first
Nation or race first Nation does not matter
May the state restrain false religion? The confessional state: error has no rights
The confessional state: error has no rights Civil liberty for every religion
Which form of government best suits a Christian people? Monarchy and hierarchy
Monarchy and hierarchy Democracy and participation
May a Christian take up the sword? Yes: war can be just and sometimes a duty
Never: the way of the Cross is nonviolence Yes: war can be just and sometimes a duty
VII

Worship, Prayer and the Two Lungs · Liturgy, icons, the Spirit, and the See of Peter.

Liturgical development Receive and develop organically
Reconstruct and innovate Receive and develop organically
Icons and images Veneration of images
Iconoclasm Veneration of images
The way of prayer Discursive meditation
Stillness and the Jesus Prayer Discursive meditation
The procession of the Holy Spirit From the Father and the Son (Filioque)
From the Father through the Son From the Father and the Son (Filioque)
The office of Peter Universal and immediate primacy
Conciliarism Universal and immediate primacy
What do the sacraments do? Efficacious ex opere operato
Signs only Efficacious ex opere operato
When the Pope speaks Every word binds
Resist and judge Every word binds
Holy Orders and the Church's constitution A clerical Church
A clerical Church Reformable by the people
What are the Eastern Catholic Churches? Rites of the one Roman Church
Rites of the one Roman Church Sister Churches with their own rights and theology
Contemplation or action? Action: the apostolate and the works of mercy
Action: the apostolate and the works of mercy Contemplation: the one thing needful

A profile of your philosophical and theological leanings, measured against the settled teaching of the Catholic Church, East and West. It is a tool for examination and reading, not an instrument of judgment.

Ad maiorem Dei gloriam.