Boethius made two important contributions to the philosophy of religion. In his Opuscula sacra (Short theological treatises) (hereafter OS; 1983, 2000), he used a method of logically analysing Christian doctrine that would deeply affect the medieval tradition of theology. In his final work, De consolatione philosophiae (Consolation of philosophy; hereafter Consolation; Boethius 1983, 2000) he devotes most of the last book to discussing the problem of prescience: the question of whether God's foreknowledge of events prevents their being contingent. The solution he proposed was taken up by Aquinas, and this line of argument, as interpreted by contemporary philosophers, is considered to be one of the main ways of tackling the problem. But before these themes can be discussed, they need to be placed into the broader context of Boethius' times, life and works.

BOETHIUS' LIFE AND WORKS

Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius' life was shaped by the accident of his birth (c.476) into a noble Roman family, and his adoption into an even nobler one. His privileged background meant that he acquired fluent Greek and had access to Greek culture and manuscripts. He was able to spend most of his life in learned leisure, devoted to arithmetic, music and, above all, logic. Italy was ruled by the Ostrogoths, and Boethius' social and intellectual eminence led the Ostrogothic king, Theodoric, to choose him as his chief minister. But suspicions among the Goths about his loyalty and rivalries at court led to his fall from favour, imprisonment and (c.525) execution on trumped-up charges of treason.