by Simon
Lien-yueh Wei

 

 

 

 

Franciscans and Dominicans

 

 

 

 

The respond of Franciscans and Dominicans to the changed social and religious conditions of the medieval period
 

Franciscans

They determined to be like Christ, living without the security of a fixed house and food. For them, living in poverty was itself the preaching of the gospel of Christ. They refuse to develop an economic trade. They fought against greed and self-serving behavior which is the heart of commercial society. They broke the monastic ideal by insisting that their lives were different from the secular culture.

 

Dominicans

Their purpose was to preach in poverty but with adequate education. For them, poverty makes the gospel credible. They required that their members should be supported by begging and receiving gifts from the people. They put much of their resources into the education, which was ignored in society. They develop university education. For example, the most famous Christian theologian of the 13th century, Thomas Aquinas, spent all is religious life teaching Dominican students.

 

 

Bibliography

Burns, Patout, Lectures of “The Formation of Christian Tradition” in Vanderbilt Divinity school, 2004 Fall.

 

  
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