The Christian Tradition: A History of the Development of Doctrine, Vol. 3: The Growth of Medieval Theology (600-1300)

365 Pages·1980·4.28 MB·English

by  Jaroslav Pelikan

The Christian Tradition

1. The Emergence of the Catholic Tradition (100—600)

2. The Spirit of Eastern Christendom (600-1700)

3. The Growth of Medieval Theology (600-1300)

4. Reformation of Church and Dogma (1300—1700)

5. Christian Doctrine and Modern Culture (since 1700)

The Christian Tradition
A History of the Development of Doctrine

Jaroslav Pelikan

3
The Growth
of
Medieval Theology
(600-1300)

The University of Chicago Press

Chicago and London

JAROSLAV PELIKAN is Sterling professor of
history and chairman of medieval studies at Yale
University and a fellow of the Mediaeval Academy
of America. His many publications include From
Luther to Kierkegaard, The Riddle of Roman
Catholicism, Development of Doctrine, and Historical
Theology. He has also been editor of the American
Edition of Luther's Works.

The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637
The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London

© 1978 by The University of Chicago
All rights reserved. Published 1978
Printed in the United States of America
86 85 84 83 82 81 80 5 4 3 2

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Pelikan, Jaroslav Jan, 1923—

The growth of medieval theology (600-1300)

(His The Christian tradition; 3)
Bibliography: p.
Includes indexes.
I. Theology, Doctrinal—History—Middle Ages, 600.

1500. I. Title.

BT2I.2.P42
vol. 3
[BT26]
230S
[230'.09'02]

ISBN 0-226-65374-9 (cloth)
ISBN 0-226-65375-7 (paper)

Contents

Preface
vii

Primary Sources
xi

The Middle Ages as "Age of Faith"
1

1. THE INTEGRITY OF THE CATHOLIC TRADITION
9

The Faith and the Creed
11

Faith, Hope, and Love
23

The Spirit and the Letter
34

The City of God
42

2. BEYOND THE
AUGUSTINIAN
SYNTHESIS
50

The Reconsideration of Dogma
52

The Rule of Prayer
66

The Sovereignty of Grace
80

The Claims of Reason
95

3. THE PLAN OF SALVATION
106

The Paradox of Justice and Mercy
108

The Discipline of ]esus
118

The Cross as the Redemption of Mankind
129

The Lord of History
144

4. THE COMMUNICATION OF GRACE
158

Mary as Mediatrix
160

The Communion of Saints
174

The Real Presence
184

The Grace of the Sacraments
204

V

CONTENTS
vi

5. THE ONE TRUE FAITH
215

The Problem of Patristic Consensus
216

Schism, Sect, and Heresy
229

The Encounter with Other Faiths
242

Faith in Search of Understanding
255

6. SUMMA THEOLOGICA
268

The Reintegration of the Catholic Tradition
270

Natural Theology and the Scholastic Method
284

The Celestial and Ecclesiastical Hierarchies
293

The Vision of God
303

Selected Secondary Works
308

Index: Biblical
323

General
326

Preface

The completion of The Growth of Medieval Theology
has brought my history of the development of Christian
doctrine well past the halfway point, with the period of
the Reformation and the modern era reserved for the two
remaining volumes. In the present volume, even more
than in either of the preceding ones, it has been necessary
to adhere strictly to the definition of the work as a whole
set down in the introduction to volume 1. Most histories
of medieval doctrine have been histories of Christian
thought, or even histories of philosophical thought, rather
than histories of what the church believed, taught, and
confessed on the basis of the word of God. For that reason
certain issues (for example, the question of universals)
and certain thinkers (above all, Thomas Aquinas) have
been far more prominent in such histories than they are
here. Although I was, as my earlier publications indicate,
better prepared to write about Thomas than about any of
the other authors on whom I have drawn in the present
volume, the limitations I have imposed on the subject
matter of The Christian Tradition made a detailed exposi-
tion of Thomistic thought unjustifiable, despite its ob-
vious attractions.

As I have sought to show in the introduction to this

volume, even the word "theology" is used in the title (as
it was often used in the Middle Ages) in a sense different
from that in which we generally use it. To us, the word
tends to mean what individual theologians do and how
they develop their systems, but I am employing it almost
as a synonym for "church doctrine." Therefore the outline
of The Growth of Medieval Theology is shaped primarily

vii

PREFACE
viii

by the evolution of the doctrines and only secondarily by
the controversies or the speculations of the doctors. Like
its two predecessors, this volume is arranged chronologi-
cally, even though the titles of the chapters are topical
rather than chronological. The date of the classic formula-
tion of a doctrine or the consummation of an important
stage of the development of a doctrine has determined
where I have discussed that doctrine, including earlier
stages of its development—Anselm's Why God Became
Man for chapter 3, the definition of the real presence and
the establishment of the seven sacraments for chapter 4,
Abelard's Sic et non for part of chapter 5, the "five ways"
of Thomas for part of chapter 6. Even the discussions of
heresy and of other religions in chapter 5 appear where
they do in the narrative because of the prominence of
those questions in the life and teaching of the church of
the twelfth century.

The setting of this volume within the context of the

entire work has helped to give such issues as the doctrine
of the Trinity and Christology a prominence that they
often lack in histories of medieval thought. Above all, it
has been responsible for my attention to the question of
tradition. There is, at least since the apostles, no figure in
Christian history who has so dominated a millennium
with his teachings as Augustine did. How he was under-
stood (or misunderstood) and how he was transmitted
(or superseded) is, therefore, a central element in the
story. I have also made connections between this volume
and the first two in other and more trivial ways. I have, for
example, often rendered the Latin term "verbum" as
"Logos" when it was clearly a reference to the second
person of the Trinity, and have used "Theotokos" to
translate such Latin formulas as "Dei genitrix" or "mater
Dei" or (in two or three texts) "Teothocos." This I have
done not to claim for Latin writers a greater command of
Greek than they possessed, but to facilitate the compari-
son and contrast that are so interesting and important a
feature of doctrinal development. Cross-references to
previous volumes, as well as cross-references within this
volume, are also intended to serve that end.

Once again, I am obliged—and delighted—to acknowl-

edge the help I have received from others. A series of
dissertations I directed on topics in medieval doctrine,
notably that of Patrick Geary on relics and that of E. Ann

Preface
ix

Matter on Mary, made me aware of issues and of texts
that I might otherwise have overlooked. Several lecture
invitations gave me the opportunity to try out most of
these chapters on a living audience and on colleagues in
medieval studies who gave me the benefit of their criticism
and advice. The host institutions for those lectures were
(in alphabetical order): The University of Calgary; the
Catholic University of America; the University of Chi-
cago; Princeton University; Saint Mary's College at Notre
Dame; the University of Toronto (the Centre for Medi-
eval Studies and the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval
Studies); and Yale University. I have likewise benefited
from several distinguished library collections, above all
from the Sterling Memorial Library and the Beinecke
Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale, but also from
the Library of Congress, the Widener Library at Harvard,
and the library of the Medieval Institute of the University
of Notre Dame. Most of all, of course, I have learned from
the primary sources listed at the beginning of the book
and from the secondary works listed at the end of the
book, as well as from other writings in both categories not
specifically identified. Nancy Wellins assisted me with
verifying citations. The devoted and accurate transcrip-
tion of a difficult manuscript into its final form was the
work of my secretary, Mrs. Candace Bryce.

Primary Sources

Authors and Texts

Abb.Fract.

Adalg.Admon.
Adel.Ep.Bmgr.
Ael.Spec.car.
Agob.

Pel.
Fred.
Grand.

Alan.Ins.

Haer.
Reg.theol.

Alb.M.

Proph.min.
Sent.

Alc.

Cant.
Disp.puer,

Elip.
Ep.
Ep.Beat.
Pel.
Pel.haer.
Gen.
Trin.

Vs.Alc.Div.off.
Aldh.

Carm.
Virg.

Alex. III

Sent.Rol.
Sum.Rol.

Abbaudus. On the Breaking of the Lord's Body {De fractione

corporis Domini}

Adalger. Admonition to a Recluse
Adelmannus of Brescia. Epistle to Berengar
Aelred of Rievaulx. Mirror of Love {Speculum caritatis}
Agobard of Lyons

Against the Dogma of Felix
Against the Objections of Fredegisus
On Hailstorms and Thunder {De grandme et tomtruts}

Alan of Lille [Alanus de Insulis]

On the Catholic Faith against the Heretics of His Time
Rules of Sacred Theology

Albertus Magnus

Commentary on the Minor Prophets
Commentary on the Sentences

Alcuin

Compendium on the Song of Songs
A Disputation for Boys in Questions and Answers {Disputa-

tio puerorum per interrogationes et responsiones}

Against Elipandus
Epistles
Epistle to Beatus of Liebana
Against Felix
Against the Heresy of Felix
Questions and Answers on Genesis
The Faith of the Holy and Undivided Trinity

Pseudo-Alcuin. On the Divine Offices
Aldhelm

Hymns {Carmina ecclesiastica}
On Virginity

Pope Alexander III

The Sentences of Roland
The Summa of Master Roland

xi

PRIMARY SOURCES
xii

Alex.Hal.

Quaest.disp.
S.T.
Sent.

Alg.

Mis.et just.
Sacr.

Alterc.syn.
Amal.

Bapt.
off.
Ord.

Ambr.

Inc.
Is.et an.
Myst.
Ps.n8
Sacr.
Spir.

Ambr.Aut.

Apoc.
Assump.
Luc.
Mts.
Nat.Virg.
Purif.
Sanct.
Trans.
Vit.virt.
V.Pald.

Amul.

Ep.
Grat.

Anast.Chin.Ep.Ger.
Andr.Cr.O.
Kag.Gen.
Ann.Bert.
Ans.

Cas.diab.
Conc.

Concept.virg.
Cur d.h.
Ep.
Inc.
Lib.arb.
Med.
Mon.
Orat.
Pros.
Sacr.eccl.
Ver.

Alexander of Hales

Disputed Questions
Summa Theological
Commentary on the Sentences

Alger of Liege

On Mercy and Justice {De misericordia et justitia}
On the Sacraments

Altercation between the Church and the Synagogue
Amalarius of Metz

On Baptism
Book of Offices
On the Days of Ordinances

Ambrose of Milan

On the Mystery of the Lord's Incarnation
On Isaac and the Soul {De Isaac et anima}
On the Mysteries
Exposition of Psalm 118
On the Sacraments
On the Holy Spirit

Ambrose Autpert

Commentary on the Apocalypse
On the Feast of the Assumption
On the Birthday of Saint Luke
On Saint Matthias
On the Nativity of the Virgin Mary
On the Purification of the Virgin
On All Saints' Day
On the Transfiguration of the Lord
On the Conflict of Vices and Virtues
Life of Paldo

Amolo of Lyons

Epistles
On the Grace and Foreknowledge of God

Anastasius of Cluny. Epistle to Gerald
Andrew of Crete. Orations
Angelomus of Luxeuil. Commentary on Genesis
The Annals of Saint-Bertin
Anselm of Canterbury

On the Fall of the Devil {De casu diaboli}
On the Harmony of the Foreknowledge, Predestination, and

Grace of God with Free Will {De concordia praescientiae
et praedestinationis et gratiae dei cum libero arbitrio}

On the Virginal Conception and on Original Sin
Why God Became Man {Cur deus homo}
Epistles
Epistle on the Incarnation of the Word
On the Freedom of the Will {De libertate arbitrii}
Meditations
Monologion
Prayers {Orationes}
Proslogion
On the Sacraments of the Church
On Truth {De veritate}

Authors and Texts
xiii

Ans.Hav. Dial.

Ans.L.

Sent.Ans.
Sent.div.pag.

Att.Verc.

Ep.
Serm.

Aud.V.Elig.
Aug.

Civ.
Conj.
Doctr.christ.
Enchir.
Ep.
Ev.Joh.
Eid.et symb.
Gen.ad litt.

Mor.eccl.
Nat.et grat.
Parm.
Persev.
Praed.sanct.

Ps.
Retract.
Rom.

Spir.et litt.
Trin.

Vs.Aug.Hypomn.

Bald.

Comm.fid.
Sacr.alt.
Tract.

Beat.

Apoc.
Elip.

Bed.

Act.
Cant.
E.et N.
Ep.
Ep.Ecg.
Ep.Joh.
Gen.
H.e.
Hist.ab.
Horn.
Luc.
Marc.

Anselm of Havelberg. Dialogues in Constantinople with Nicetas

of Nicomedia

Anselm of Laon

Sentences of Anselm
Sentences of the Divine Page

Atto of Vercelli

Epistles
Sermons

Audoin. Life of Eligius
Augustine of Hippo

City of God {De civitate dei}
Confessions
On Christian Doctrine
Enchiridion
Epistles
Exposition of the Gospel of John
On Vaith and the Creed {De fide et symbolo}
Exposition of Genesis according to the Letter {De Genesi ad

litteram}

On the Morals of the Catholic Church
On Nature and Grace {De natura et gratia}
Against the Epistle of Parmenianus
On the Gift of Perseverance
On the Predestination of the Saints {De praedestinatione sanc-

torum}

Exposition of the Psalms
Retractations
Exposition of Certain Propositions from the Epistle to the

Romans

On the Spirit and the Letter {De spiritu et littera}
On the Trinity

Pseudo-Augustine. Memorandum against the Pelagians and

Celestians {Hypomnesticon}

Baldwin of Ford

On the Commendation of Eaith
The Sacrament of the Altar
Tractates

Beatus of Liebana

Commentary on the Apocalypse
Against Elipandus

The Venerable Bede

Exposition of the Acts of the Apostles
Allegorical Exposition of the Song of Songs
Commentary on Ezra and Nehemiah
Epistles
Epistle to Egbert
Exposition of 1 John
Commentary on Genesis
Ecclesiastical History
History of the Abbots
Homilies
Exposition of the Gospel of Luke
On the Gospel of Mark