Fides et Ratio in the Renaissance (original) (raw)
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Natural theology and natural philosophy in the late Renaissance
Despite some great strides in relating certain areas of Christian doctrine to the study of the natural world, the category ‘natural theology’ has often been subject to anachronism and misunderstanding. The term itself is difficult to define; it is most fruitful to think of natural theology as the answer to the wuestion, ‘what can be known about God and religion from the contemplation of the natural world?’ There have been several erroneous assumptions about natural theology – in particular that it only consisted of rational proofs for the existence of God, that it was ecumenical in outlook, and that it was defined as strictly separate from Scriptural revelation. These assumptions are shown to be uncharacteristic of the late-sixteenth and early-seventeenth century. The study of natural theology needs to be better integrated into three contexts – the doctrinal, confessional, and chronological. Doctrinally, natural theology does not stand alone but needs to be understood within the context of the theology of revelation, justification, and the effects of the Fall. These doctrines make such a material difference that scholars always ought to delineate clearly between the threefold state of man (original innocence, state of sin, state of grace) when approaching the topic of ‘natural’ knowledge of God. Confessionally, scholars need to recognise that the doctrine of natural theology received different treatments on either side of the sectarian divide. In Catholicism, for instance, there were considerable spiritual benefits of natural theology for the non-Christian, while in Protestantism its benefits were restricted to those saved Christians who possessed Scriptural insight. Chronologically, natural theology does not remain uniform throughout the history of Christian theology but, being subject to changes occasioned by philosophical and theological faddism and development, needs to be considered within a particular chronological locus. Research here focuses on late sixteenth-century orthodoxy as defined in confessional and catechismal literature (which has been generally understudied), and demonstrates its application in a number of case-studies. This thesis begins the work of putting natural theology into these three contexts. An improved understanding of natural theology, with more rigorous and accurate terminology and better nuanced appreciation of confessional differences, makes for a better framework in which to consider the theological context of early modern natural philosophy.
Approaching Renaissance Religions
Renaissance Religions: Modes and Meanings in History, 2021
Several decades of cultural and inter-disciplinary scholarship have yielded, and continue to yield, new insights into the diversity of religious experience in Europe from the fifteenth through the seventeenth centuries. Revisionist approaches to humanism and humanists have led to a re-evaluation of the framing of belief; the boundaries between Christianity, Judaism, and Islam are seen to be more fluid and porous; a keen interest in devotion and materiality has lent new voice to 'subaltern' elements in society; sermon studies has emerged as a distinct discipline and a preacher's omissions are now understood to be often more telling than what was said; under the influence of the 'spatial turn' art and architectural history is generating new understandings of how belief and devotion translated into material culture; the emphasis in defining early modern Catholic culture and identity has moved from emphasizing reactions to Protestantism towards exploring roots and forms in fifteenth century reform movements; globalization, mass migration and issues surrounding social inclusion have re-positioned our understanding of reform in the late medieval and early modern period. The essays in this volume reflect these historiographical and methodological developments and are organized according to four themes: Negotiating Boundaries, Modelling Spirituality, Sense and Emotion, and Space and Form. This organization underscores how analysis of religious life clarifies the questions that are at the core of Renaissance studies today. http://www.brepols.net/Pages/ShowProduct.aspx?prod\_id=IS-9782503590691-1
Although the fifteenth century showed some signs of traditionalism and disintegration, there were also highly original new solutions to long-debated problems in scholastic and humanistic discourse. As for the relation between faith and reason, Nicholas of Cusa, Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, and Savonarola found new ways to integrate these poles, around which theological and philosophical thought was organized. As a common pattern, one can discern a striving beyond the established systems of humanism and scholasticism, mingling elements of both traditions with those from the movements of spiritual reform in the later Middle Ages. This "striving beyond" was possible due to a performative turn in the fifteenth century: thinking and acting were connected by the narrator or the author in a manner that produced theoretical concepts and acts in social reality by writing, thinking, and actively developing the self.
Catholic Theology in the Thirteenth Century and the Origins of Secularism
Irish Theological Quarterly, 2010
This article examines two distinct responses to the reception of Aristotle in the thirteenth century: the Bonaventurean and the Thomist. The outcome of this debate (and the Condemnations of 1277) led to the modern separation of faith and reason. Rather than seeing voluntarism and nominalism as the cause of the modern separation of faith and reason, and theology and philosophy, it will be suggested that it is actually the other way around: the Bonaventurean response indirectly resulted in the growing separation of faith and reason, which led, in turn, to voluntarism. It is important not to confuse the Thomist and Franciscan responses, as sometimes happens in recent scholarship, including in the work of Gavin D'Costa, as will be shown. Both the Thomist and the Bonaventurean approaches are legitimate resources to respond to the (post)-secular context in which we find ourselves, and the former should not be reduced to the latter.
2005
The thesis consists of four separately published articles and a summary. Three of the articles are research papers and the fourth comprises the critical edition of questions 3, 4 and 5 from Roger Roseth's Lectura super Sententias. The aim of the study is to make Roseth's text available for historical study and to trace the close relation between late medieval theology and teaching and research in the faculties of arts.
2013
This contribution presents three Quaestiones on the divine nature written by the Augustinian friar Girolamo Seripando between 1528 and 1536, when he was a disciple of Giles of Viterbo. This means that the Quaestiones de natura divina adversus Epicurum, adversus Manichaeum, and adversus Stoicos predate the period of Seripando’s full involvement in the government of the Augustinian order and his participation in the first session of the Council of Trent. The contribution illustrates the historical and philosophical background to Seripando’s youthful writings and identifies some characteristic features of his Christian Platonism, which was inspired by Ficino’s philosophy. The Latin text of the three Quaestiones, contained in MS VIII E 40 of the Biblioteca Nazionale in Naples, is published in the Appendix.
2005
The thesis consists of four separately published articles and a summary. Three of the articles are research papers and the fourth comprises the critical edition of questions 3, 4 and 5 from Roger Roseth's Lectura super Sententias. The aim of the study is to make Roseth's text available for historical study and to trace the close relation between late medieval theology and teaching and research in the faculties of arts. Historians of medieval intellectual history commonly emphasise that the institutional organisation of the universities contributed to the intellectual unity of medieval science. The basic training medieval scholars received in logic and philosophy established scientific ideals and practises which they applied in the higher faculties of theology, law, and medicine. While medieval logic and natural philosophy have received attention in modern scholarship, their role in late medieval theology still remains a largely unexplored area. The research articles focus on essential topics in Aristotelian natural philosophy and logic and their relation to theology. The themes of the articles are: the theory of the mathematical infinite and its relation to divine omnipotence; the theory of change, in particular the models for ascribing limits to continuous processes such as the augmentation of charity; and the application of Aristotelian logic to Trinitarian inferences.