The Well-Trained Theologian

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

The Well-Trained Theologian THE WELL-TRAINED THEOLOGIAN essential texts for retrieving classical Christian theology part 1, patristic and medieval Matthew Barrett Credo 2020 Over the last several decades, evangelicalism’s lack of roots has become conspicuous. Many years ago, I experienced this firsthand as a university student and eventually as a seminary student. Books from the past were segregated to classes in church history, while classes on hermeneutics and biblical exegesis carried on as if no one had exegeted scripture prior to the Enlightenment. Sometimes systematics suffered from the same literary amnesia. When I first entered the PhD system, eager to continue my theological quest, I was given a long list of books to read just like every other student. Looking back, I now see what I could not see at the time: out of eight pages of bibliography, you could count on one hand the books that predated the modern era. I have taught at Christian colleges and seminaries on both sides of the Atlantic for a decade now and I can say, in all honesty, not much has changed. As students begin courses and prepare for seminars, as pastors are trained for the pulpit, they are not required to engage the wisdom of the ancient past firsthand or what many have labelled classical Christianity. Such chronological snobbery, as C. S. Lewis called it, is pervasive. The consequences of such a lopsided diet are now starting to unveil themselves. Recent controversy over the Trinity, for example, has manifested our ignorance of doctrines like eternal generation, a doctrine not only basic to biblical interpretation and Christian orthodoxy for almost two centuries, but a doctrine fundamental to the church’s Christian identity. Debates over hermeneutics continue to expose our outright skepticism towards divine authorial intent and Christological prefigurement, despite the mountain of patristic, medieval, and Reformation commentaries that labored to read the Bible like Christ and the apostles. Even a loci as expedient to today’s cultural crisis as theological anthropology is approached as if the church had never thought about human nature until now. The list goes on and on. All because we refuse to learn from a pre-modern reading of scripture and its theological heritage, a heritage that has been, until recently, the bedrock of Christian orthodoxy. Something must change. But how? John Webster has identified the antidote: “If Christian theology today is sometimes in disarray—as, indeed, I believe it is—then one of the major reasons is its dislocation from its cultural place…What inhibits Christian theology is…its lack of roots in the traditions of Christian belief and practice which are the soil in which it can grow. …There can be few things more necessary for the renewal of Christian theology than the promotion of awed reading of classical Christian texts, scriptural and other.” I am tired of complaining about the disarray; it’s time to chart a clear path forward. If lasting renewal is to take place, there must be a return to classical Christian texts. Dare I say, even a retrieval. Without retrieval, there will not be renewal. In that spirit, I have written a reading list. It is an “essentials” reading list; it does not pretend to be exhaustive nor definitive, and it is, by my own admission, geared towards works in theology, though not to the neglect of commentary. Consider it a first step, tailor- made for eager students and humble pastors ready to read the Bible with the church. Ad fontes. Matthew Barrett PATRISTICS, beginner _______________________________________________ Creeds Statement of Faith (Expositio Fidei) Didache (pdf) The Apostles Creed (link) Defence of the Nicene Council (pdf) Nicene Creed (link) Four Discourses Against the Arians Creed of Chalcedon (discourses 1, 4) (pdf) The Athanasian Creed (link) Letters (e.g., Marcellinus on the Psalms; Serapion on the Holy Spirit; Festal Diognetus and Didache Letter 39) (pdf) Letter to Diognetus Didache Hilary of Poitiers On the Trinity (pdf) Clement, Polycarp, and Ignatius Various epistles Gregory of Nazianzus Theological Orations (Orations 27–31) Justin Martyr Dialogue with Trypho, Basil of Caesarea a Jew First (pdf) On the Holy Spirit (pdf) Second Apology (pdf) Gregory of Nyssa Irenaeus Against Eunomius (pdf) Against Heresies (pdf) On the Holy Trinity (pdf) On “Not Three Gods” (pdf) Tertullian Anti-Apollinarian Writings (selections) The Five Books Against Marcion (pdf) Against Praxeas (pdf) Augustine On Prescription against Heresy (pdf) Confessions (pdf) City of God (pdf) Origen On the Trinity (pdf) On First Principles (pdf) Answer to Faustus, a Manichean Enchiridion (pdf) Cyprian The Spirit and the Letter (pdf) The Unity of the Catholic Church Nature and Grace (pdf) The Grace of Christ and Original Sin Arius (pdf) Letter to Eusebius of Nicomedia The Predestination of the Saints (pdf) Letter to Alexander of Alexandria Letter to Catholics on the Sect of the Letter to the Emperor Constantine Donatists (pdf) Homilies (selections on Psalms and Athanasius John) (pdf) (pdf) On the Incarnation (pdf) Cyril of Alexandria Patrick of Ireland On the Unity of Christ Confession (pdf) PATRISTICS, advanced _______________________________________________ Creeds An Answer to the Jews The Apostles Creed A Treatise on the Soul The 7 Ecumenical Councils (creeds) On Prescription against Heresy The Athanasian Creed The Five Books Against Marcion Creed of Arminium Against Hermogenes Against the Valentinians Clement, Polycarp, and Ignatius Against Praxeas Various epistles Apology On the Flesh of Christ Diognetus etc. On the Resurrection of the Flesh The Odes of Solomon On Baptism Letter to Diognetus The Muratorian Canon Hippolytus Didache The Refutation of All Heresies The Apostolic Constitutions Fragments (e.g., Dogmatic) On the Apostolic Tradition Justin Martyr Dialogue with Trypho, a Jew Perpetua First and Second Apology The Martyrdom of Perpetua and Exhortation and Discourse to the Felicitas Greeks The Monarchy of the Rule of God Origen On First Principles Irenaeus Against Celsus Against Heresies Exhortation on Martyrdom The Demonstration of the Apostolic On Prayer Preaching Dialogue with Heraclides Commentaries (Gen; Lev; Matt; Lk; Jn; Athenagoras Rom) The Embassy for the Christians Cyprian Clement of Alexandria The Unity of the Catholic Church Exhortation to the Heathen On the Lapsed On Spiritual Perfection Exhortation to Martyrdom On Marriage Against the Jews Christ the Educator The Lord’s Prayer The Blessing of Patience Tertullian Letters (e.g., To Donatus; To Letters (e.g., Marcellinus on the Psalms; Demetrian; Mortality) Serapion on the Holy Spirit; Festal On the Church (select treatises and Letter 39) letters) Macarius-Symeon Gregory Thaumaturgos 50 Spiritual Homilies Creed or Exposition of Faith Dionysius of Rome Against the Sabellians Apollinaris of Laodicea Novatian On the Union in Christ of the Body with The Trinity the Godhead Lactantius Cyril of Jerusalem The Divine Institutes Lectures on the Christian Sacraments Arius (256) Didymus Letter to Eusebius of Nicomedia On the Holy Spirit Letter to Alexander of Alexandria On the Trinity (this might not be by Letter to the Emperor Constantine him) Thalia Hilary of Poitiers Eusebius of Caesarea On the Trinity Against Marcellus Commentary Matthew Preparation for the Gospel Proof of the Gospel Gregory of Nazianzus Church History Theological Orations (Orations 27–31) Life of Constantine Anti-Apollinarian Writings Ecclesiastical Theology Letters (selections: e.g., Apollinarian Letters (e.g., Describing the Council of Controversy) Nicaea) Basil of Caesarea Athanasius On the Holy Spirit Against the Heathen Letters and Homilies (selections) On the Incarnation Against Eunomius Statement of Faith (Expositio Fidei) On the Human Condition Defence of the Nicene Council Against the Arians Gregory of Nyssa On the Councils of Arminum and Against Eunomius Seleucia An Answer to Ablabius Life of Antony On the Holy Spirit against Macedonius On the Spirit On the Holy Trinity On “Not Three Gods” Anti-Apollinarian Writings Life of Macrina Debate and Answer to Maximinus the The Great Catechism Arian An Address on Religious Instruction True Religion On the Soul and Resurrection The Advantage of Believing Letters (selections) Faith and the Creed Homily on Perfection to Olympius Faith in the Unseen Faith and Works Ambrose Enchiridion On the Christian Faith Answer to Faustus a Manichean On the Holy Spirit The Catholic Way of Life and the On the Belief in the Resurrection Manichean Way of Life Letters (selections: e.g., To Marcellina as Answer to the Letter of Manni (The to the Arian party) Foundation) The Punishment and Forgiveness of Jerome Sins and the Baptism of Little Ones Against Vigilantius The Spirit and the Letter The Perpetual Virginity of Blessed Nature and Grace Mary The Grace of Christ and Original Sin Dialogue against the Pelagians The Nature and Origin of the Soul Commentaries (Pss; Jer; 12 Prophets; Answer to the Two Letters of the Isa; Eccl; Matt; Gal;) Pelagians Answer to Julian John Chrysostom Grace and Free Choice Homilies [selections from OT & NT] Rebuke and Grace On the Incomprehensible Nature of God The Predestination of the Saints On Repentance and Almsgiving Letter to Catholics on the Sect of the Discourses against Judaizing Donatists Christians Baptism On the Priesthood Psalm against the Party of Donatus On Marriage and Family Life Answer to the Writings of Petilian and The Cult of the Saints Parmenian Homilies (Gen; Pss; Sermon on the Theodore of Mopsuestia Mount; John) On the Nicene
Recommended publications
  • THE EUCHARIST in EARLY MEDIEVAL EUROPE Celia
    THE EUCHARIST IN EARLY MEDIEVAL EUROPE Celia Chazelle In 843 or 844, Pascasius Radbertus, a monk of the Carolingian royal monastery of Corbie and its abbot from 843 to c. 847, presented King Charles the Bald (d. 877) with a special gift: a treatise about the Eucha- rist that Pascasius had written for Corbie’s mission house of Corvey between 831 and 833.1 Located in the eastern Carolingian territory of Saxony, Corvey had been founded from Corbie in 822 to help cement Christianity, and with it Carolingian rule, among the Saxons whom Charlemagne (d. 814) had forcibly converted from paganism around the turn of the ninth century. Pascasius must have recognized the significance of his gift’s timing, made either at Christmas (843) or at Easter (844).2 One of the key precepts expounded in this work, the first Latin treatise specifically on the Eucharist, is that through the Mass, bread and wine are inwardly, mystically changed into the historical flesh and blood of Christ. The sacrament that the king received in the feast honoring the incarnation (Christmas) or resurrection (Easter) was holy food and drink, the source of eternal salvation, because it contained the very body born of Mary in Bethlehem and crucified in Jerusalem. Pascasius wrote De corpore et sanguine Domini (“On the Lord’s Body and Blood”) in the midst of the rebellion of the three older sons of Emperor Louis the Pious (d. 840). By 843, the civil strife this unleashed had torn the Carolingian Empire apart;3 when Louis’ youngest son, 1 I am very grateful to numerous friends and colleagues for generously sharing their knowledge and offering advice on earlier drafts of this article.
    [Show full text]
  • Paschasius Radbertus and the Song of Songs
    chapter 6 “Love’s Lament”: Paschasius Radbertus and the Song of Songs The Song of Songs was understood by many Carolingian exegetes as the great- est, highest, and most obscure of Solomon’s three books of wisdom. But these Carolingian exegetes would also have understood the Song as a dialogue, a sung exchange between Christ and his church: in fact, as the quintessential spiritual song. Like the liturgy of the Eucharist and the divine office, the Song of Songs would have served as a window into heavenly realities, offering glimpses of a triumphant, spotless Bride and a resurrected, glorified Bridegroom that ninth- century reformers’ grim views of the church in their day would have found all the more tantalizing. For Paschasius Radbertus, abbot of the great Carolingian monastery of Corbie and as warm and passionate a personality as Alcuin, the Song became more than simply a treasury of imagery. In this chapter, I will be examining Paschasius’s use of the Song of Songs throughout his body of work. Although this is necessarily only a preliminary effort in understanding many of the underlying themes at work in Paschasius’s biblical exegesis, I argue that the Song of Songs played a central, formative role in his exegetical imagina- tion and a structural role in many of his major exegetical works. If Paschasius wrote a Song commentary, it has not survived; nevertheless, the Song of Songs is ubiquitous in the rest of his exegesis, and I would suggest that Paschasius’s love for the Song and its rich imagery formed a prism through which the rest of his work was refracted.
    [Show full text]
  • Joachim of Fiore
    Joachim of Fiore Enchiridion super Apocalypsim, ed. Edward K. Burger (Toronto, 1986) Expositio in Apocalypsim (Venice, 1527; reprint, Frankfort on Main, 1964) Liber de concordia Noui et Veteris Testamenti, ed. E. Randolph Daniel (Philadelphia, 1983) (Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, 73). Liber de concordia Noui et Veteris Testamenti (Venice, 1519; reprint, Frankfort on Main, 1964) Liber figurarum, in Il libro delle Figure dell’Abate Gioacchino da Fiore, ed. Leone Tondelli, Marjorie Reeves, and Beatrice Hirsch-Reich, 2 vols. (Turin, 1953) Liber introductoris in Apocalypsim, printed with Expositio in Apocalypsim (Venice, 1527; reprint, Frankfort on Main, 1964), fols. 1vb-26va. "Adversus Iudeos" di Gioacchino da Fiore, ed. by A. Frugoni (Rome, 1957). De articulis fidei di Gioacchino da Fiore.Scritti minori, ed. by E. Buonaiuti (Rome, 1936). Psalterium decem chordarum (Venice, 1527; repr. Frankfort on Main, 1965). Tractatus super quatuor Evangelia di Gioacchino da Fiore, ed. by E. Buonaiuti (Rome, 1930). "Abbot Joachim of Fiore: The De ultimis tribulationibus," ed. by E. R. Daniel, in Prophecy and Millenarianism, ed. by A. William (Harlow, Essex, 1980), pp. 165-89. Grundmann Herbert. Studien über Joachim von Floris (Leipzig and Berlin, 1927). Grundmann Herbert. Joachim von Fiore. Ausgewälte Aufsätze. MGH, Schriften. Vol. 25, 2. (Stuttgart, 1977). Reeves Marjorie. Joachim of Fiore and the Prophetic Future (New York et al., 1977). McGinn Bernard. The Calabrian Abbot (New York; London, 1985). The Life of Joachim of Fiore (from Delno C. West, Sandra Zimdars-Swartz. Joachim of Fiore: A Study in Spiritual Perception and History (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1983), pp. 1-9) THE two primary sources of knowledge about Joachim of Fiore's life are the biographies left to us by Joachim's secretary, Luke of Cosenza , Virtutum Beati Joachimi synopsis, and the anonymous Vita beati Joachimi abbatis.
    [Show full text]
  • Cover Page the Handle
    Cover Page The handle http://hdl.handle.net/1887/20957 holds various files of this Leiden University dissertation. Author: Lamers, Han Title: Reinventing the ancient Greeks : the self-representation of Byzantine scholars in Renaissance Italy Issue Date: 2013-06-12 Bibliography In the bibliography, I abbreviated the following works as I cite them more than once: Boissonade Anecdota graeca e codicibus regiis, ed. Jean François Boissonade. Vol. 5. 5 vols. Paris: In regio typographeo, 1833. Lambros Νέος Ελληνομνήμων, ed. Spyridon Lambros. 21 vols. Athina: Sakellarios, 1904–1927. Legrand Bibliographie hellénique ou description raisonnée des ouvrages publiés en grec par des Grecs aux XVe et XVIe siècles, ed. Émile Legrand. 4 vols. Paris: Leroux, 1885–1906. Migne Sapientissimi Cardinalis Bessarionis Opera omnia, theologica, exegetica, polemica, partim iam edita, partim hucusque anecdota / accedunt ex virorum doctorum qui graecas litteras in Italia instaurarunt supellectili litteraria selecta quaedam, ed. Jacques Paul Migne. Patrologiae cursus completus. Series graeca 161. Lutetiae Parisiorum: Migne, 1866. Mohler Aus Bessarions Gelehrtenkreis. Abhandlungen, Reden, Briefe von Bessarion, Theodoros Gazes, Michael Apostolios, Andronikos Kallistos, Georgios Trapezuntios, Niccolò Perotti, Niccolò Capranica, ed. Ludwig Mohler. Quellen und Forschungen aus dem Gebiete der Geschichte 24. Paderborn: Schöningh, 1942. Monfasani Collectanea Trapezuntiana: Texts, documents, and biblio- graphies of George of Trebizond. Binghamton, NY: Center for Medieval and Early Renaissance Studies, 1984. Παλαιολόγεια Παλαιολόγεια καὶ Πελοποννησιακά, ed. Spyridon Lambros. 4 vols. Athina: [s.n.], 1912–1930. Sathas Μνημεῖα Ἑλληνικῆς Ἱστορίας. Monumenta Historiae Hellenicae. Documents inédits relatifs à l’histoire de la Grèce au Moyen Âge, ed. Konstantinos Sathas. Vol. 8. 9 vols. Paris: Maisonneuve, 1880. Speake Encyclopedia of Greece and the Hellenic Tradition, ed.
    [Show full text]
  • Awkward Objects: Relics, the Making of Religious Meaning, and The
    Awkward Objects: Relics, the Making of Religious Meaning, and the Limits of Control in the Information Age Jan W Geisbusch University College London Thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor in Anthropology. 15 September 2008 UMI Number: U591518 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Dissertation Publishing UMI U591518 Published by ProQuest LLC 2013. Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Declaration of authorship: I, Jan W Geisbusch, confirm that the work presented in this thesis is my own. Where information has been derived from other sources, I confirm that this has been indicated in the thesis. Signature: London, 15.09.2008 Acknowledgments A thesis involving several years of research will always be indebted to the input and advise of numerous people, not all of whom the author will be able to recall. However, my thanks must go, firstly, to my supervisor, Prof Michael Rowlands, who patiently and smoothly steered the thesis round a fair few cliffs, and, secondly, to my informants in Rome and on the Internet. Research was made possible by a grant from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).
    [Show full text]
  • Augustine and the Art of Ruling in the Carolingian Imperial Period
    Augustine and the Art of Ruling in the Carolingian Imperial Period This volume is an investigation of how Augustine was received in the Carolingian period, and the elements of his thought which had an impact on Carolingian ideas of ‘state’, rulership and ethics. It focuses on Alcuin of York and Hincmar of Rheims, authors and political advisers to Charlemagne and to Charles the Bald, respectively. It examines how they used Augustinian political thought and ethics, as manifested in the De civitate Dei, to give more weight to their advice. A comparative approach sheds light on the differences between Charlemagne’s reign and that of his grandson. It scrutinizes Alcuin’s and Hincmar’s discussions of empire, rulership and the moral conduct of political agents during which both drew on the De civitate Dei, although each came away with a different understanding. By means of a philological–historical approach, the book offers a deeper reading and treats the Latin texts as political discourses defined by content and language. Sophia Moesch is currently an SNSF-funded postdoctoral fellow at the University of Oxford, working on a project entitled ‘Developing Principles of Good Govern- ance: Latin and Greek Political Advice during the Carolingian and Macedonian Reforms’. She completed her PhD in History at King’s College London. Augustine and the Art of Ruling in the Carolingian Imperial Period Political Discourse in Alcuin of York and Hincmar of Rheims Sophia Moesch First published 2020 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business Published with the support of the Swiss National Science Foundation.
    [Show full text]
  • 11 Joachim of Fiore
    JOACHIM OF FIORE The abbot’s image released by the bishop’s See of Cosenza, on the occasion of the eight-hundredth anniversary of Joachim’s death,which marks the date ( March 2002 ) of the preliminary steps of the catholic Church’s process leading to his beatification . Joachim of Fiore was born at Celico, a small town in the province of Cosenza, in 1130 and died, in the odour of sanctity, on March the 30 th , 1202, at Canale, a small hamlet of Pietrafitta, near Cosenza. His mortal remains were taken to the “Florense” Abbey of San Giovanni in Fiore, in 1226. He was a Cistercian abbot of Corazzo in 1177 and of Casamari in 1182, but, a short time later, he withdrew into solitude. In 1196 he founded a new congregation in San Giovanni in Fiore, called “Florense”, approved by Celestino III. He was one of the most fecund and complex personalities of the medieval spirituality. Many, especially the extremist Spiritual Franciscans, acclaimed him as a prophet. His prophecies exerted a fascinating influence on a large number of sensible Christian minds. He prophesied a new age. In his “Age of the Spirit” the ecclesiastical organization would be replaced and the Order of the Just (The Franciscan order) would rule the Church. Joachim’s works had a great vogue in the 13 th and 14 th centuries. Dante places him in Paradise, Divine Comedy, the twelfth canto, lines of verse 140/141: “ …il calavrese abate Giovacchino / di spirito profetico dotato…”. Joachim of Fiore resided for some time at the Abbey of Fonte Laurato, in Fiumefreddo Bruzio, which became the second Mother House of the “Florense” congregation.
    [Show full text]
  • Corpus Christi C: the Eucharist How and Why Fr. Frank Schuster Every
    Corpus Christi C: The Eucharist How and Why Fr. Frank Schuster Every so often, on feast days such as Corpus Christi, it is helpful to articulate what the Church means by holding that Jesus Christ our Lord is present in the Eucharist; body, blood, soul, and divinity. That we hold that Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist should come to no surprise because of the number of instances in the New Testament that Jesus says this is so. The last supper as remembered by Mathew, Mark, Luke and First Corinthians quote Jesus when referring to the bread and wine as his body and his blood. Jesus, in John chapter 6, in his bread of life discourse, gives very explicit language regarding how to understand the Eucharist, commanding us to eat his flesh and drink his blood. There are early church writings after the texts in the Bible, such as the Didiche and the Apologies of St. Justin Martyr that speak to the Early Church’s belief in the real presence of Christ. In fact, there are records of tabernacles being established early on for the purpose of reverently housing the Eucharist after Mass for the purpose of bringing the sacrament to the infirm. The belief in the real presence of Christ was simply an accepted tenant of faith for a number of centuries until a controversy erupted in the 9th century. Holy Roman Emperor Charles the Bald had an inquisitive mind and was curious as to whether or not the Eucharist we consume at Mass was also the historical body of the Lord born of the Virgin.
    [Show full text]
  • Beauty As a Transcendental in the Thought of Joseph Ratzinger
    The University of Notre Dame Australia ResearchOnline@ND Theses 2015 Beauty as a transcendental in the thought of Joseph Ratzinger John Jang University of Notre Dame Australia Follow this and additional works at: https://researchonline.nd.edu.au/theses Part of the Philosophy Commons COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA Copyright Regulations 1969 WARNING The material in this communication may be subject to copyright under the Act. Any further copying or communication of this material by you may be the subject of copyright protection under the Act. Do not remove this notice. Publication Details Jang, J. (2015). Beauty as a transcendental in the thought of Joseph Ratzinger (Master of Philosophy (School of Philosophy and Theology)). University of Notre Dame Australia. https://researchonline.nd.edu.au/theses/112 This dissertation/thesis is brought to you by ResearchOnline@ND. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses by an authorized administrator of ResearchOnline@ND. For more information, please contact [email protected]. School of Philosophy and Theology Sydney Beauty as a Transcendental in the Thought of Joseph Ratzinger Submitted by John Jang A thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Philosophy Supervised by Dr. Renée Köhler-Ryan July 2015 © John Jang 2015 Table of Contents Abstract v Declaration of Authorship vi Acknowledgements vii Introduction 1 Structure 3 Method 5 PART I - Metaphysical Beauty 7 1.1.1 The Integration of Philosophy and Theology 8 1.1.2 Ratzinger’s Response 11 1.2.1 Transcendental Participation 14 1.2.2 Transcendental Convertibility 18 1.2.3 Analogy of Being 25 PART II - Reason and Experience 28 2.
    [Show full text]
  • SACRAMENTAL THEOLOGY and ECCLESIASTICAL AUTHORITY Dmusjankiewicz Fulton College Tailevu, Fiji
    Andn1y.r Uniwr~itySeminary Stndics, Vol. 42, No. 2,361-382. Copyright 8 2004 Andrews University Press. SACRAMENTAL THEOLOGY AND ECCLESIASTICAL AUTHORITY DmusJANKIEWICZ Fulton College Tailevu, Fiji Sacramental theology developed as a corollary to Christian soteriology. While Christianity promises salvation to all who accept it, different theories have developed as to how salvation is obtained or transmitted. Understandmg the problem of the sacraments as the means of salvation, therefore, is a crucial soteriological issue of considerable relevance to contemporary Christians. Furthermore, sacramental theology exerts considerable influence upon ecclesiology, particularb ecclesiasticalauthority. The purpose of this paper is to present the historical development of sacramental theology, lea- to the contemporary understanding of the sacraments within various Christian confessions; and to discuss the relationship between the sacraments and ecclesiastical authority, with special reference to the Roman Catholic Church and the churches of the Reformation. The Development of Rom Catholic Sacramental Tbeohgy The Early Church The orign of modem Roman Catholic sacramental theology developed in the earliest history of the Christian church. While the NT does not utilize the term "~acrament,~'some scholars speculate that the postapostolic church felt it necessary to bring Christianity into line with other rebons of the he,which utilized various "mysterious rites." The Greek equivalent for the term "sacrament," mu~tmbn,reinforces this view. In addition to the Lord's Supper and baptism, which had always carried special importance, the early church recognized many rites as 'holy ordinances."' It was not until the Middle Ages that the number of sacraments was officially defked.2 The term "sacrament," a translation of the Latin sacramenturn ("oath," 'G.
    [Show full text]
  • © in This Web Service Cambridge University
    Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-89754-9 - An Introduction to Medieval Theology Rik Van Nieuwenhove Index More information Index Abelard, Peter, 82, 84, 99–111, 116, 120 beatific vision, 41, 62, 191 Alain of Lille, 71 beatitude, 172, 195–96 Albert the Great, 171, 264 Beatrijs van Nazareth, 170 Alexander of Hales, 147, 211, 227 beguine movement, 170 allegory, 15, 43, 45, 47, 177 Benedict XII, Pope, 265 Amaury of Bène, 71 Benedict, St., 28–29, 42 Ambrose, 7, 10, 149 Berengar of Tours, 60, 83, 129, 160, see also amor ipse notitia est 51, 117, see love and knowledge Eucharist anagogy, 47 Bernard of Clairvaux, 79, 82, 100, 104, 110, 112–15, analogy, see univocity 147, 251 analogy in Aquinas, 182–85, 234, 235 critique of Abelard, 110–11 Anselm of Canterbury, 16, 30, 71, 78, 81, 83–98, on loving God, 112–14 204, 236 Boccaccio, Giovanni, 251 Anselm of Laon, 72, 99 Boethius, 29–33, 125, 137 Anthony, St., 27 Bonaventure, 34, 47, 123, 141, 146, 148, 170, 173, apophaticism, 8, 34, 271 176, 179, 211–24, 227, 228, 230, 232, 242, 243, Aquinas, 182–83 245, 254 Aquinas, 22, 24, 34, 47, 51, 72, 87, 89, 90, 133, 146, Boniface, Pope, 249 148, 151, 154, 164, 169, 171–210, 214, 225, 227, 230, 235, 236, 237, 238, 240, 241, 244, 246, Calvin, 14 254, 255, 257, 266 Carabine, Deirdre, 65 Arianism, 20, 21 Carthusians, 79 Aristotle, 9, 20, 29, 78, 84, 179, 181, 192, 195, 212, Cassian, John, 27–29, 47 213, 216, 223, 225, 226, 227, 229, 237, 254, Cassidorius, 124 267, 268 cathedral schools, 82, 169 Arts, 124, 222 Catherine of Siena, 251 and pedagogy (Hugh), 124–28
    [Show full text]
  • “Theology” from the Presocratics to Peter Abelard: Philosophy and Science
    Section Four PHILOSOPHY AND COSMOLOGY IN PERSONS ФилосоФия и Космология в лицах The word “Theology” from the Presocratics to Peter Abelard: Philosophy and Science. Some Remarks Mauro Ferrante1 — PhD Università degli Studi “Niccolò Cusano” — Telematica Roma (Rome, Italy) E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected] The purpose of this paper is to reconstruct, through the analysis of some key moments, the evolution of the term “theology” within the Western philosophical thought. Starting with the first formulation by the Presocratics, the study takes into consideration both the first attestation of the term by Plato (in the second book of the Republic) and the role it plays in Aristotle’s works (Metaphysics). In its second part, the paper considers the importance of the term “theology” in the Latin world, through the study of the Augustine’s critic against the greek thinkers, which will lead to a further development in the Middle Ages. The point of arrival is Peter Abelard, who formulated a concept of “theology” conceived as a science. At first, the term was tied to a pagan conception of society and was devoid of any scientific connotation. With the advent of Christianity, it begins to take on an universalistic character connected with the concept of an absolute truth. It is here pointed out, through all of these antecedents, how, in the Middle Ages, when the “theology” became an autonomous science and responds to its own laws, how it is assumed and used as an instrument to manage both science and truth. Thanks to the contributions of the ancient philosophers, developed by medieval thinkers, it was possible to subsequently use the term “theology” also in a political sense.
    [Show full text]