Brepols Library of Christian Sources
Peter Abelard, Know Yourself (Scito te ipsum)
Peter Abelard (1079-1142) famous for his unhappy love story with Heloise which he wrote down in his autobiographical work Historia calamitatum was among the most respected scholars of his time. Brilliant as a philosopher and theologian he was one of the co-founders of scholasticism seeking to elucidate theological facts through logic.Scito te ipsum is one of the most important texts of the twelfth century. Only in the later phase of his life and work did Abelard decide to separate moral themes from his overall theological schema and to dedicate a monograph to them under the guiding concepts of "sin" (First Book) and "obedience before God" (Second Book unfinished). As Ethica nostra it was intended to provide a Christian conception alongside a philosophical ethics and to summarise the results of his previous studies.
Along with Abelard’s entire theology this treatise was also condemned as heretical by Pope Innocent II and was long considered lost. Since its rediscovery in the 18th century it has met with lively interest both from a theological and also from a philosophical point of view. The historical aspects of the work and its integration into Abelard’s complete works receive special attention in the introduction to this volume which presents the Latin text from the Corpus Christianorum (CC CM 190) with a new English translation.
The Donatist Compendium of 427 and Related Texts
Exegetical Materials from a Dissident Communion
This volume contains the first translation into English of a number of documents associated with the Donatist movement in North Africa a dissident church which flourished during the fourth and fifth centuries before the Vandal invasion obscures our view of it. Donatists are often remembered for their fanatical opposition to traditores—those who had “handed over” the sacred scriptures during the Diocletianic Persecution—and their belief that those baptized by such people were not part of the true church. The writings contained in this volume add critical nuance to this portrait. At its centerpiece is the Donatist Compendium of 427 a collection of eleven exegetical texts compiled c. 427 CE by an unknown Donatist editor; other translated writings include a chronograph revised on the eve of the Vandal conquest of Carthage known as the Genealogy Book a set of section-headings for the Major Prophets and the book of Acts and a Donatist homily on the Epiphany one of the few sermons by a Donatist preacher that still survives. All of these texts were produced within a Donatist milieu and taken together they offer us a unique window into the inner life of the dissident communion as well as valuable insight into the exegetical tools that late antique bishops had at their disposal as they sought to illuminate the biblical text for their congregations.
Pseudo-Thomas Gallus, Three Writings on Mystical Theology
This volume contains a newly-edited exposition on the Mystical Theology contained in MS UV6 of the Biblioteca degli Intronati in Siena. The MS attributes the work to the abbot of Vercelli (Thomas Gallus) but this is shown to be a false attribution. A commentary on the Canticle of Canticles has also been attributed to Thomas Gallus but argued against by J. Barbet in Brepols' SRSA volume 10 (2005). This commentary is reprinted and accompanied with the first ever English translation. A treatise on the Seven Steps to Contemplation in Latin with an English translation is the third text. An introductory critical study evaluates all three works and argues that they all belong to the same author pseudo-Thomas Gallus.
Faustus of Riez, On Grace
Faustus was a Gallic representative of what has been referred to as 'semipelagianism'. In his De Gratia he fiercely opposed the Augustinian view of Grace and Predestination that had been upheld by Lucidus a presbyter who possibly misunderstood Augustine's thought. Faustus did not open new ground about these contested doctrines but put significant roadblocks to their possible extreme trajectories.
The Liber de ordine creaturarum
The Liber de ordine creaturarum is an anonymous Latin work with an Irish provenance that dates back to the seventh century. It presents the creation as the divine handiwork and is notable for serving as both a commentary on the Hexaemeron (Six-day Work) in Genesis and as one of the earliest works of systematic theology. Although previously attributed to Isidore of Seville the Liber de ordine creaturarum is far more than a mere compilation of 'authorities.' Instead it emphasizes the inherent order that exists within the creation itself.
Peter of Ireland, Writings on Natural Philosophy
Commentary on Aristotle’s On Length and Shortness of Life and the Determinatio Magistralis
Peter of Ireland (Petrus de Ybernia) was born sometime around the beginning of the thirteenth century in Ireland probably of a Norman family. He probably left Ireland aged around age 15 to pursue his studies abroad. His interest in medical and scientific questions would suggest a stay at Oxford whereas his approach to logic would suggest a Parisian influence. By the middle of the century he was Professor of Logic and Natural Philosophy at the University at Naples. Peter is perhaps one of the best known of medieval Irish thinkers on the continent owing to the fact that he was held to be the teacher of the young Thomas Aquinas at Naples University from 1239-44. As such it would be he who in all likelihood first introduced Thomas to the study of Aristotle and perhaps also to the commentaries of Avicenna and Averroes. The works presented here date from at least a decade later and relate to lectures given at Naples in the 1250s and 1260s. The extent to which he was held in respect by his contemporaries is to be seen in his solution (determinatio) to the disputed question on the origin of the design of an animal’s body which was held before King Manfred around 1260. It was perhaps the culmination of a famous scholarly career.
The Protevangelium of James
As a prehistory to the Nativity accounts of the gospels of Matthew and Luke the Protevangelium of James dated to the second half of the second century aimed to fill in alleged gaps in the canonical accounts of Jesus' and his mother's ancestry and births. Thus it describes the birth of Mary the mother of Christ the Annunciation the Nativity and the death of Zachariah the high priest and father of John the Baptist.
The edition of the original Greek text has an English version on its facing pages.
The commentary pays particular attention to the early liturgical use of the Protevangelium and to artistic representations of the scenes it describes as these were the main means by which this highly influential text was transmitted throughout the known world. It also questions the usually accepted genre and purpose of the text and suggests that its author may have had a satirical intention or have intended it as an early Christian novelette using scriptural scenes and themes as his inspiration. Maybe we have approached the Protevangelium of James with solemn faces and have been prepared to carry out serious theological investigations whereas the many inconsistencies and glaring contradictions so obvious as to be ridiculous might suggest the author's intentions were not quite so grave or weighty.
Acts of John
The Acts of John is a second- or third-century work of unknown authorship combining elements of the apocryphal acts and pious romance genres. It was labeled heretical by both Eusebius and Augustine and condemned at the Second Council of Nicea (787). Scholars debate the influence of Gnosticism and docetism upon the work. This narrative presents the lifelong ministry of the apostle John preaching and performing miracles in Ephesus Smyrna and elsewhere. At different turns in the exciting account John resurrects the dead reunites families heals the sick confronts pagan opponents commands bedbugs and divulges mysteries about his travels with Jesus. The present edition offers the celebrated Greek text of Junod and Kaestli (Corpus Christianorum Series Apocryphorum 1-2 1983) alongside a new English translation on the facing pages complete with hundreds of cross-references and other helpful notes for the reader.
Arnobius Iunior, Praedestinatus
For the first time in English the Praedestinatus represents a moment in the fifteen-century old theological conversation in Latin Christianity about the topics of grace predestination and free will. Written as a response to Augustine’s growing theological influence this book should not merely be regarded as a work of apologetics despite the author’s intention but seen as breaking controversial new ground because of his claim that a small circle of heretics was acting as a ‘fifth column’ within the Church undermining orthodox beliefs concerning God his providence and all-inclusive love.
After a three hundred year hiatus since Jacques Sirmond’s 1643 editio princeps interest in the Praedestinatus revived in the twentieth century thanks to German and French scholars who studied the book’s theological trajectory and claims. Its critical edition was eventually accomplished in 2000 by Italian scholar Franco Gori. The present translation is based on Gori’s edition.
Richard of Saint-Victor, On the Trinity
Prologue and Six Books
Richard of Saint-Victor’s On The Trinity from the 12th century is a main source for our understanding of a leading intellectual tradition of the Western world in which love was regarded the highest and the best in the human world and therefore also was the reality in which the highest and the best God was to be seen. Richard understands human love as interpersonal so that love must be realized between two persons but for being the highest love that excludes any private and selfish love both loving persons must share their love with a third person.
Egeria, Journey to the Holy Land
The Itinerarium Egeriae is the travel diary of a late-fourth-century visit to Egypt and Palestine by a Christian woman from Western Europe. As well as stopping at many sites of biblical significance she spent three years in Jerusalem and recorded in detail its liturgical practices throughout the yearly cycle. This is the first ever edition of the Latin text to be accompanied by an English translation in parallel. The volume includes an introduction notes and a substantial bibliography. There are also appendices containing recent fragmentary textual discoveries and the text and translation of the seventh-century letter of the Spanish monk Valerius which first identified the author.
Lucifer of Cagliari, Concerning Athanasius
Why no one must judge or condemn a man in his absence
Lucifer was Bishop of Cagliari in Sardinia in the middle of the fourth century. He was a devoted ally of the great theologian and Bishop of Alexandria St Athanasius and a strong opponent of Arianism and the Roman Emperor Constantius II. Exiled at the same time as Athanasius in AD 355 his surviving writings are all vituperative attacks on the emperor. The two books ‘Concerning Athanasius’ are his most substantial work written in 359-360. Lucifer gives us a vivid picture of the passion aroused in the fourth century by debates about the nature of Christ and the relationship between the Church and the Roman Empire. This volume is the first translation into English of any of Lucifer’s works.