According to 1 Cor 15.44 and 1 Cor 15.52, the human body “is sown an animal body, [but] it will rise a spiritual body” and “the dead will rise again incorruptible, and we will be changed.” These passages prompted many questions: What is a spiritual body? How can a body become incorruptible? Where will the resurrected body be located? And, what will be the nature of its experience? Medieval theologians sought to answer such questions but encountered troubling paradoxes stemming from the conviction that the resurrected body will be an “impassible body” or constituted from “incorruptible matter.” By the thirteenth century the resurrection demanded increased attention from Church authorities, not only in response to certain popular heresies but also to calm heated debates at the University of Paris. William of Auvergne, Bishop of Paris, officially condemned ten errors in 1241 and in 1244, including the proposition that the blessed in the resurrected body will not see the divine essence. In 1270 Parisian Bishop Étienne Tempier condemned the view that God cannot grant incorruption to a corruptible body, and in 1277 he rejected propositions that a resurrected body does not return as numerically one and the same, and that God cannot grant perpetual existence to a mutable, corruptible body.The Dominican scholar Albert the Great was drawn into the university debates in Paris in the 1240s and responded in the text translated here for the first time. In it, Albert considers the properties of resurrected bodies in relation to Aristotelian physics, treats the condition of souls and bodies in heaven, discusses the location and punishments of hell, purgatory, and limbo, and proposes a “limbo of infants” for unbaptized children. Albert’s On Resurrection not only shaped the understanding of Thomas Aquinas but also that of many other major thinkers.

The eucharistic crisis of the eleventh century posed the greatest challenge to the Church's understanding of the Real Presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament until the Reformation. The eucharistic symbolism of ""Berengarius of Tours"", which was at the heart of the controversy, was challenged first by Lanfranc of Canterbury and then by his student Guitmund of Aversa. Both authors countered with a vigorous defense of the Church's traditional belief that the body of Christ in the Eucharist is the same body that was born of the Virgin Mary, now risen and in glory. In this first English translation of Lanfranc's ""De corpore et sanguine Domini adversus Berengarium"", the reader learns firsthand both the history of the crisis and the doctrinal issues in question. Lesser known than Lanfranc's work, but of greater doctrinal significance, is Guitmund's ""De corporis et sanguinis Christi veritate in eucharistia"". In Guitmund's work, one finds a treatment of the doctrinal issues involved that is not only more systematic than that of Lanfranc, but far more speculative in character, and one that presents a fascinating vision of the Eucharist as a continuation of Christ's Easter appearances. Such a vision is one that the translator calls the species domini or an 'appearance of the Lord'; for it interprets the doctrine of the Real Presence in a way that identifies it as physical contact with the celestial Christ, of the same genre as the post-Resurrection appearances to his followers. The translations of both Lanfranc's and Guitmund's works, along with extensive commentary and notes, make this volume of the ""Mediaeval Continuation of the Fathers of the Church"" series an important study in the history of the development of eucharistic theology.

Peter Damian (1007-1072), an eleventh-century monk and man of letters, left a large and significant body of correspondence. Over one hundred and eighty letters have been preserved, principally from Damian's own monastery of Fonte Avellana. Ranging in length from short memoranda to longer monographs, the letters provide a contemporary account of many of the controversies of the eleventh century: purgatory, the Eucharist, clerical marriage and celibacy, immorality, and others. Peter Damian, or ""Peter the Sinner"" as he often referred to himself, was one of the most learned men of his day, and his letters are filled with both erudition and zeal for reform.This first volume contains the first thirty letters, and covers the period before 1049. Here we see Peter Damian as an untiring preacher and uncompromising reformer, both of the monastic world and of the church at large. He attacks clerical laxity and monastic decadence in letter after letter. The first letter in the collection is of particular interest, containing a theological consideration of the Christian position against the Jews. Other important letters in this first volume are Damian's allegorical interpretation of the Divine Office, his letters on the Last Days and the Judgment, on canonical and legal points (such as the prohibited degrees of consanguinity in marriage), and on liturgical matters (particularly in monastic observance).

This second volumes of the Mediaeval Continuation contains Letters 31-60 of Peter Damian. While his epistolary style is varied--exhortatory, occasional, pastoral, reforming--his message is singular and simple in urging strict adherence to the canons of the Church.Letters 31 and 40 are long treatises, each published separately in critical editions. Letter 31, also known as the Book of Gomorrah, deplores the degradation of the priesthood through the vice of sodomy and appeals to Pope Leo IX to educate and purge the clergy. Letter 40, perhaps his most celebrated work, is also called the Liber gratissimus. In it Peter Damian opposes the reordination of those ordained simonists but writes that simonists are ""worthy of the supreme punishment that befits the incorrigible."" The very early reference to the ""heart of Jesus"" which is found in this letter was anticipated only by the Venerable Bede.Among the more personal letters are 55 and 57. In the former he writes of a long, debilitating illness, so serious that funeral preparations had been made, and of his immediate recovery when his brethren gave food to one hundred poor people. In the latter, he begs to be relieved of the administration of the diocese of Gubbio because of ill health, so that he may return to Fonte Avellana and his ""beloved solitude."" He also makes many references to folkloric tales and, perhaps, the earliest reference to the game of chess in Western literature.Letter 58 to Henry the archbishop of Ravenna in 1058 is the best example in the collection of Peter Damian's political and ecclesiastical influence. In it he gives his opinion of Benedict X and Nicholas II, the two candidates for the Apostolic See. He makes no effort to conceal his strong opinions but rather requests that this letter be made public so that all may learn what he has thought about the subject. This is perhaps, after all, what he would have hoped for the entire collection.

Peter Damian (1007-1072), an eleventh-century monk and man of letters, left a large and significant body of correspondence. Over one hundred and eighty letters have been preserved, principally from Damian's own monastery of Fonte Avellana. Ranging in length from short memoranda to longer monographs, the letters provide a contemporary account of many of the controversies of the eleventh century: purgatory, the Eucharist, clerical marriage and celibacy, immorality, and others. Peter Damian, or ""Peter the Sinner"" as he often referred to himself, was one of the most learned men of his day, and his letters are filled with both erudition and zeal for reform.This third volume of The Letters of Peter Damian is a careful, fluent, and annotated translation of Letters 61-90. These letters reveal the author's concern with the contemporary need for reforms, centering on clerical, especially episcopal, celibacy and on the ""heresy"" of simony which involved the purchase of ecclesiastical offices. In Letter 89, for example, Damian addresses the Selvismatic attempt of antipope Honorius II (Cadalus of Parma) to circumvent the election of Alexander II by the newly organized college of cardinal bishops. Also, among the letters here presented are several of a highly spiritual, even mystical content. These letters demonstrate that this active reformer was at heart a solitary soul who, when away from home, longed for his ""beloved solitude,"" where he could practice the contemplative life. Eventually, Damian grew weary of his efforts at reform and asked to be retired from his office of cardinal bishop of Ostia.Because Damian's Latin was a living language that surpasses the ability of classical Latin lexicography to cope with it, all disciplines that make use of medieval thought will welcome this English translation. Owen J. Blum's thorough notes to each letter indicate the vocabulary problems he encountered and how they were resolved. This third volume, like its companions, uses Damian's thought to understand an important and gripping period in the history of church and state. With these intimate revelations into his character and motivation, readers may more readily appreciate Damian's total dedication to his mission.

This fourth volume of the Mediaeval Continuation is the fourth of the letters of Peter Damian, an eleventh-century monk and man of letters. Written during the years 1062-1066, these letters deal with a wide variety of subjects. Some letters are of historical interest, others approach the size and scope of philosophical or theological treatises. Damian's correspondents range from simple hermits in his community to abbots, bishops, cardinals, and even to Pope Alexander II. Among these letters are to be found one addressed to the patriarch of Constantinopole, two to Damian's sisters, one to the Empress Agnes, and even a few to such distant personages as the young King Henry IV and the Archbishop Anno of Cologne.Like its companions, this volume uses Damian's thought to understand an important and gripping period in the history of church and state. Clearly, the most significant letter in this collection is Letter 119, written in 1063 to Abbot Desiderius of Monte Cassino and his monks, on the omnipotence of God. Translated here for the first time into English, Damian's treatise on Divine Omnipotence demonstrates his control of both theological and philosophical methodology. His opponents are contemporary rhetoricians whose denial of God's total potency in dealing with his creatures' contingencies in time past, present, and future opens them to the charge of heresy.Though Damian's vocabulary frequently challenges the combined dictionary resources of classical, patristic, and mediaeval Latin, Owen J. Blum's careful translation will guarantee the transmission of Damian's thought to all levels of readers throughout the world.

Written by Dominican preacher and mystic Bl. Henry Suso (c. 1300-1366), Horologium Sapientiae, or Wisdom's Watch upon the Hours, was one of the most successful religious writings of its time. Now it is offered to the English-speaking world in a new translation based on Pius Knzle's critical Latin edition.Essentially a dialogue between the author and Divine Wisdom, the Watch tells of Suso's service to and espousal of Wisdom, his ""most cruel bride,"" with a charm reminiscent of contemporary chivalric romance literature. The Watch's many readers doubtless esteemed it for its devotional fervor and for the solutions Suso offers to the problems inseparable from a sincere Christian life. He teaches that a devotion of sharing in the Savior's self-sacrifice is the path to spiritual perfection, as well as a consolation for the soul amid life's cares. Based on his own shrewd observations on shunning ""sensory forms and earthly imaginings,"" Suso develops the essential elements of ascetic and mystical theology.He keenly observes and judiciously criticizes the abuses of his own times and the rise of secularism, hedonism, and materialism. He writes of his yearning for a way of life that was fast disappearing, for the piety and simplicity of the country folk he had known as a boy. For Suso, the ""Christocentric Boethius,"" the men and women of his youth were heirs of the Eternal Wisdom, founded on Christ and found in Christ, which was being lost and forgotten in the new urban cultures.The Watch's autobiographical content is especially interesting for those who follow the repercussions of the condemnation of Meister Eckhart, Suso's revered teacher, in 1329. Eckhart had been condemned for heresy, and Suso uses allegory to show perceptive readers how he found a way to dissent from this judgment and yet remain the Holy See's loyal and faithful servant. Throughout most of his life, Suso suffered the jealousy of his confreres and remained ever conscious of the dangers of uncritically applying Eckhart's principles; these troubles too are expressed allegorically here.

The philosophical and theological works of St. Thomas Aquinas are held in universal esteem. His commentaries on Scripture and the role of Scripture in his theological works have garnered considerable attention. Yet Thomas's academic sermons delivered on Sundays and special occasions have been widely overlooked. Considering that Thomas was a Dominican, a member of the Order of Preachers, and that he held the position of Magister in Sacra Pagina at the University of Paris—wherein preaching was a required task—the oversight is remarkable. Though hundreds of medieval sermons are attributed to Thomas Aquinas, the Leonine Commission has identified only 20 as his. This book features all 20 sermons, and one whose authenticity has been debated, translated from the original Latin texts, five of which have never been published before. An introduction and notes accompany the first-ever English translation. Readers will gain insight into the way in which Thomas expressed his exegetical insights in his sermons.The sermons cover an array of topics, among them Advent, the Holy Spirit, the Trinity, the Exaltation of the Cross, Mary, other saints, and ordinary Sundays. Thus, from different angles readers will have a better view of Thomas's spirituality and also of the way in which he translated his theological and spiritual thought into consequences for an authentic Christian life, the religious life, doing good to one's neighbor, and pastoral work.The Academic Sermons will fascinate readers as it presents Thomas's unique style of preaching and how he skillfully communicated the fruits of his contemplation. With this book, Thomas the preacher comes to the fore.

Peter Abelard wrote his Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans in the mid-1130s, toward the end of his life, while teaching in Paris. Filled with questions on topics such as redemption, grace, and original sin, the commentary demonstrates the growing interest of urban scholars in applying dialectic to the study of Sacred Scripture. Abelard's analysis of some of these topics contributed to his second condemnation at the Council of Sens in 1140.The commentary is in many respects quite orthodox; Abelard presents himself as a devout Christian seeking to refine Christian teaching and strip away centuries of accretions that had obscured the deeper, original truths. This is particularly the case in the famous question on redemption, in which Abelard demonstrates critical flaws in traditional theories of redemption while affirming the salvific effect of Christ's death. Other passages deal with subjects such as the Trinity and intention—also matters of controversy—and the ethics of love for God and neighbor. Abelard discusses love of neighbor at length no less than three times. Despite its importance and the frequent references made to it by modern scholars, this commentary has never before been translated into English in its entirety. This volume, which includes an extensive introduction, fills this gap, thus providing a needed contribution to medieval scholarship.

Robert Grosseteste was an unusual and exceptional man: from the lowest social class yet greatly admired by kings and popes; a scientist but also a philosopher and theologian; a talented administrator and a successful teacher; a pastor doggedly devoted to the care of his flock but also a scholar dedicated to the translation of early Christian fathers and Aristotle; loyal to the pope but fearless and bold in calling for the reform of the curia.On the Cessation of the Laws directly reflects the profundity and originality of Grosseteste's theological work and indirectly reveals his pastoral concerns. The work consists of four books. In the first, Grosseteste offers arguments mostly from Scripture against the position that he wishes to defend and then counters these arguments with a lengthy treatment of the whole economy of creation and salvation and the place of the Scriptures, Old and New, in it. The second attempts to show from clear Old Testament texts that the crucified Jesus was the savior promised in the Law. The third is dominated by theological arguments for the incarnation of Christ even if humanity had not sinned, and the fourth addresses a cluster of questions that follow upon the death of the Law.In On the Cessation of the Laws, Grosseteste draws out the theological, christological, and soteriological issues implicit in the question of the relationship between the Old and New Covenants.

Peter the Venerable (d. 1156), the powerful abbot of Cluny, left behind not only extensive letter collections, but also polemical treatises intended to refute contemporary challenges to Christianity. Perhaps the most important is Against the Inveterate Obduracy of the Jews (Adversus Judeorum inveteratam duritiem), written between Against the Saracens (ca. 1150) and Against the Petrobrusians (ca. 1139-41).Against the Inveterate Obduracy of the Jews represents a turning point in medieval anti-Jewish polemics. On the one hand, the polemic's intention—to bring about the conversion of the Jews—is predicated on an assumption that Jews are rational agents who may be persuaded of Christian truths by philosophical argument, empirical evidence, and proper biblical exegesis. On the other hand, Peter also introduced the notion that the Jews' enduring ""blindness"" stems from a persistent strain of bestial irrationality, for which they themselves are responsible. Peter traces this irrationality to the medieval Jews' commitment to the Talmud.Peter is the first medieval Christian author to name the Talmud explicitly. The Jewish convert to Christianity, Petrus Alfonsi, had ridiculed Talmudic folklore in his Dialogue Against the Jews. Peter the Venerable borrowed from but also surpassed Alfonsi's critique, as even his use of the name Talmud indicates. By emphasizing the irrationality of the Jews, Peter cast doubt upon their essential humanity and paved the way toward an increasingly violent treatment of the Jewish minority in medieval Christendom. Perhaps for this reason, Peter's Against the Inveterate Obduracy of the Jews has been popular among modern anti-Semites as well.With this translation, Irven M. Resnick makes the complete work available for the first time in English.

Robert of Arbrissel (d. 1117) once named Cluny among the chief holy places of Christendom—just after Bethlehem, Jerusalem, and Rome. When Peter the Venerable (d. 1156) became the ninth abbot of Cluny in 1122, Cluny had thousands of monks in the mother abbey and her daughter cells, along with hundreds of affiliated houses and dependencies in England, Germany, Spain, Italy and the Holy Land. As a fierce advocate for Cluny against its detractors (which included the redoubtable Bernard of Clairvaux), Peter defended his Order at the same time that he reformed its customs.Peter the Venerable’s extensive literary legacy includes poems, a large epistolary collection, and polemical treatises. The first of his four major polemics targeted a Christian heresy, the Petrobrussians (Against the Petrobrusians); the rest took aim at Jews and Saracens. Catholic University of America Press has published his Against the Inveterate Obduracy of the Jews. This present volume will make available in their entiretyPeter the Venerable’s twin polemics against Islam—A Summary of the entire heresy of the Saracens and Against the sect of the Saracens—as well as related correspondence. These works resulted from a sustained engagement with Islam begun during Peter’s journey to Spain in 1142–43. There the abbot commissioned a translation of sources from the Arabic, the so-called Toledan Collection, that include the Letter of a Saracen with a Christian Response (from the Apology of [Ps.] Al-Kindi); Fables of the Saracens (a potpourri of Islamic hadith traditions); and Robert of Ketton’s first Latin translation of the whole of the Qur’an. Thanks to Peter’s efforts, from the second half of the twelfth century Christians could acquire a far better understanding of the teachings of Islam, and Peter may rightly be viewed as the initiator of Islamic studies in the West.

This work is the first English translation of Scotus's commentary on Aristotle's Quaestiones super Praedicamenta. Although there are numerous Latin commentaries on Aristotle's Categories, Scotus's Questions is one of the few commentaries on the Categories written in the thirteenth century covering all of Aristotle's text, including the often neglected post-praedicamenta, and the only complete Latin commentary available in English. Moreover, unlike many of the commentaries, Scotus's text is one of the last commentaries to be written before the nominalist reduction of the categories to substance and quality. The question format allows Scotus a great deal of liberty to discuss the categories in detail, as well as matters that are only remotely raised by the text. Altogether, the forty-four questions cover the following subjects: questions 1–4 are prolegomena to the work itself and raise the question of its subject matter as well as whether there can be a science of the categories; questions 5–8 deal with equivocals, univocals, and denominatives; questions 9–11 discuss Aristotle's two rules regarding predication and the sufficiency of the categories; questions 12–36 discuss the four main categories treated by Aristotle, namely, substance, quantity, relation, and quality; and the remaining eight questions discuss the post- praedicamenta.

Even prior to his death on 15 November 1280, the Dominican master Albert of Lauingen was legendary on account of his erudition. He was widely recognized for the depth and breadth of his learning in the philo­sophical disciplines as well as in the study of God, earning him the titles Doctor universalis and Doctor expertus. Moreover, his authoritative teach­ing merited him the moniker Magnus, an appellation bestowed on no other man of the High Middle Ages. This volume contains the first half of Albert the Great’s commentary On Job (on chs. 1–21), translated into English for the first time; a translation of the second half of the work will appear in a subsequent volume of the Fathers of the Church, Me­diaeval Continuation series. Albert completed Super Iob in 1272 or 1274, when he was over seventy years old, at the Dominican Kloster of Hei­lige Kreuz in Cologne, where, as lector emeritus of the Order, he likely lectured on this profound biblical book. Significantly, Albert may have been inspired to produce On Job by his most famous student, Thomas Aquinas, who had written his own Joban commentary, the Expositio su­per Iob ad litteram, while serving as conventual lector at San Domenico in Orvieto from 1261 to 1264. Yet Albert occupies a unique position in the history of the interpretation of Job: he is the first and only exegete in history who explicitly reads the whole book as a debate in the mode of an academic or scholastic disputation among Job and his friends about divine providence concerning human affairs. The Introduction to this volume situates Albert’s On Job—its general approach and key exegetical features—in the broad context of Dominican theological education and pastoral formation in the thirteenth century.

Declared a Doctor of the Church in 2012, St. Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179) is one of the most remarkable figures of medieval Latin Christianity. A visionary theologian and prophetic reformer, as well as composer, artist, and natural scientist, her voice echoes across the centuries to offer today an integrated vision of the relationship between cosmos and humanity.Completed in 1173, The Book of Divine Works (Liber Divinorum Operum) is the culmination of the Visionary Doctor's theological project, offered here for the first time in a complete and scholarly English translation. The first part explores the intricate physical and spiritual relationships between the cosmos and the human person, with the famous image of the universal Man standing astride the cosmic spheres. The second part examines the rewards for virtue and the punishments for vice, mapped onto a geography of purgatory, hellmouth, and the road to the heavenly city. At the end of each Hildegard writes extensive commentaries on the Prologue to John's Gospel (Part 1) and the first chapter of Genesis (Part 2)—the only premodern woman to have done so. Finally, the third part tells the history of salvation, imagined as the City of God standing next to the mountain of God's foreknowledge, with Divine Love reigning over all.For Hildegard, the Incarnation is the key moment of all history, willed from eternity to complete God's Work. God's creative capacity and loving mission are thus shared with the humans he made in his image and likeness—for Hildegard, the incarnate Christ's tunic and the Word's creative rationality, respectively. Containing all creation within ourselves, we are divinely called to cooperate in the Creator's work, to enter into a fruitful and sustainable relationship with creation. The scope of Hildegard's visionary theology is both cosmic and close—reflections of God's loving self-revelation are both grand and utterly intimate, as the Work of God reaches from the very heart of infinity down into every smallest detail of the created world.

Among the intellectuals of the Carolingian Renaissance of the Ninth Century, few are as prolific and influential as Hrabanus Maurus (c.780- 856), a monk and abbot of the monastery of Fulda and then archbishop of Mainz. Most famous to modern authors as the putative author of the hymn "Come, Holy Ghost," Hrabanus was highly esteemed by generations of medieval intellectuals, including Dante who located the archbishop among St. Bonaventure's cohort in the sphere of the Sun.This volume presents for the first time in English translation Hrabanus' pedagogical masterpiece On the Formation of Clergy (De institutione clericorum). Unveiled on the Feast of All Saints in 819, at the dedication of the great Salvator basilica, Hrabanus' work addresses the most important focuses of the Carolingian Renaissance: education and ecclesiastical reform. The treatise promotes a careful balance between classical training and Christian ethics and features the robust pedagogy of the early medieval monastic curriculum. At points it even offers glimpses into the energetic environment of Fulda's classrooms. On the Formation of Clergy also supplies a program for ecclesiastical reform. It provides readers with a primer on ecclesiastical hierarchy and liturgy, providing glosses on church offices and explanations of important church activities.Hrabanus divided his opus into three books. Book One explains Holy Orders. It lays out the distinctions between clergy and laity, enumerates the ranks of the priesthood, describes clerical vesture, and explores the sacraments. Book Two examines priestly life. It considers ascetic disciplines appropriate for priests at different grades, describes expected prayer routines, and identifies important doctrinal teachings and principal liturgical feasts. Book Three treats biblical studies and preaching. It lays out a curriculum for the liberal arts, connects the liberal arts to catechetics and homiletics, and integrates academic study with moral instruction.On the Formation of Clergy was widely read throughout the Middle Ages. Beyond its impact on the Carolingian Renaissance, the treatise guided legal analysis in Gratian's Decretum, supplied examples for Peter Lombard's Sentences, and is cited by theological titans from Rupert of Deutz to Thomas Aquinas to Gabriel Biel.

This is the first English translation of a major work by Rupert of Deutz, arguably the most prolific Christian author since Augustine. During his lifetime, which spanned the eleventh and twelfth centuries, Rupert engaged in controversies on the Eucharist and on predestination and composed works on the Trinity, salvation in Christ, and other major theological topics. An ardent defender of a monastic theology that focused on the interpretation of Scripture and the liturgy, Rupert is well known also for his distinctive hermeneutical approach to the Bible. His Commentary on the Song of Songs builds on the long Hebrew-Christian tradition of allegorical interpretation of this Old Testament book but adds a radically original dimension to it: it interprets the text as a dialogue between Jesus and Mary and unfolds in this context a novel approach to Mary, who is presented as the teacher of the apostles and assumed to have participated in the Apostolic Council, described in Acts 15.Rupert has prefaced his commentary with a letter to Thietmar, bishop of Verden (in northern Germany), as well as a prologue in which he reflects on his experience of being called to perform this exegetical task. The complete translation by Jieon Kim and Vittorio Hösle of this major work (up to now translated only into German) is preceded by an introduction that discusses Rupert's life and works, as well as the history of the interpretation of the Song of Songs, and offers hermeneutical reflections on Rupert's methodology.

According to 1 Cor 15.44 and 1 Cor 15.52, the human body “is sown an animal body, [but] it will rise a spiritual body” and “the dead will rise again incorruptible, and we will be changed.” These passages prompted many questions: What is a spiritual body? How can a body become incorruptible? Where will the resurrected body be located? And, what will be the nature of its experience? Medieval theologians sought to answer such questions but encountered troubling paradoxes stemming from the conviction that the resurrected body will be an “impassible body” or constituted from “incorruptible matter.” By the thirteenth century the resurrection demanded increased attention from Church authorities, not only in response to certain popular heresies but also to calm heated debates at the University of Paris. William of Auvergne, Bishop of Paris, officially condemned ten errors in 1241 and in 1244, including the proposition that the blessed in the resurrected body will not see the divine essence. In 1270 Parisian Bishop Étienne Tempier condemned the view that God cannot grant incorruption to a corruptible body, and in 1277 he rejected propositions that a resurrected body does not return as numerically one and the same, and that God cannot grant perpetual existence to a mutable, corruptible body.The Dominican scholar Albert the Great was drawn into the university debates in Paris in the 1240s and responded in the text translated here for the first time. In it, Albert considers the properties of resurrected bodies in relation to Aristotelian physics, treats the condition of souls and bodies in heaven, discusses the location and punishments of hell, purgatory, and limbo, and proposes a “limbo of infants” for unbaptized children. Albert’s On Resurrection not only shaped the understanding of Thomas Aquinas but also that of many other major thinkers.

The eucharistic crisis of the eleventh century posed the greatest challenge to the Church's understanding of the Real Presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament until the Reformation. The eucharistic symbolism of ""Berengarius of Tours"", which was at the heart of the controversy, was challenged first by Lanfranc of Canterbury and then by his student Guitmund of Aversa. Both authors countered with a vigorous defense of the Church's traditional belief that the body of Christ in the Eucharist is the same body that was born of the Virgin Mary, now risen and in glory. In this first English translation of Lanfranc's ""De corpore et sanguine Domini adversus Berengarium"", the reader learns firsthand both the history of the crisis and the doctrinal issues in question. Lesser known than Lanfranc's work, but of greater doctrinal significance, is Guitmund's ""De corporis et sanguinis Christi veritate in eucharistia"". In Guitmund's work, one finds a treatment of the doctrinal issues involved that is not only more systematic than that of Lanfranc, but far more speculative in character, and one that presents a fascinating vision of the Eucharist as a continuation of Christ's Easter appearances. Such a vision is one that the translator calls the species domini or an 'appearance of the Lord'; for it interprets the doctrine of the Real Presence in a way that identifies it as physical contact with the celestial Christ, of the same genre as the post-Resurrection appearances to his followers. The translations of both Lanfranc's and Guitmund's works, along with extensive commentary and notes, make this volume of the ""Mediaeval Continuation of the Fathers of the Church"" series an important study in the history of the development of eucharistic theology.

Peter Damian (1007-1072), an eleventh-century monk and man of letters, left a large and significant body of correspondence. Over one hundred and eighty letters have been preserved, principally from Damian's own monastery of Fonte Avellana. Ranging in length from short memoranda to longer monographs, the letters provide a contemporary account of many of the controversies of the eleventh century: purgatory, the Eucharist, clerical marriage and celibacy, immorality, and others. Peter Damian, or ""Peter the Sinner"" as he often referred to himself, was one of the most learned men of his day, and his letters are filled with both erudition and zeal for reform.This first volume contains the first thirty letters, and covers the period before 1049. Here we see Peter Damian as an untiring preacher and uncompromising reformer, both of the monastic world and of the church at large. He attacks clerical laxity and monastic decadence in letter after letter. The first letter in the collection is of particular interest, containing a theological consideration of the Christian position against the Jews. Other important letters in this first volume are Damian's allegorical interpretation of the Divine Office, his letters on the Last Days and the Judgment, on canonical and legal points (such as the prohibited degrees of consanguinity in marriage), and on liturgical matters (particularly in monastic observance).

This second volumes of the Mediaeval Continuation contains Letters 31-60 of Peter Damian. While his epistolary style is varied--exhortatory, occasional, pastoral, reforming--his message is singular and simple in urging strict adherence to the canons of the Church.Letters 31 and 40 are long treatises, each published separately in critical editions. Letter 31, also known as the Book of Gomorrah, deplores the degradation of the priesthood through the vice of sodomy and appeals to Pope Leo IX to educate and purge the clergy. Letter 40, perhaps his most celebrated work, is also called the Liber gratissimus. In it Peter Damian opposes the reordination of those ordained simonists but writes that simonists are ""worthy of the supreme punishment that befits the incorrigible."" The very early reference to the ""heart of Jesus"" which is found in this letter was anticipated only by the Venerable Bede.Among the more personal letters are 55 and 57. In the former he writes of a long, debilitating illness, so serious that funeral preparations had been made, and of his immediate recovery when his brethren gave food to one hundred poor people. In the latter, he begs to be relieved of the administration of the diocese of Gubbio because of ill health, so that he may return to Fonte Avellana and his ""beloved solitude."" He also makes many references to folkloric tales and, perhaps, the earliest reference to the game of chess in Western literature.Letter 58 to Henry the archbishop of Ravenna in 1058 is the best example in the collection of Peter Damian's political and ecclesiastical influence. In it he gives his opinion of Benedict X and Nicholas II, the two candidates for the Apostolic See. He makes no effort to conceal his strong opinions but rather requests that this letter be made public so that all may learn what he has thought about the subject. This is perhaps, after all, what he would have hoped for the entire collection.

Peter Damian (1007-1072), an eleventh-century monk and man of letters, left a large and significant body of correspondence. Over one hundred and eighty letters have been preserved, principally from Damian's own monastery of Fonte Avellana. Ranging in length from short memoranda to longer monographs, the letters provide a contemporary account of many of the controversies of the eleventh century: purgatory, the Eucharist, clerical marriage and celibacy, immorality, and others. Peter Damian, or ""Peter the Sinner"" as he often referred to himself, was one of the most learned men of his day, and his letters are filled with both erudition and zeal for reform.This third volume of The Letters of Peter Damian is a careful, fluent, and annotated translation of Letters 61-90. These letters reveal the author's concern with the contemporary need for reforms, centering on clerical, especially episcopal, celibacy and on the ""heresy"" of simony which involved the purchase of ecclesiastical offices. In Letter 89, for example, Damian addresses the Selvismatic attempt of antipope Honorius II (Cadalus of Parma) to circumvent the election of Alexander II by the newly organized college of cardinal bishops. Also, among the letters here presented are several of a highly spiritual, even mystical content. These letters demonstrate that this active reformer was at heart a solitary soul who, when away from home, longed for his ""beloved solitude,"" where he could practice the contemplative life. Eventually, Damian grew weary of his efforts at reform and asked to be retired from his office of cardinal bishop of Ostia.Because Damian's Latin was a living language that surpasses the ability of classical Latin lexicography to cope with it, all disciplines that make use of medieval thought will welcome this English translation. Owen J. Blum's thorough notes to each letter indicate the vocabulary problems he encountered and how they were resolved. This third volume, like its companions, uses Damian's thought to understand an important and gripping period in the history of church and state. With these intimate revelations into his character and motivation, readers may more readily appreciate Damian's total dedication to his mission.

This fourth volume of the Mediaeval Continuation is the fourth of the letters of Peter Damian, an eleventh-century monk and man of letters. Written during the years 1062-1066, these letters deal with a wide variety of subjects. Some letters are of historical interest, others approach the size and scope of philosophical or theological treatises. Damian's correspondents range from simple hermits in his community to abbots, bishops, cardinals, and even to Pope Alexander II. Among these letters are to be found one addressed to the patriarch of Constantinopole, two to Damian's sisters, one to the Empress Agnes, and even a few to such distant personages as the young King Henry IV and the Archbishop Anno of Cologne.Like its companions, this volume uses Damian's thought to understand an important and gripping period in the history of church and state. Clearly, the most significant letter in this collection is Letter 119, written in 1063 to Abbot Desiderius of Monte Cassino and his monks, on the omnipotence of God. Translated here for the first time into English, Damian's treatise on Divine Omnipotence demonstrates his control of both theological and philosophical methodology. His opponents are contemporary rhetoricians whose denial of God's total potency in dealing with his creatures' contingencies in time past, present, and future opens them to the charge of heresy.Though Damian's vocabulary frequently challenges the combined dictionary resources of classical, patristic, and mediaeval Latin, Owen J. Blum's careful translation will guarantee the transmission of Damian's thought to all levels of readers throughout the world.

Written by Dominican preacher and mystic Bl. Henry Suso (c. 1300-1366), Horologium Sapientiae, or Wisdom's Watch upon the Hours, was one of the most successful religious writings of its time. Now it is offered to the English-speaking world in a new translation based on Pius Knzle's critical Latin edition.Essentially a dialogue between the author and Divine Wisdom, the Watch tells of Suso's service to and espousal of Wisdom, his ""most cruel bride,"" with a charm reminiscent of contemporary chivalric romance literature. The Watch's many readers doubtless esteemed it for its devotional fervor and for the solutions Suso offers to the problems inseparable from a sincere Christian life. He teaches that a devotion of sharing in the Savior's self-sacrifice is the path to spiritual perfection, as well as a consolation for the soul amid life's cares. Based on his own shrewd observations on shunning ""sensory forms and earthly imaginings,"" Suso develops the essential elements of ascetic and mystical theology.He keenly observes and judiciously criticizes the abuses of his own times and the rise of secularism, hedonism, and materialism. He writes of his yearning for a way of life that was fast disappearing, for the piety and simplicity of the country folk he had known as a boy. For Suso, the ""Christocentric Boethius,"" the men and women of his youth were heirs of the Eternal Wisdom, founded on Christ and found in Christ, which was being lost and forgotten in the new urban cultures.The Watch's autobiographical content is especially interesting for those who follow the repercussions of the condemnation of Meister Eckhart, Suso's revered teacher, in 1329. Eckhart had been condemned for heresy, and Suso uses allegory to show perceptive readers how he found a way to dissent from this judgment and yet remain the Holy See's loyal and faithful servant. Throughout most of his life, Suso suffered the jealousy of his confreres and remained ever conscious of the dangers of uncritically applying Eckhart's principles; these troubles too are expressed allegorically here.

The philosophical and theological works of St. Thomas Aquinas are held in universal esteem. His commentaries on Scripture and the role of Scripture in his theological works have garnered considerable attention. Yet Thomas's academic sermons delivered on Sundays and special occasions have been widely overlooked. Considering that Thomas was a Dominican, a member of the Order of Preachers, and that he held the position of Magister in Sacra Pagina at the University of Paris—wherein preaching was a required task—the oversight is remarkable. Though hundreds of medieval sermons are attributed to Thomas Aquinas, the Leonine Commission has identified only 20 as his. This book features all 20 sermons, and one whose authenticity has been debated, translated from the original Latin texts, five of which have never been published before. An introduction and notes accompany the first-ever English translation. Readers will gain insight into the way in which Thomas expressed his exegetical insights in his sermons.The sermons cover an array of topics, among them Advent, the Holy Spirit, the Trinity, the Exaltation of the Cross, Mary, other saints, and ordinary Sundays. Thus, from different angles readers will have a better view of Thomas's spirituality and also of the way in which he translated his theological and spiritual thought into consequences for an authentic Christian life, the religious life, doing good to one's neighbor, and pastoral work.The Academic Sermons will fascinate readers as it presents Thomas's unique style of preaching and how he skillfully communicated the fruits of his contemplation. With this book, Thomas the preacher comes to the fore.

Peter Abelard wrote his Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans in the mid-1130s, toward the end of his life, while teaching in Paris. Filled with questions on topics such as redemption, grace, and original sin, the commentary demonstrates the growing interest of urban scholars in applying dialectic to the study of Sacred Scripture. Abelard's analysis of some of these topics contributed to his second condemnation at the Council of Sens in 1140.The commentary is in many respects quite orthodox; Abelard presents himself as a devout Christian seeking to refine Christian teaching and strip away centuries of accretions that had obscured the deeper, original truths. This is particularly the case in the famous question on redemption, in which Abelard demonstrates critical flaws in traditional theories of redemption while affirming the salvific effect of Christ's death. Other passages deal with subjects such as the Trinity and intention—also matters of controversy—and the ethics of love for God and neighbor. Abelard discusses love of neighbor at length no less than three times. Despite its importance and the frequent references made to it by modern scholars, this commentary has never before been translated into English in its entirety. This volume, which includes an extensive introduction, fills this gap, thus providing a needed contribution to medieval scholarship.

Robert Grosseteste was an unusual and exceptional man: from the lowest social class yet greatly admired by kings and popes; a scientist but also a philosopher and theologian; a talented administrator and a successful teacher; a pastor doggedly devoted to the care of his flock but also a scholar dedicated to the translation of early Christian fathers and Aristotle; loyal to the pope but fearless and bold in calling for the reform of the curia.On the Cessation of the Laws directly reflects the profundity and originality of Grosseteste's theological work and indirectly reveals his pastoral concerns. The work consists of four books. In the first, Grosseteste offers arguments mostly from Scripture against the position that he wishes to defend and then counters these arguments with a lengthy treatment of the whole economy of creation and salvation and the place of the Scriptures, Old and New, in it. The second attempts to show from clear Old Testament texts that the crucified Jesus was the savior promised in the Law. The third is dominated by theological arguments for the incarnation of Christ even if humanity had not sinned, and the fourth addresses a cluster of questions that follow upon the death of the Law.In On the Cessation of the Laws, Grosseteste draws out the theological, christological, and soteriological issues implicit in the question of the relationship between the Old and New Covenants.

Peter the Venerable (d. 1156), the powerful abbot of Cluny, left behind not only extensive letter collections, but also polemical treatises intended to refute contemporary challenges to Christianity. Perhaps the most important is Against the Inveterate Obduracy of the Jews (Adversus Judeorum inveteratam duritiem), written between Against the Saracens (ca. 1150) and Against the Petrobrusians (ca. 1139-41).Against the Inveterate Obduracy of the Jews represents a turning point in medieval anti-Jewish polemics. On the one hand, the polemic's intention—to bring about the conversion of the Jews—is predicated on an assumption that Jews are rational agents who may be persuaded of Christian truths by philosophical argument, empirical evidence, and proper biblical exegesis. On the other hand, Peter also introduced the notion that the Jews' enduring ""blindness"" stems from a persistent strain of bestial irrationality, for which they themselves are responsible. Peter traces this irrationality to the medieval Jews' commitment to the Talmud.Peter is the first medieval Christian author to name the Talmud explicitly. The Jewish convert to Christianity, Petrus Alfonsi, had ridiculed Talmudic folklore in his Dialogue Against the Jews. Peter the Venerable borrowed from but also surpassed Alfonsi's critique, as even his use of the name Talmud indicates. By emphasizing the irrationality of the Jews, Peter cast doubt upon their essential humanity and paved the way toward an increasingly violent treatment of the Jewish minority in medieval Christendom. Perhaps for this reason, Peter's Against the Inveterate Obduracy of the Jews has been popular among modern anti-Semites as well.With this translation, Irven M. Resnick makes the complete work available for the first time in English.

Robert of Arbrissel (d. 1117) once named Cluny among the chief holy places of Christendom—just after Bethlehem, Jerusalem, and Rome. When Peter the Venerable (d. 1156) became the ninth abbot of Cluny in 1122, Cluny had thousands of monks in the mother abbey and her daughter cells, along with hundreds of affiliated houses and dependencies in England, Germany, Spain, Italy and the Holy Land. As a fierce advocate for Cluny against its detractors (which included the redoubtable Bernard of Clairvaux), Peter defended his Order at the same time that he reformed its customs.Peter the Venerable’s extensive literary legacy includes poems, a large epistolary collection, and polemical treatises. The first of his four major polemics targeted a Christian heresy, the Petrobrussians (Against the Petrobrusians); the rest took aim at Jews and Saracens. Catholic University of America Press has published his Against the Inveterate Obduracy of the Jews. This present volume will make available in their entiretyPeter the Venerable’s twin polemics against Islam—A Summary of the entire heresy of the Saracens and Against the sect of the Saracens—as well as related correspondence. These works resulted from a sustained engagement with Islam begun during Peter’s journey to Spain in 1142–43. There the abbot commissioned a translation of sources from the Arabic, the so-called Toledan Collection, that include the Letter of a Saracen with a Christian Response (from the Apology of [Ps.] Al-Kindi); Fables of the Saracens (a potpourri of Islamic hadith traditions); and Robert of Ketton’s first Latin translation of the whole of the Qur’an. Thanks to Peter’s efforts, from the second half of the twelfth century Christians could acquire a far better understanding of the teachings of Islam, and Peter may rightly be viewed as the initiator of Islamic studies in the West.

This work is the first English translation of Scotus's commentary on Aristotle's Quaestiones super Praedicamenta. Although there are numerous Latin commentaries on Aristotle's Categories, Scotus's Questions is one of the few commentaries on the Categories written in the thirteenth century covering all of Aristotle's text, including the often neglected post-praedicamenta, and the only complete Latin commentary available in English. Moreover, unlike many of the commentaries, Scotus's text is one of the last commentaries to be written before the nominalist reduction of the categories to substance and quality. The question format allows Scotus a great deal of liberty to discuss the categories in detail, as well as matters that are only remotely raised by the text. Altogether, the forty-four questions cover the following subjects: questions 1–4 are prolegomena to the work itself and raise the question of its subject matter as well as whether there can be a science of the categories; questions 5–8 deal with equivocals, univocals, and denominatives; questions 9–11 discuss Aristotle's two rules regarding predication and the sufficiency of the categories; questions 12–36 discuss the four main categories treated by Aristotle, namely, substance, quantity, relation, and quality; and the remaining eight questions discuss the post- praedicamenta.

Even prior to his death on 15 November 1280, the Dominican master Albert of Lauingen was legendary on account of his erudition. He was widely recognized for the depth and breadth of his learning in the philo­sophical disciplines as well as in the study of God, earning him the titles Doctor universalis and Doctor expertus. Moreover, his authoritative teach­ing merited him the moniker Magnus, an appellation bestowed on no other man of the High Middle Ages. This volume contains the first half of Albert the Great’s commentary On Job (on chs. 1–21), translated into English for the first time; a translation of the second half of the work will appear in a subsequent volume of the Fathers of the Church, Me­diaeval Continuation series. Albert completed Super Iob in 1272 or 1274, when he was over seventy years old, at the Dominican Kloster of Hei­lige Kreuz in Cologne, where, as lector emeritus of the Order, he likely lectured on this profound biblical book. Significantly, Albert may have been inspired to produce On Job by his most famous student, Thomas Aquinas, who had written his own Joban commentary, the Expositio su­per Iob ad litteram, while serving as conventual lector at San Domenico in Orvieto from 1261 to 1264. Yet Albert occupies a unique position in the history of the interpretation of Job: he is the first and only exegete in history who explicitly reads the whole book as a debate in the mode of an academic or scholastic disputation among Job and his friends about divine providence concerning human affairs. The Introduction to this volume situates Albert’s On Job—its general approach and key exegetical features—in the broad context of Dominican theological education and pastoral formation in the thirteenth century.

Declared a Doctor of the Church in 2012, St. Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179) is one of the most remarkable figures of medieval Latin Christianity. A visionary theologian and prophetic reformer, as well as composer, artist, and natural scientist, her voice echoes across the centuries to offer today an integrated vision of the relationship between cosmos and humanity.Completed in 1173, The Book of Divine Works (Liber Divinorum Operum) is the culmination of the Visionary Doctor's theological project, offered here for the first time in a complete and scholarly English translation. The first part explores the intricate physical and spiritual relationships between the cosmos and the human person, with the famous image of the universal Man standing astride the cosmic spheres. The second part examines the rewards for virtue and the punishments for vice, mapped onto a geography of purgatory, hellmouth, and the road to the heavenly city. At the end of each Hildegard writes extensive commentaries on the Prologue to John's Gospel (Part 1) and the first chapter of Genesis (Part 2)—the only premodern woman to have done so. Finally, the third part tells the history of salvation, imagined as the City of God standing next to the mountain of God's foreknowledge, with Divine Love reigning over all.For Hildegard, the Incarnation is the key moment of all history, willed from eternity to complete God's Work. God's creative capacity and loving mission are thus shared with the humans he made in his image and likeness—for Hildegard, the incarnate Christ's tunic and the Word's creative rationality, respectively. Containing all creation within ourselves, we are divinely called to cooperate in the Creator's work, to enter into a fruitful and sustainable relationship with creation. The scope of Hildegard's visionary theology is both cosmic and close—reflections of God's loving self-revelation are both grand and utterly intimate, as the Work of God reaches from the very heart of infinity down into every smallest detail of the created world.

Among the intellectuals of the Carolingian Renaissance of the Ninth Century, few are as prolific and influential as Hrabanus Maurus (c.780- 856), a monk and abbot of the monastery of Fulda and then archbishop of Mainz. Most famous to modern authors as the putative author of the hymn "Come, Holy Ghost," Hrabanus was highly esteemed by generations of medieval intellectuals, including Dante who located the archbishop among St. Bonaventure's cohort in the sphere of the Sun.This volume presents for the first time in English translation Hrabanus' pedagogical masterpiece On the Formation of Clergy (De institutione clericorum). Unveiled on the Feast of All Saints in 819, at the dedication of the great Salvator basilica, Hrabanus' work addresses the most important focuses of the Carolingian Renaissance: education and ecclesiastical reform. The treatise promotes a careful balance between classical training and Christian ethics and features the robust pedagogy of the early medieval monastic curriculum. At points it even offers glimpses into the energetic environment of Fulda's classrooms. On the Formation of Clergy also supplies a program for ecclesiastical reform. It provides readers with a primer on ecclesiastical hierarchy and liturgy, providing glosses on church offices and explanations of important church activities.Hrabanus divided his opus into three books. Book One explains Holy Orders. It lays out the distinctions between clergy and laity, enumerates the ranks of the priesthood, describes clerical vesture, and explores the sacraments. Book Two examines priestly life. It considers ascetic disciplines appropriate for priests at different grades, describes expected prayer routines, and identifies important doctrinal teachings and principal liturgical feasts. Book Three treats biblical studies and preaching. It lays out a curriculum for the liberal arts, connects the liberal arts to catechetics and homiletics, and integrates academic study with moral instruction.On the Formation of Clergy was widely read throughout the Middle Ages. Beyond its impact on the Carolingian Renaissance, the treatise guided legal analysis in Gratian's Decretum, supplied examples for Peter Lombard's Sentences, and is cited by theological titans from Rupert of Deutz to Thomas Aquinas to Gabriel Biel.

This is the first English translation of a major work by Rupert of Deutz, arguably the most prolific Christian author since Augustine. During his lifetime, which spanned the eleventh and twelfth centuries, Rupert engaged in controversies on the Eucharist and on predestination and composed works on the Trinity, salvation in Christ, and other major theological topics. An ardent defender of a monastic theology that focused on the interpretation of Scripture and the liturgy, Rupert is well known also for his distinctive hermeneutical approach to the Bible. His Commentary on the Song of Songs builds on the long Hebrew-Christian tradition of allegorical interpretation of this Old Testament book but adds a radically original dimension to it: it interprets the text as a dialogue between Jesus and Mary and unfolds in this context a novel approach to Mary, who is presented as the teacher of the apostles and assumed to have participated in the Apostolic Council, described in Acts 15.Rupert has prefaced his commentary with a letter to Thietmar, bishop of Verden (in northern Germany), as well as a prologue in which he reflects on his experience of being called to perform this exegetical task. The complete translation by Jieon Kim and Vittorio Hösle of this major work (up to now translated only into German) is preceded by an introduction that discusses Rupert's life and works, as well as the history of the interpretation of the Song of Songs, and offers hermeneutical reflections on Rupert's methodology.