Origins of Papal Infallibility, 1150-1350: A Study on the Concepts of Infallibility, Sovereignty and Tradition in the Middle Ages

311 Pages·1972·14.169 MB·English

by  Brian Tierney

ORIGINS OF PAPAL INFALLIBILITY
1150-1350
STUDIES IN THE HISTORY
OF
CHRISTIAN THOUGHT
EDITED BY
HEIKO A. OBERMAN, Tubingen
IN COOPERATION WITH
HENRY CHADWICK, Oxford
EDWARD A. DOWEY, Princeton, N.J.
JAROSLAV PELIKAN, New Haven, Conn.
BRIAN TIERNEY, Ithaca, N.Y.
VOLUME VI
BRIAN TIERNEY
ORIGINS OF PAPAL INFALLIBILITY
1150-1350
LEIDEN
E. J. BRILL
1972
ORIGINS OF
PAPAL INFALLIBILITY
1150-1350
A STUDY ON THE
CONCEPTS OF INFALLIBILITY, SOVEREIGNTY
AND TRADITION IN THE MIDDLE AGES
BY
BRIAN TIERNEY
LEIDEN
E. J. BRILL
Copyright 1972 by E. J. Brill, Leiden, Netherlands
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or
translated in any form, by print, photoprint, microfilm, microfiche
or any other means without written permission from the publisher
PRINTED IN THE NETHERLANDS
TO
THERESA
237873

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface. ix
Abbreviations. x
Introduction. Theology and History. 1
I. The Canonists. 14
1. Scripture and Tradition. 15
(i) The Concept of Tradition. 15
(ii) Scripture, Tradition, and Papal Power. 22
2. Infallibility and Magisterium. 31
(i) Inerrancy and Indefectibility. 31
(ii) Papal Magisterium and the “Key of Knowledge”. 39
3. Infallibility and Sovereignty. 45
(i) Pope and General Council. 45
(ii) Irreformable ex sese? . 53
II. Saint Bona venture. 58
1. From Francis to Bonaventure. 59
(i) Franciscan Joachimism. 59
(ii) Papal Privileges . 64
(iii) Apostolic Poverty . 67
2. The “New Tradition” of St. Francis. 72
(i) Development of Doctrine. 72
(ii) Franciscan Revelation. 76
3. Bonaventure: Sovereignty and Infallibility. 82
(i) Jurisdiction . 82
(ii) Magisterium. 86
III. Pietro Olivi. 93
1. The Enigma of Pietro Olivi . 93
(i) The Novelty of Oiivi’s Doctrine . 93
(ii) Olivi and the Franciscan Order. 96
(iii) Olivi and the Roman Church.101
VIII TABLE OF CONTENTS
2. Doctrinal Development and the Roman See.109
(i) Progressive Revelation. The Role of St. Francis . 109
(ii) Papal Magisterium: The Quaestio de renuntiatione . Ill
3. Olivi and Papal Infallibility .115
(i) The Doctrine of Infallibility.115
(ii) The Necessity for Infallibility.122
IV. Mendicants and Seculars, 1280-1320 . 131
1. Tradition: Church and Scripture .132
(i) Henry of Ghent.133
(ii) Duns Scotus.140
2. Infallibility: Church and Pope.144
(i) Duns Scotus.144
(ii) Hervaeus Natalis.146
(iii) Peter de la Palu.149
3. Sovereignty: Pope, Bishops and General Council. . . 154
(i) Conciliarists.154
(ii) Anti-conciliarists.159
(iii) The De perfectione statuum.165
V. John XXII and the Franciscans.171
1. The Franciscans and the “Key of Knowledge” . . . 171
2. The Reaction of John XXII.186
3. Michael of Cesena .196
VI. Anti-Papal Infallibility: William of Ockham . . . . 205
1. Ockham’s Ecclesiology: Form and Content .... 206
2. Irreformability and the “Rule of Faith”.210
3. Sources of Christian Doctrine.218
4. Implications of Infallibility.226
VII. Pro-Papal Infallibility: Guido Terreni.238
1. The Infallibility of the Pope.239
2. The Primacy of Scripture.251
3. The Defense of Papal Power.259
4. The Aftermath.270
Conclusion. History and Theology.273
Bibliography. 282
Index. 292
PREFACE
At the time when I was completing the final draft of this book a
major dispute broke out among Catholic scholars concerning the
theology of papal infallibility. It was occasioned principally by Hans
Kiing’s study, Unfehlbar? Eine Anfrage, and it is still continuing. My
book was not provoked by the current controversy and it is not
addressed directly to the theological issues that are now being debated
—though it may prove to have some relevance for them. The present
work deals with the history of papal infallibility. But its aim is not to
demonstrate by ingenious historical arguments—in the manner of
some older polemical works on this theme—either that the popes have
sometimes contradicted one another in the course of the centuries or,
alternatively, that the papal magisterium has never erred “from the
path of apostolic tradition” in its more solemn pronouncements. My
purpose has not been to retrace the paths of old controversies. Instead
I have tried to do something new—to provide for the first time an
adequate historical account of how the doctrine of papal infallibility
originally grew into existence.
Much of the research for this book was carried out in Munich
during the academic year 1966-1967. I would like to express my
gratitude to the authorities of the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek and of
the Monumenta Germaniae Historica for permission to work in their
rich collections. Through the kind hospitality of Professor Dr.
Hermann Tiichle I was also able to use the resources of the Seminar
fur Kirchengeschichte of the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat.
I am indebted to the American Council of Learned Societies and to
the Society for Religion in Higher Education for research stipends.
Cornell University has been generous in making available time for
research and writing.
The book includes some paragraphs from two previously published
articles. These are “‘Sola Scriptura’ and the Canonists” in Studia
Gratiana, 11 (1967) and “From Thomas of York to William of
Ockham” in the Proceedings of the Congressus De Historia Sollici-
tudinis Omnium Ecclesiarum held at Rome in 1967. I am grateful for
permission to use this material in the present work.
My wife helped with the index and the typing; but that is not why
this book is dedicated to her.
B.T.
Ithaca, N.Y.
ABBREVIATIONS
AFH Archivum Franciscanum Historicum.
AHDL Archives d'histoire doctrinale et litteraire du moyen dge.
ALKG Archiv fur Literatur- und Kirchengeschichte des Mittelalters.
Baluze, Misc. E. Baluze and J. D. Mansi, Miscellanea (Lucca, 1761-1764).
Clem. Clementis Papae V Constitutiones in E. Friedberg (ed.).
Corpus Iuris Canonici (Leipzig, 1879).
Extrav. Ioann. XXII Extravagantes D. Ioannis XXII in E. Friedberg (ed.). Corpus
Iuris Canonici (Leipzig, 1879).
Foundations B. Tierney, Foundations of the Conciliar Theory (Cambridge
1955).
“Pope and Council” B. Tierney, “Pope and Council: Some New Decretist
Texts,” Mediaeval Studies, 19 (1957), pp. 197-218.
PL Patrologia Latina.
RTAM Recherches de theologie ancienne et medievale.
Sext. Liber Sextus Decretalium in E. Friedberg (ed.). Corpus Iuris
Canonici (Leipzig, 1879).
X (Liber Extra) Decretalium D. Gregorii Papae IX Compilatio in E. Fried¬
berg (ed.), Corpus Iuris Canonici (Leipzig, 1879).
Abbreviations not listed are considered self-explanatory.
Full titles of all works cited are given in the Bibliography.