When Christ came, as it is said, “His holy life and death were a stumbling block to the Jews, and foolishness to the Greeks”. God came to show that the wisdom of this world is foolishness, and that the important things were being revealed to little children. On the other hand, Christianity ultimately did not destroy this great heritage of mankind, but instead subjected it to Christ. The Liberal Arts were baptized by the Church, and Theology; What God has revealed to us about Himself became the ultimate goal and the mother of the Liberal Arts, with wonderful results.
Mankind’s efforts at knowing the truth have led to the most profound insights and the most harmful errors. Although many philosophers reached the same conclusions about the important questions - the nature of God, truth and morality - little errors in thinking made all the difference, and the human mind has always been prone to error. For this reason, it was very fitting that we would have truth revealed by God, to prevent us from falling into all sorts of errors. The Liberal Arts greatly benefitted by having this authority to guide them.
Further, the introduction of Christianity into the picture did not by any means stifle the pursuit of truth, as some people claim. The truths revealed by God are not stale facts or arbitrary rules, which restrict free thinking. They are great mysteries, which only become greater the more they are understood. Faith gives wings to human reason, and sheds light on things that were previously not understood. As Anselm said, “I believe in order that I may understand.”