Trinitarian Theology in Medieval and Reformation Thought

141 Pages·2020·1.392 MB·English

by  John T. Slotemaker

Trinitarian Theology
in Medieval and
Reformation Thought
John T. Slotemaker
Trinitarian Theology in Medieval
and Reformation Thought
John T. Slotemaker
Trinitarian Theology
in Medieval and
Reformation Thought
John T. Slotemaker
Fairfield University
Fairfield, CT, USA
ISBN 978-3-030-47789-9 ISBN 978-3-030-47790-5 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-47790-5
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For my parents, Tom and Hennie,
you have been the grace of God to me.
And for the Dragon in the hostas,
and for those who named her.
P
reface
In the spring of 2012, I defended a dissertation on the development of
medieval trinitarian theology between 1250 and 1380. That work—like so
many in the genre—was a massive accumulation of technical data that
sprawled over 850 pages. In this, at least, it was not unlike other works in
the field: Théodore de Régnon’s Études de théologie positive sur la Sainte
Trinité was published in 4 volumes and extends to over 2300 pages,
Michael Schmaus’s massive history of medieval trinitarian theology is over
1000 pages, as is Russell Friedman’s magisterial Intellectual Traditions.1
Hester Gelber’s unpublished dissertation, “Logic and the Trinity,” sits on
almost every medievalist’s shelf and is a more modest 685 pages.2 These
are works that are frequently referenced but rarely read; from their titles,
to their length, to their content, these are imposing pieces of scholarship
that are best referenced and not read in one’s armchair next to the fire. A
few years ago, I began to imagine a shorter, trimmer, and more accessible
volume on medieval trinitarian theology.
While pondering what type of book could fill the obvious lacuna, I
reread C.S. Lewis’s Mere Christianity as I was preparing an undergraduate
readings course.3 Lewis’s goal in that work was to present a common or
“mere” Christianity: an overview of Christian thought that looks at nor-
mative theological beliefs shared by the majority of Christians past and
1 John T. Slotemaker, “Pierre d’Ailly;” Michael Schmaus, Der “Liber propugnatorius;”
Russell L. Friedman, Intellectual Traditions.
2 Hester G. Gelber, “Logic and the Trinity.”
3 C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity.
vii
viii PREFACE
present. He sets aside the heated theological debates between Anglicans,
Catholics, Protestants, and the Orthodox, to focus instead on certain
themes shared by all Christians. There are, of course, objections to be lev-
eled against Lewis’s approach, and in particular it seems that oftentimes
the most interesting material is found not in commonality but in disagree-
ment. Further, if one is to truly understand the nuances of Christian
thought, one must attend to the various theological and philosophical
systems that inform the respective denominations. That said, there is also
a useful simplicity to the volume as it attempts to tell a broader story.
There is something gained by looking at what is held in common.
This book is an attempt to outline some of the basic or “mere” trinitar-
ian beliefs held by Christians living in the late medieval period: a period
circumscribed for the purposes of this volume from roughly the time of
Anselm up through the first generation of the Reformation era. The intent
here is not to obfuscate the disagreements between Christian theologians
writing on the Trinity, but to highlight commonalities that can be gleaned
by focusing precisely on these disagreements. Thus, by looking at a range
of theological opinions one can get a sense of the options that were on the
table and the common assumptions undergirding those commonalities. It
is these distilled or common assumptions about medieval trinitarian theol-
ogy that I am attempting to flesh out in this work.
While I will look broadly at the long Middle Ages, there is one impor-
tant way in which this work is methodologically circumscribed. I am pri-
marily tracing the trajectory of medieval trinitarian theology that becomes
normative as a result of two events: (1) the establishment of Peter
Lombard’s Sentences as the textbook for theological education at the
medieval Universities, and (2) the theological doctrines adopted as part of
the Fourth Lateran Council (the Liber extra) that ensconced the Lombard’s
trinitarian theology as normative. These two early thirteenth-century
events were significant in laying the foundation for several developments:
the dominance of a particular genre of medieval trinitarian theology (e.g.,
through the genre of Sentences commentaries); the emergence of a norma-
tive structure of trinitarian theology as established by this genre; and the
development of theological parameters within which orthodoxy was to
reside. As Peter Gemeinhardt writes—in response to the ascendancy of the
Lombard’s theology at Lateran IV—“the Council’s decision impacted
grammar and dialectics on the doctrine of the Trinity … from this point
forward, the tradition of Trinitarian thought had to be read according to
PREFACE ix
the Lombard’s rationale.”4 This does not mean, however, that I am limit-
ing the discussion to the period after the early thirteenth century; I am,
instead, limiting the discussion to the theological streams that fed into this
tradition, such that I will be discussing Augustine, Boethius, Anselm, and
numerous other theologians who thrived before the early thirteenth cen-
tury and influenced later developments. However, it does mean that I will
not be focusing on the dizzying diversity of trinitarian theologies that
flourished during the long twelfth century (e.g., the alternative trinitarian
theologies of Peter Abelard, Gilbert of Poitiers, Robert of Melun, Joachim
of Fiore).
Given these parameters, there is one objection to this approach that is
necessary to address at the outset. This book of less than 50,000 words
cannot possibly be comprehensive in any way, be it theological, historical,
or textual. It does not cover every theological topic in play regarding trini-
tarian theology in the long Middle Ages; it is not historically comprehen-
sive, and does not, and cannot, present a historical overview of the topics
discussed; it is not textually inclusive in looking at all genres or forms of
trinitarian theology in primary (e.g., biblical commentaries, sermons, lit-
urgies, hymnody, iconography, scholastic treatises) or secondary works.
This work is both more and less than that. It is more, in that by limiting
the discussion the reader will be given an overview of a complex subject in
a relatively brief format. It is less in that the remarkable complexity and
diversity of medieval trinitarian theology will often be discussed briefly and
without as much detail as some may desire. It is my hope that the utility of
the former will outweigh the limitations of the latter, and that those who
seek to fill out the contours of this landscape will use this book as a way
into the great literature referenced throughout. This is emphatically a
work for those just beginning to learn about how medieval Christians
understood the triune God.
* * *
It is a privilege to thank colleagues and students who have contributed to
this work in various ways, including Lewis Ayres, Michel Barnes, Monica
Brinzei, Delphine Conzelmann, Boyd Taylor Coolman, Richard Cross,
Russell Friedman, Hester Gelber, Christine Helmer, Kevin Hughes, Bruce
4 Peter Gemeinhardt, “Joachim the Theologian,” 41. See Constant J. Mews and Clare
Monagle, “Peter Lombard, Joachim of Fiore and the Fourth Lateran Council.”
x PREFACE
Marshall, Constant Mews, JT Paasch, Dominique Poirel, Chris Schabel,
J. Warren Smith, Graham White, Jeremy Wilkins, Scott Williams, Jeff
Witt, and Ueli Zahnd. In particular, those who participated in the work-
shops on Medieval Trinitarian Theology at Boston College over the past
few years have shaped my thinking in numerous ways. I am grateful to you
all for your assistance and friendship. You all—particularly Russ—deserve
more footnotes than you have received, given the space limitations of this
volume. The anonymous reviewers saved me from a few errors, and gener-
ally improved the quality of the work. I am grateful for their comments
and criticisms.
This work began while directing independent studies on medieval trini-
tarian theology, Anselm of Canterbury, and the thought of C.S. Lewis. I
am grateful to my students—Richard Burke, Meaghan Conlon, Jessica
Estrada, Nick Frega, Anthony Iorio, Margaret Liguori, Hannah Megan,
Carlos Mesquita, and Michael Valvala—for asking questions that I had
forgotten how to ask, and for teaching me that it is important to be able
to answer them. You are missed.
StyleS and conventionS
All sources (primary and secondary) are referenced by name and an
abbreviated title in the footnotes, with complete bibliographic infor-
mation found in the corresponding bibliography. I have used single
quotation marks to designate terms qua terms, and double quotation
marks for quotations, scare quotes, and so forth. Because individual
chapters are available independently, I have on occasion treated a given
topic in two separate chapters—attempting to limit redundancy in
all cases.
Given the introductory nature of the volume and the number of sources
referenced, it has not been practical to provide a reference to both the
standard Latin edition and an English translation. As a result I have pro-
vided my own translations (unless noted), though I have freely referenced
existing translations throughout.
PREFACE xi
timeline of councilS and theologianS
Irenaeus (†202) Alexander of Hales (†1245)
Tertullian (†220) William of Auvergne (†1249)
Origen (†253) Robert Grosseteste (†1253)
Porphyry of Tyre (†305) Lyon II (1272–1274)
Nicaea (325) Thomas Aquinas (†1274)
Arius (†336) Bonaventure (†1274)
Marius Victorinus (†364) Albert the Great (†1280)
Hilary of Poitiers (†368) Henry of Ghent (†1293)
Athanasius (†373) James of Viterbo (†1307/8)
Marcellus of Ancyra (†374) John Duns Scotus (†1308)
Basil the Great (†379) Henry Harclay (†1317)
Constantinople (381) Peter Auriol (†1322)
Gregory of Nazianzus (†390) Walter Chatton (†1343)
Gregory of Nyssa (†394) William of Ockham (†1347)
Ambrose of Milan (†397) Robert Holcot (†1349)
Maximus of Turin (†c420) Richard Campsall (†c.1350)
Augustine (†430) Adam Wodeham (1358)
Chalcedon (451) Gregory Rimini (†1358)
Boethius (†524) Facinus of Asti (fl.c.1360s)
Rusticus the Deacon (†564) Hugolino of Orvieto (†1373)
Isidore of Seville (†636) John Klenkok (†1374)
John of Damascus (†749) Angel of Döbeln (fl. 1370s–80s)
Alcuin of York (†804) John van Ruysbroeck (†1381)
Theodulf of Orléans (†821) John Hiltalingen of Basel (†1392)
Ratramnus of Corbie (†868) Peter Gracilis (†1393)
Anselm of Canterbury (†1109) Marsilius of Inghen (†1396)
Soissons (1121) Henry Totting of Oyta (†1397)
William of Champeaux (†1121) Henry of Langenstein (†1397)
Roscelin of Compiègne (†1125) Pierre d’Ailly (†1420)
Hugh of St. Victor (†1141) Peter of Pulkau (†1425)
Sens (1141) Nicholas Dinkelsbühl (†1433)
Peter Abelard (†1142) Berthold of Ratisbon (Puchhauser) (†1437)
William of St. Thierry (†1148) Florence (1438–1445)
Thierry of Chartres (†c.1150) John Capreolus (†1444)
Bernard of Clairvaux (†1153) William of Vorilong (†1463)
Gilbert of Poitiers (†1154) Denys the Carthusian (†1471)
Peter Lombard (†1160) Gabriel Biel (†1495)
Robert of Melun (†1167) Marsilio Ficino (†1499)
Richard of St. Victor (†1173) Giles of Viterbo (†1532)
Walter of Mortagne (†1174) Martin Luther (†1546)
Clarembald of Arras (†1187) John Mair (†1550)
Joachim of Fiore (†1202) Michael Servetus (†1553)
Amalric of Bena (†c.1205) Philipp Melanchthon (†1560)
Lateran IV (1215) John Calvin (†1564)
William of Auxerre (†1231)
Fairfield, CT, USA John T. Slotemaker