Erasmus, Luther and Calvin are the “finishers” of medieval thought (in terms of theology), Augustine and Gregory were the beginners of it.
I guess the point of the question was to show the development over the medieval time period of how Justification was viewed by society and the Church.
Yeah, it was a pretty brutal question though.
Complicated issue. Personally, I would put the break between modernity and the medievalists before Erasmus and the Reformers...and put them into the next course in the series. But noting where historical epochs begin and end is (obviously) a matter of interpretation.
Was this an undergrad course? Or grad/sem level?
I think that the question also wanted the student to explain how modern theologians differed from medieval thought.
Actually, the question would not be that difficult to students who took a survey of religious philosophy class. It was a required freshman course where I went to school, religion 101. It was difficult only because most of us were too young to understand that level of thought. It requires a some maturity.