Early Scholastic Christology 1050-1250 (Changing Paradigms in Historical and Systematic Theology)($130.00Value)

Description

This book traces developments in Christology--and specifically the metaphysics of the union of divine and human natures in one person--from 1050 (the age of Anselm of Canterbury) to 1250 (the age of Albert the Great). During the first part of the period, the key issue is the conflict between Augustine's homo assumptus (assumed man) Christology, defended by the Victorines, and that of Boethius's Chalcedonian Christology, defended by Gilbert of Poitiers (sometimes known as the 'subsistence' theory). By 1180, the latter of these was almost universally accepted. A third view, apparently accepted by Peter Lombard among others, according to which it is not true that Christ as man is something--the non-aliquid Christology--was condemned in 1177. The second part of the book traces the way in which theologians attempted to develop the presentation of Conciliar Christology by working out inchoate solutions to some of the metaphysical questions that the issue raises: what is the nature of the hypostatic union between the two natures, or the human nature and the divine person--is it something created, or something uncreated? And, given that the human nature is a particular substance, what prevents it from being a person? Theologians used insights from both of the rejected theories (the homo assumptus Christology and the non-aliquid Christology) in attempting to answer these issues. The early thirteenth century saw both the founding of the universities of Paris and Oxford, and the founding of the Franciscan and Dominican orders. The book explores the impact of these religious identities on the formation of Christological teaching. "This learned volume is an incalculably valuable resource for students and scholars of church history and theology." -- M. A. Schatkin, Choice "The volume constitutes a significant and high-quality contribution to the study of medieval theology, offering clarity and depth that are rarely matched in the secondary literature. It provides a comprehensive and systematic picture of the early-scholastic Christological debate, capturing its most important moments, providing efficient interpretative tools, and illustrating convincingly its major transformations. It should undoubtedly be recommended to anyone wishing to grapple with one of the most complex theological issues situated within a particularly dynamic period of intellectual history." -- Magdalena Bieniak, Church History and Religious Culture "This book is the fifth in a series of monographs Richard Cross is writing on western Christology. Now spanning the years 1050 to 1700, I know of no better resources for a philosophically sophisticated curation of the theological discussions." -- Timothy J. Pawl, Scottish Journal of Theology Richard Cross, John A. O'Brien Professor of Philosophy, University of Notre Dame Richard Cross has been John A. O'Brien Professor of Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame since 2007. Previously he was Tutorial Fellow in Theology at Oriel College, Oxford, and Professor of Medieval Theology at the University of Oxford.