Chapter Six. Aristotle And Scholasticism

In 1969 Brian Armstrong expressly attributed to Peter Martyr Vermigli a 'scholastic methodology' and a special 'affinity with Aristotle', quoting as evidence for his opinion a statement of B.B. Warfield, according to whom 'the scholastic theologian among the early Reformers was Peter Martyr'. Perhaps inspired by Armstrong's vague allusions, further research in the following decades has contributed to showing the extent to which the Aristotelian and scholastic tradition influenced Vermigli, and what consequences this had for the structure and contents of his theology. In order to sketch the contours of Vermigli's 'Aristotelianism' and 'scholasticism', this chapter relies on the achievements of past research as well as on Vermigli's one philosophical work, namely his Commentary on the Nicomachean Ethics. The chapter also sketches the way in which Reformed theologians looked at Aristotelianism and scholasticism around the middle of the sixteenth century. Keywords: Aristotle; Peter Martyr Vermigli; Scholasticism