Marian Studies Volume 52 The Marian Dimension of Christian Article 9 Spirituality, Historical Perspectives, I. The Early Period 2001 Conceiving the Word: Patristic and Early Medieval Sources for Franciscan Discussion of Mary's Active Motherhood James Rodger Bell Follow this and additional works at: https://ecommons.udayton.edu/marian_studies Part of the Religion Commons Recommended Citation Bell, James Rodger (2001) "Conceiving the Word: Patristic and Early Medieval Sources for Franciscan Discussion of Mary's Active Motherhood," Marian Studies: Vol. 52, Article 9. Available at: https://ecommons.udayton.edu/marian_studies/vol52/iss1/9 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Marian Library Publications at eCommons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Marian Studies by an authorized editor of eCommons. For more information, please contact
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[email protected]. Bell: Conceiving the Word Conceiving the Word CONCEIVING THE WORD: PATRISTIC AND EARLY MEDIEVAL SOURCES FOR FRANCISCAN DISCUS~ SIONS OF MARY'S ACTIVE MOTHERHOOD ]ames Roger Bell, Ph.D.* The key texts for understanding the changing nature of medi~ eval academic discussion and instruction in the thirteenth century are the Commentaries on Peter Lombard's Book of Sentences. In Book III, questions concerning the incarnation of Christ were examined by generation after generation of scholars. The changing nature of the tabulae of questions mirrors the shifting interest of scholarly dis, cussion. A significant phenomenon in the thirteenth century was the gradual intrusion of questions about Mary into Christological discussions on the Incarnation. This can be strikingly illustrated by comparing the tabula of questions of the Dominican Robert of Kilwardby (ca.