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John Cassian
John Cassian, also called Johannes Eremita or Johannes Massiliensis
(360?-433?), early Christian monk and theologian. After spending
perhaps 15 years among the ascetics of the Egyptian deserts with his
friend Germanus, Cassian studied in Constantinople (present-day
İstanbul) with Saint John Chrysostom, by whom he was ordained a
deacon. Cassian lived in Rome for several years and became friends
with the future pope Leo I. About 415, by now a priest, he settled in
Marseille (in what is now southern France), where he founded the
monasteries of Saints Peter and Victor, for men, and Saint Savior,
for women, and brought Eastern monasticism to the West. Cassian
was one of the first of the Semi-Pelagians, who rejected the view of
the Latin Father Saint Augustine that humankind generally is
damned by the sin of Adam and that some souls are saved purely
through the grace of God, which cannot be earned (see
Pelagianism). He also opposed the Augustinian concept of moral
choice in attaining salvation. Cassian wrote two works on asceticism
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as well as a doctrinal treatise on the incarnation of Christ; the latter
work was intended to refute the heresy of Nestorianism.
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Clement of Alexandria
Clement of Alexandria, full name TITUS FLAVIUS CLEMENS (150?-215?), Greek
theologian and an early Father of the Church. He was probably born in Athens,
Greece, and was educated at the catechetical school in Alexandria, where he
studied under the Christian philosopher Pantaenus. Some time after Clement's
conversion from paganism, he was ordained a presbyter. In about 190 he
succeeded Pantaenus as head of the catechetical school, which became famous
under his leadership. Origen, who later achieved distinction as a writer, teacher,
and theologian, may have been one of Clement's pupils. During the persecution of
the Christians in the reign of Septimius Severus, emperor of Rome, Clement
moved from Alexandria to Caesarea (Mazaca) in Cappadocia. Little is known of
his subsequent activities. At times, he was considered a saint; his name appeared in
early Christian martyrologies. Many scholars regard Clement as the founder of the
Alexandrian school of theology, which emphasized the divine nature of Christ. It
was Alexandrian theologians such as Saint Cyril and Saint Athanasius who took
the lead in opposing Adoptionism and Nestorianism, both of which emphasized
Christ's humanity at the expense of his divinity. According to Clement's system of
logic, the thought and will of God exhorts, educates, and perfects the true
Christian. This process is described in A Hortatory Address to the Greeks, The
Tutor, and Miscellanies, Clement's major works. The first work is addressed to the
educated public with an interest in Christianity; it is modeled on the Hortatory
Address of Aristotle, a lost work in which Aristotle addressed the general reader
with an interest in philosophy. The Tutor is designed to broaden and deepen the
foundation of Christian faith imparted in baptismal instruction. Miscellanies is a
discussion of various points of doctrinal theology, designed to guide the mature
Christian to perfect knowledge. Clement was also the author of a number of tracts
and treatises, including Slander, Fasting, Patience, and Who Is the Rich Man That
Is Saved?
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Saint Cyril of Alexandria
Saint Cyril of Alexandria (376?-444), bishop and theologian, famous for his
refutation of Nestorianism. Born and educated in Alexandria, Cyril was elected
patriarch of Alexandria in 412. Thereafter he pursued a course of zealous and
merciless hostility toward those he considered incompatible with the Christian
community of the city. He looted and closed the churches of the heretical sect
founded by the 3rd-century Roman priest Novatian. In retaliation for Jewish
attacks on Christians, he instigated assaults on the Jewish inhabitants of
Alexandria, destroying their homes and finally driving them from the city. During
one of the riots, the noted philosopher Hypatia was torn apart by a mob of
Christians; there is no evidence, however, for the supposition that Cyril was
instrumental in her death.
Cyril is best known as the guiding spirit of the Council of Ephesus (431), which
condemned the teachings of Nestorius, patriarch of Constantinople (present-day
İstanbul). Nestorius denied the title theotókos (mother of God) to the Virgin Mary
on the grounds that she was the mother of Jesus Christ's human nature only, and
not of his divine nature. After reviewing the issues, Pope Celestine I appointed
Cyril to excommunicate and depose Nestorius unless he recanted. Cyril presided at
the Council of Ephesus and succeeded in having Nestorius condemned before all
the participating bishops had arrived. The condemnation of Nestorius was upheld
by the emperor, and the word theotókos became a touchstone of orthodoxy.
Cyril was a prolific writer and a gifted theologian. Most of Cyril's works are
commentaries on Scripture or doctrinal expositions. He is considered one of the
Fathers of the Church and Doctors of the Church. His feast day is June 27 in the
West and June 9 in the East.
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Doctors of the Church
Doctors of the Church, eminent Christian teachers, proclaimed by the church
to be worthy of the title, which is taken from the Latin doctor ecclesiae. In
according the title, the church recognizes the cited theologian's contribution
to doctrine and the understanding of the faith. The person so named must be a
canonized saint. In addition, those selected must be distinguished by their
learning. The proclamation must be made by a pope or by an ecumenical
council. The original Doctors of the Church were the Western theologians
Saints Ambrose, Augustine, and Jerome and Pope Gregory I, who were
named in 1298. The corresponding Eastern Doctors of the Church are Saints
Athanasius, Basil, John Chrysostom, and Gregory of Nazianzus. They were
named in 1568, in the same year as was Saint Thomas Aquinas. The first
women Doctors of the Church, Saints Catherine of Siena and Teresa of Ávila,
were named in 1970.
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Eusebius of Caesarea
Eusebius of Caesarea (260?-340?), theologian, church historian, and scholar, probably
born in Palestine. Called Eusebius Pamphili, he took the name Pamphili from his friend
and teacher Pamphilus of Caesarea, whose extensive library furnished much of the
historical materials for Eusebius's later literary work. Eusebius also collaborated with
Pamphilus on an edition of the Septuagint from the text in the Hexapla of the early
Christian writer Origen, and in the preparation of an apology (five books, now lost) for
Origen's teachings. After the martyrdom of Pamphilus, Eusebius left Caesarea for Tyre.
He subsequently fled Tyre during the persecutions of Christians at the beginning of the
4th century, presumably only to be imprisoned on his arrival in Egypt. After 310 the
persecutions ceased, and he was released.
About 314 he became bishop of Caesarea. At the Council of Nicaea in 325 Eusebius
delivered the opening address and was made the leader of the Semi-Arians, the moderate
party, who were averse to discussing the nature of the Trinity and preferred the simple
language of the Scriptures to the subtleties of metaphysical distinctions. At Nicaea he
accepted the Athanasian position, although he showed Arian leanings at the synods of
Antioch (324) and Tyre (335). Eusebius stood in high favor with Constantine the Great,
emperor of Rome, and was one of the most learned men of his time.
Apart from his historical writings, Eusebius was responsible for the Eusebian Canons, a
system of cross-references to the Gospels employed in many biblical manuscripts.
Eusebius edited or improved the work of the 3rd-century Alexandrian theologian
Ammonius by dividing the Gospel of Matthew into 355 sections, Mark into 236, Luke
into 342, and John into 232, the number of each of these so-called Ammonian Sections
being written on the margin of the text. Because of the similarity of matter, many sections
of one Gospel were nearly identical with other sections of one or more of the other
Gospels. For convenience of reference, Eusebius constructed ten clarifying tables or lists.
Eusebius was a prolific writer, producing mostly apologetics, but also a history of the
world until 303 and a history of the Christian church until 324.
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Fathers of the Church
Fathers of the Church, name given by the Christian church to the writers who
established Christian doctrine before the 8th century. The writings of the Fathers,
or patristic literature, synthesized Christian doctrine as found in the Bible,
especially the Gospels, the writings of the Apostolic Fathers, ecclesiastical
dictums, and decisions of church councils (see Council). They provided a
standardized body of Christian teaching for transmission to the peoples of the
Roman Empire. The so-called Doctors of the Church consist of four Western
Fathers, including Saints Ambrose, Augustine, Pope Gregory I, and Jerome, and
four Eastern Fathers, including Saints Athanasius, Basil, John Chrysostom, and
Gregory of Nazianzus. The earlier Eastern Fathers, including Clement of
Alexandria, St. Justin Martyr, and Origen, were strongly influenced by Greek
philosophy. The Western Fathers, however, including Tertullian and Saints
Gregory I and Jerome, generally avoided the synthesis of pagan and Christian
thought.
The church established four qualifications for bestowing the honorary title of
church father on an early writer. In addition to belonging to the early period of the
church, a Father of the Church must have led a holy life. His writings must be
generally free from doctrinal error and must contain an outstanding defense or
explanation of Christian doctrine. Finally, his writings must have received the
approval of the church.
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Saint Gregory of Nazianzus
Saint Gregory of Nazianzus (circa 329-89), with Saints Athanasius, Basil,
and John Chrysostom, a Father of the Church and one of the four Eastern
Doctors of the Church. Called Gregorius Theologus (Greek, “Gregory the
Theologian”), he was born near Nazianzus, in Cappadocia (now Turkey), and
educated in Alexandria and Athens. He was baptized in 360 by his father,
who was bishop of Nazianzus. Deciding to pursue a life of devotion, he went
to Pontus, where he lived in the desert near the Iris River (now the Yeşil
River in Turkey) with St. Basil. The two men compiled an anthology of the
writings of the Christian teacher and theologian Origen, called the Philokalia
(Greek, “Love of the Beautiful”). Basil later became bishop of Caesarea and,
in 371 or 372, prevailed upon Gregory to accept the see of Sasima, a small
village in Cappadocia. Gregory disliked public life, however, and retired until
the death of his father in 374.
In 378 or 379 Gregory took charge of the Nicene congregation of
Constantinople (present-day İstanbul). There he delivered five discourses on
the Trinity that earned him fame as The Theologian. He was appointed
bishop, but retired in the face of resistance from the Arians. Hoping to
prevent further schism, he returned to Nazianzus, where he remained until his
death. His feast day is January 2 in the Roman Catholic church and January
25 in the Orthodox church. His surviving works comprise about 45 sermons,
243 letters, and 407 dogmatic and moral poems.
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Saint Gregory of Nyssa
Saint Gregory of Nyssa (circa 335-394), bishop of Nyssa, in Cappadocia, and an
early Father of the Church, born in Neocaesarea (now Niksar, Turkey), younger
brother of Saint Basil. Gregory married, but on the death of his wife he entered the
monastery founded by Basil in Pontus, near the Iris River. About 371 he was
ordained by his brother and made bishop of Nyssa. Gregory's religious position
was strictly orthodox, and he was particularly zealous in combating the doctrine of
Arianism. The Arians charged Gregory with fraud in his election to the bishopric
and with mishandling the funds of his office. Convicted of these charges, he was
exiled from Nyssa in 376 to 378. After his return Gregory was a strong supporter
of the orthodox position against the Arians at the first Council of Constantinople in
381. In the next year he was sent by the church to reorganize the churches of
Arabia.
Gregory's fame is chiefly as a theologian. Among his important theological
treatises are Great Catechetical Discourse, a defense of the Christian faith against
Jews and pagans; On Faith, a treatise against the Arians; and Ten Syllogisms,
directed against the Apollinarists, who in many ways were allied to the
Manichaeans. His feast day is March 9.
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Saint Hippolytus of Rome
Saint Hippolytus of Rome (170?-235?), considered the most important 3rd-century
theologian of the Roman church. Hippolytus challenged the papal election of Callistus in
217 and declared himself the first antipope.
Born before 170, probably in the Greek-speaking East, Hippolytus appears to have come
to Rome during the reign of Saint Victor I in the last decade of the second century. He
soon became the leading intellectual of the Roman church; when the eminent theologian
Origen visited Rome, he attended one of Hippolytus's sermons. Hippolytus took an active
part in combatting Modal Monarchianism, which denied the reality of distinctions
between the persons of the Trinity. A fierce controversialist, he denounced both Pope
Zephyrinus and his adviser, who would become Pope Callistus I, for laxity in enforcing
church discipline, and he accused them of modalist tendencies in their christology.
Zephyrinus and Callistus in turn denounced Hippolytus for the ditheism latent in the
theology he had adopted from Saint Justin Martyr.
After the election of Callistus as successor to Zephyrinus, Hippolytus appears to have set
himself up as antipope. He treated Callistus as a misguided factional leader and attempted
to realize his own vision of the church as an ideal community of saints. After the death of
Callistus, Hippolytus perpetuated the schism with attacks on Pope Urban I and Pope
Pontian. Around 235, during the reign of Emperor Maximinus, both Hippolytus and
Pontian were arrested and sent to the mines of Sardinia, where they died. The fact that
Pope Fabian went to the effort of having the bodies of both men returned to Rome
suggests that a reconciliation was believed to have taken place before their deportation.
Because Hippolytus wrote in Greek, the bulk of his works was lost and his history
became confused in the Latin West. Saint Damasus I, for example, believed that
Hippolytus was a follower of Novatian, and in later writings Hippolytus is represented as
a soldier converted by Saint Lawrence.
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Saint Isidore of Seville
Saint Isidore of Seville (560?-636), Spanish theologian, archbishop, and
encyclopedist, whose most influential work was Etymologiae, a remarkably
comprehensive early encyclopedia. He was born in Seville and was educated at a
monastery under the supervision of his brother St. Leander, whom he later
succeeded as archbishop of Seville. As archbishop, Isidore helped unify the
Spanish church by converting the Visigoths, who had completed the conquest of
Spain in the 5th century, to orthodox Christianity from Arianism—one of the most
divisive heresies in the history of the church. He also presided over a number of
important church councils. Most notable among these was the fourth national
Council of Toledo (633), which decreed the union of church and state, the
establishment of cathedral schools in every diocese, and the standardizaton of
liturgical practice.
Chief among Isidore's writings is the Etymologiae, in which he attempted to
compile all secular and religious knowledge. Divided into 20 sections, it contains
information that Isidore drew from the works of other writers and Latin authorities.
The Etymologiae was a favorite textbook for students during the Middle Ages, and
it remained for centuries a standard reference book. Isidore's other works include
treatises on theology, Scripture, linguistics, science, and history. His Sententiarum
Libri Tres (Three Books of Sentences) was the first manual of Christian doctrine
and ethics in the Latin church.
Isidore died in Seville on April 4, 636. He was canonized in 1598 and declared a
Doctor of the Church in 1722. His feast day is April 4.
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Saint John of Damascus
Saint John of Damascus or Saint John Damascene (675?-749?), theologian, writer,
scholar, Father of the Church, and Doctor of the Church, born in Damascus, Syria.
Although a Christian, he served as a high-ranking financial officer under the
Saracen caliph of Damascus. Because of the caliph's hostility to Christians, John
resigned his post about 700. He retired to the monastery of Mar Saba, near
Jerusalem, where he was ordained a priest before the outbreak of the controversy
over iconoclasm. John opposed and fought the edicts of the Byzantine emperor Leo
III against the veneration of statues and images; he was able to do so with impunity
because he was not Leo's subject. He spent the rest of his life in religious study,
except for a period shortly before his death, when he journeyed throughout Syria
preaching against the iconoclasts.
John was considered one of the ablest philosophers of his day and was known as
Chrysorrhoas (Greek, “Golden Stream”) because of his oratorical ability. He was
the author of the standard textbook of dogmatic theology in the early Greek
church. This textbook, Source of Knowledge, is divided into three parts: Heads of
Philosophy, Compendium of Heresies, and An Exact Exposition of Orthodox Faith.
The third and most important section contains a complete theological system based
on the teachings of the early Greek church fathers and church synods from the 4th
to the 7th century. John of Damascus is considered a saint by both the Roman
Catholic church and the Greek church. His feast day in the Roman Catholic church
is March 27; in the Greek, December 4.
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Saint Justin Martyr
Saint Justin Martyr (100?-165?), philosopher, theologian, and one of the earliest
apologists of the Christian church, who sought to reconcile Christian doctrine and
pagan culture. He was born in Flavia Neapolis (now Nābulus, West Bank), a
Roman city built on the site of the ancient Shechem, in Samaria. His parents were
pagans. As a young man Justin devoted himself to the study of Greek philosophy,
notably the writings of Plato and the Stoic philosophers (see Stoicism). Justin first
encountered Christianity in Ephesus. After his conversion to the religion, he went
to Rome, where he established a school. He died in Rome as a martyr during the
reign of Emperor Marcus Aurelius.
The books that are ascribed to Justin with certainty are the two Apologies for the
Christians, which comprise an erudite defense of Christians against charges of
atheism and sedition in the Roman state, and the Dialogue with Trypho the Jew,
which professes to be the record of an actual discussion at Ephesus. The Apologies
were addressed to Emperor Antoninus Pius, but they were intended primarily for
the educated public of the provinces. Their central theme is the divine plan of
salvation, fulfilled in Christ the Logos. In Justin's view, Christianity was the final
revelation toward which Greco-Roman philosophy had gradually been moving. He
was the first writer of the early church to introduce philosophical terminology into
the discussion of Christian teachings. Although Justin was not an original thinker,
his works are valuable for the information they give about the 2nd-century
Christian church.
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Novatian Novatian (200?-258?), Roman theologian, who became the second antipope in 251.
A leader among the Roman clergy, Novatian espoused a rigorism in church
discipline that was akin to Montanism.
After the martyrdom of Pope Fabian in 250 during the persecutions of Emperor
Decius, the Roman church postponed electing a successor. In 251 the church
elected Cornelius as pope. Cornelius advocated the forgiveness and readmittance
of Christians who had committed apostasy under persecution. Novatian, however,
believed that after baptism there could be no forgiveness for grave sins. He had
himself consecrated pope by three bishops from southern Italy and went into
schism with his followers; in 251 they were excommunicated by Cornelius. The
Novatianists established their own church, which endured until they were formally
reunited with the Catholic church by the Council of Nicaea in 325. Novatian
himself is thought to have been martyred during the persecutions of the Roman
emperor Valerian.
Novatian was the first Roman theologian to write in Latin. Two of his nine known
treatises have survived: On the Trinity and On Jewish Foods.
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Saint Paul
Born to Jewish parents in a thoroughly observant home in Tarsus (now in Turkey),
Paul was originally named for the ancient Hebrew king Saul. On the eighth day he
was circumcised, as stipulated by the Jewish Law; indeed, in all respects he was
reared in accordance with the Pharisaic interpretation of the Law. As a young Jew
of the Diaspora (the dispersion of Jews into the Greco-Roman world), Saul took as
his everyday name the Latin Paul, a name with a sound similar to that of his
Hebrew birth name.
Paul's letters reflect a keen knowledge of Greek rhetoric, something he doubtless
learned as a youth in Tarsus. But his patterns of thought also reflect formal training
in the Jewish Law as preparation for becoming a rabbi, perhaps received in
Jerusalem from the famous teacher Gamaliel the Elder (flourished AD 20-50). By
his own account Paul excelled in the study of the Law (see Galatians 1:14;
Philippians 3:6); and his zeal for it led him to persecute the nascent Christian
church, holding it to be a Jewish sect that was untrue to the Law and that should
therefore be destroyed (see Galatians 1:13). Acts portrays him as a supportive
witness to the stoning of St. Stephen, the first Christian martyr.
Paul became a Christian after experiencing a vision of Christ during a journey from
Jerusalem to Damascus (see Acts 9:1-19, 22:5-16, 26:12-18). Paul himself, in
referring to this event, never uses the term conversion, which implies shifting
allegiance from one religion to another; he clearly perceived the revelation of Jesus
Christ to mark the end of all religions, and thus of all religious distinctions (see
Galatians 3:38). Instead, he consistently spoke of God's having “called” him (see
Election below). Paul viewed his call to be a Christian and his call to be an
evangelist to the Gentiles as a single and indivisible event.
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Theodore of Mopsuestia
Theodore of Mopsuestia (350?-428), theologian of the school of Antioch,
whose use of philological, critical, and historical methods in biblical exegesis
anticipated modern biblical criticism. Born in Antioch, he studied under the
pagan rhetorician Libanus and in 369 entered the monastic school of Diodore
(330?-390?), a bishop of Tarsus, where he remained for about ten years. He
was ordained in 381; in 392 he became bishop of Mopsuestia (now Misis,
Turkey), where he died in 428.
In his biblical commentaries, Theodore rejected allegorical interpretation,
emphasizing instead literal meaning and historical context. His theological
works were particularly concerned with the state of immortality, which he
understood as a conjunction of the human and divine prefigured by the union
of humanity and God in Christ and initiated through the reception of the
sacraments. Theodore's interpretation of the two natures (human and divine)
of Christ was considered orthodox during his lifetime but was associated at
the Council of Ephesus (432) with the teachings of his pupil Nestorius (?-
451?), which the council declared heretical (see Nestorianism). Although the
Nestorian church subsequently came to consider Theodore its primary
theological authority, scholars have recently reexamined his surviving works
and have found them orthodox rather than Nestorian in tendency.
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Saint Vincent of Lérins
Saint Vincent of Lérins (died before 450), theologian, noted for his
Commonitoria, which contains the Vincentian Canon, a formula for
determining orthodoxy. In about 425 he became a monk at the abbey on
the island of Lérins (near present-day Cannes, France). About 435 he
wrote, under the pseudonym Peregrinus (“pilgrim”), two volumes called
Commonitoria, of which only one has survived. This work was intended
to address the growing problem of conflicting theological opinions. The
Vincentian Canon strongly emphasized tradition, defining orthodoxy as
“what has been believed everywhere, always, and by all.” The
Commonitoria by implication attacked St. Augustine, whose doctrine of
predestination and grace Vincent considered a disturbing innovation. His
own position was that of Semi-Pelagianism (see Pelagianism), which
acknowledged the necessity of grace but held that the human will also
has a role in achieving salvation.
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Isaac Abrabanel
Isaac Abrabanel (1437-1508), Jewish statesman, philosopher, and
theologian, born in Lisbon. He was a favorite of Afonso V, king of
Portugal, who made him his treasurer. The king died in 1481, and two
years later Abrabanel was accused of conspiracy and fled to Castile. He
served as a minister under King Ferdinand V and Queen Isabella I from
1484 to 1492. When the Jews were banished from Spain in 1492, he
moved on to Naples and Venice (1503), where he was employed in
diplomatic service. His theological writings include Sources of Salvation
(1496) and Salvation of His Anointed (1497). The name is also spelled
Abravanel.
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Judah León Abrabanel
Judah León Abrabanel, also called Leo Hebreus (1460?-1523?),
Jewish physician and philosopher. Born in Lisbon, he was the son of
statesman, philosopher, and theologian Isaac Abrabanel. He
followed his father to Spain in 1483, and when the Jews were
expelled from there in 1492, he settled in Naples, where he was
physician to the viceroy Hernández Gonzalo de Córdoba. Abrabanel
is best known for his influential Philosophy of Love (1535; trans.
1937), which extols love as the motive force of the universe.
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Joseph Albo
Joseph Albo (1380?-1444?), Jewish theologian, known mainly for his
theological work Sefer haikkarim (Book of Principles, 1485). In this
book Albo deals with such questions as the existence of God, divine
revelation, and a retributive divine as they relate to Judaism. Albo
borrowed some of his teachings from Simon ben Zemach Duran, a
contemporary scholar, and some of his ideas show the influence of 12th-
century Islamic philosopher Averroës. His writings also show the
influence of the works of 12th-century Jewish philosopher Maimonides
and of Hasdai Crescas, a contemporary philosopher and Talmudist.
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Abraham Geiger
Abraham Geiger (1810-74), German rabbi and theologian, born in
Frankfurt am Main, and educated at the universities of Heidelberg and
Bonn. He became rabbi at Wiesbaden in 1832. Three years later he
assisted in the founding of the Jewish theological review Zeitschrift für
Jüdische Theologie. In Breslau (now Wrocław, Poland), where he served
as rabbi from 1840 until 1863, Geiger became the leader of the Reform
movement in Judaism. From 1863 until 1870 he was rabbi in Frankfurt.
He was called to Berlin in 1870 to become chief rabbi of the Jewish
congregation of that city and to head the newly established Jewish
seminary there. His principal works include Lehr- und Lesebuch zur
Sprache der Mischna (A Grammar and Reader of the Language of the
Mishnah, 1845); Studien (1850), studies from the works of the medieval
Jewish philosopher Maimonides; and Das Judentum und seine
Geschichte (Judaism and Its History, 1865-71).
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Abraham Joshua Heschel
Abraham Joshua Heschel (1907-72), American rabbi, scholar, philosopher,
and theologian, known for his evocative presentation of Jewish mysticism,
prophecy, and philosophy of religion, and for his social activism. Born in
Warsaw, he earned a doctorate in philosophy at the University of Berlin, and
taught in Berlin and Frankfurt. After being deported by the Nazis to Poland in
1938, he taught in Warsaw and London. In 1940 he went to the United States,
where he taught at the Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati, Ohio. From
1945 until his death, he was professor of Jewish ethics and mysticism at the
Jewish Theological Seminary in New York City.
In his writings Heschel attempted to evoke religious reality for rootless
contemporary people out of the traditional sources of the Jewish religion. He
presented a living, concerned God and a fragile but noble humanity. His best-
known works include The Earth Is the Lord's (1950), Man's Quest for God:
Studies in Prayer and Symbolism (1954), God in Search of Man: A
Philosophy of Judaism (1956), and The Prophets (1962). Heschel also
expressed his religious-ethical concerns through participation in the
American civil rights and antiwar movements, as well as in extensive
interfaith activities.
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Solomon ben Yehuda Ibn Gabirol
Solomon ben Yehuda Ibn Gabirol (1021?-1058?), Spanish Jewish
philosopher and poet, born in Málaga, and educated in Zaragoza. He is
also known by the Latin name Avicebron. His Mekor hayim (Fountain of
Life), a Neoplatonic dialogue written in Arabic, was known to medieval
European scholastic philosophers in its Latin translation, Fons Vitae. It
was considered the work of a Christian philosopher, and as such its
theory of the universality of matter was ably upheld by the Scottish
philosopher and theologian John Duns Scotus, but severely attacked by
the Italian philosopher and theologian Thomas Aquinas. The Fons Vitae
had little influence on Jewish philosophy, but is believed by some
authorities to have played a role in the development of the Kabbalah. Of
his deeply felt religious poetry, the best-known work is the ode Keter
malkhut (Royal Crown); it concludes with a confession of sin now
included in the service for Yom Kippur. Ibn Gabirol's secular poetry
deals with nature and love and gives a description of his own life. He
also wrote, in Arabic, a well-regarded treatise on ethics, The
Improvement of Moral Qualities.
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Mordecai Menahem Kaplan
Mordecai Menahem Kaplan (1881-1983), American rabbi, who founded
Reconstructionism, a movement based on the view that Judaism is essentially
a religious civilization.
Kaplan was born in Švenčionys, Lithuania. At the age of eight, he was
brought to the United States. After studying at the College of the City of New
York and at Columbia University, he was ordained (1902) at the Jewish
Theological Seminary of America, where he later became principal (1909) of
the teachers institute, dean (1931), and dean emeritus (1947).
In 1916 he established the Jewish Center in New York City, where he served
as rabbi until 1922. He then established the Society for the Advancement of
Judaism, which became the core of Reconstructionism. The movement was
defined in the Reconstructionist, a periodical he edited, that was dedicated to
“the advancement of Judaism as a religious civilization, to the upbuilding of
Eretz Yisrael [the land of Israel] as the spiritual center of the Jewish People,
and to the furtherance of universal freedom, justice, and peace.” Among
Kaplan's writings that define the movement are Judaism as a Civilization
(1934) and The Religion of Ethical Nationhood (1970).
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Alexander Kohut
Alexander Kohut (1842-1894), Hungarian rabbi and lexicographer who
wrote prolifically in German, Hungarian, and English. Born in
Félegyháza, Hungary, Kohut received his Ph.D. degree from the
University of Leipzig in 1865 and was ordained two years later. In 1872
he became Chief Rabbi of Pécs, Hungary, and in 1885 he was invited to
the pulpit of a congregation in New York City. A brilliant orator, Kohut
participated in contemporary theological controversies in the United
States, staunchly upholding the conservative point of view. He also
helped found the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York, where he
taught methods for studying the Talmud, the body of Jewish civil and
religious law. His most important work is the Aruck Completum or
Aruck Hashalem (1878-1892), a Talmudic dictionary in nine volumes.
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Solomon Schechter
Solomon Schechter (1847-1915), Romanian-American Jewish scholar and
founder of Conservative Judaism, born in Focşani, Romania, and educated in
Vienna and Berlin. In 1882 he moved to England, where from 1890 to 1901
he was a lecturer on the Talmud at the University of Cambridge. At
Cambridge he gained wide recognition as a scholar when he identified a
fragment of Hebrew text brought from Egypt as part of the missing Hebrew
original of Ecclesiasticus. He then traveled to Cairo for the university and
collected thousands of manuscripts in the old synagogue there. Schechter
came to the United States in 1901, and from that year until his death served
as president of the Jewish Theological Seminary, New York City. He was a
founder of the United Synagogue of America, which was established to foster
the principles of Conservative Judaism. He edited the Jewish Quarterly
Review (1889-1908) and the Jewish Encyclopedia (1904, 2 volumes); his
writings include Studies in Judaism (1908).
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Roscelin
Roscelin (circa 1050-c. 1125), French theologian and Scholastic
philosopher, regarded as the founder of nominalism. Also called
Roscellinus and Jean Roscelin, he taught that only individual objects are
real, whereas universals, or general concepts, are merely words.
Applying this theory to the Christian doctrine of the Trinity, Roscelin
argued that the Trinity must consist of three divine persons separate in
substance and that the unity traditionally attributed to it is essentially
verbal, or nominal. This tritheistic view was declared heretical at the
Synod of Soissons (1092), and Roscelin was forced to recant. He fled to
England to avoid persecution, but there his theories brought him into
controversy with the Scholastic philosopher Anselm, then archbishop of
Canterbury. As a result of his conflict with Anselm, Roscelin left
England and went to Rome, where he was eventually reconciled with the
church.
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Ockham or William of Occam
Ockham or William of Occam (1285?-1349?), known as Doctor Invincibilis (Latin,
“unconquerable doctor”) and Venerabilis Inceptor (Latin, “worthy initiator”),
English philosopher and Scholastic theologian, who is considered the greatest
exponent of the nominalist school, the leading rival of the Thomist and Scotist
schools. See Nominalism; Scholasticism.
Ockham was born in Surrey, England. He entered the Franciscan order and studied
and taught at the University of Oxford from 1309 to 1319. Denounced by Pope
John XXII for dangerous teachings, he was held in house detention for four years
(1324-1328) at the papal palace in Avignon, France, while the orthodoxy of his
writings was examined. Siding with the Franciscan general against the pope in a
dispute over Franciscan poverty, Ockham fled to Munich in 1328 to seek the
protection of Louis IV, Holy Roman emperor, who had rejected papal authority
over political matters. Excommunicated by the pope, Ockham wrote against the
papacy and defended the emperor until the latter's death in 1347. The philosopher
died in Munich, apparently of the plague, while seeking reconciliation with Pope
Clement VI.
Ockham won fame as a rigorous logician who used logic to show that many beliefs
of Christian philosophers (for example, that God is one, omnipotent, creator of all
things; and that the human soul is immortal) could not be proved by philosophical
or natural reason but only by divine revelation. His name is applied to the principle
of economy in formal logic, known as Ockham's razor, which states that entities
are not to be multiplied without necessity.
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Peter Lombard
Peter Lombard (1100?-1160), Italian theologian and bishop of Paris, whose
Four Books of Sentences became the standard theological text of the Middle
Ages. Born in Novara, Lombardy (Lombardia), he studied in Bologna,
Reims, and Paris, where he was the student of the French philosopher Peter
Abelard. Lombard taught theology in the school of Notre Dame, Paris, from
1136 to 1150. In 1159 he became bishop of Paris, but he died the following
year.
Lombard's principal work, the Four Books of Sentences, earned for him the
title Magister Sententiarum (“Master of the Sentences”). It is a systematic
compilation of the teachings of the Fathers of the Church and opinions of
earlier theologians. It is especially important for its clarification of the
theology of the sacraments; Lombard was one of the first to insist on the
number seven, to distinguish them from sacramentals; earlier writers had
enumerated as many as 30 sacraments. The Sentences remained the chief
theological textbook in European universities until the 16th century. Many of
the greatest Scholastic philosophers and theologians, including Thomas
Aquinas, wrote commentaries on it. See Sacrament; Sacramental.
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John XXI
John XXI (1215?-1277), pope (1276-1277), one of the most learned pontiffs
in papal history. He was renowned for his studies in philosophy, theology,
and medicine. Born Pedro Giuliano in Lisbon, Portugal, he was the son of a
physician. In 1247 he became professor of medicine at the University of
Siena; there he wrote several treatises on medicine and Summulae Logicales
(Logical Summaries), a manual on logic famous for almost 300 years. He
became archbishop of Braga in 1273, cardinal bishop of Tusculum later in
1273, and pope in 1276. During his 8-month pontificate John improved the
condition of the church in Portugal; excommunicated Afonso III, king of
Portugal, for persistent interference in Portuguese episcopal elections; sent
legates to the Great Khan of the Tatars in an effort to form a crusade against
the Saracens; effected a temporary reunion of Eastern and Western
Christendom; and prevented war between France and Castile.
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Hugh of Saint Victor
Hugh of Saint Victor (1096-1141), French philosopher and theologian, who
founded a school of mysticism that made the monastery of Saint Victor in
Paris one of the great medieval centers of learning.
Descended from the royal family of Blankenburg in Saxony (Sachsen), he
joined at an early age the canons of St. Augustine at the monastery of
Hamersleven. About 1115, he went to Paris and entered the Augustinian
monastery of St. Victor. In 1133 he became head of the monastery school,
where he remained until his death on February 11, 1141.
Influenced by St. Augustine's teachings, Hugh arrived at a three-stage
division of the contemplative life: (1) cogitatio, or thought, by which we
recognize God in nature; (2) meditatio, or meditation, by which we see God
in ourselves; and (3) contemplatio, or contemplation, by which we see God as
if face to face. He also proposed a classification of knowledge, consisting of
theoretical science (including theology, mathematics, physics, and music),
practical science (ethics), mechanical science (the mechanical arts), and the
science of discourse (rhetoric and dialectic). His writings cover a very wide
field. Among Hugh's important works are the Didascalion, a compendium of
knowledge, and the Summa Sententiarum, a manual of philosophy and
theology.
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Jean de Gerson Jean de Gerson (1363-1429), French churchman and theologian, remembered for
his efforts to settle the Great Schism (see Schism, Great) and for his writings on
contemplation.
Gerson was born in Gerson in the Ardennes on December 13, 1363. He entered the
University of Paris in 1377, and in 1395, shortly after receiving his doctorate in
theology, he became chancellor of the university. The schism was then at its peak,
and Gerson began his efforts to end it through a council, hoping to use the occasion
for a thoroughgoing reform of the church. In 1415 he attended the Council of
Constance (see Constance, Council of), where he urged a moderate conciliar
theory, contended that doctors of theology as well as bishops had a right to vote,
and led in the condemnation of Jan Hus (John Huss). Meanwhile he had incurred
the hostility of the duke of Burgundy, which prevented him from returning to Paris.
Instead, he went to Austria and later to Lyons, where he spent the last ten years of
his life in writing, prayer, and ministry. He died in Lyons on July 12, 1429.
Gerson's reputation during his lifetime was so great and his interests so broad and
typical of his age that historians often speak of the “century of Gerson.” Besides
writing on speculative and mystical theology, he was one of the greatest preachers
of his day. He participated actively in the religious confraternity at the university
and severely criticized religious superstition.
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Marsilio Ficino
Marsilio Ficino (1433-99), Italian philosopher and theologian, whose
translations of and commentary on the works of Plato contributed to the
Platonic revival during the Renaissance. Ficino was born at Figline, near
Florence. After studying medicine and philosophy and preparing for the
priesthood, he undertook to learn Greek. Encouraged by the Italian banker
and statesman Cosimo de' Medici—particularly by his gift of a villa outside
Florence—Ficino set up the Platonic Academy and made the first complete
translation of Plato's writings into Latin (1463-69). He later translated works
by the Roman philosopher Plotinus and other Neoplatonic writers.
Following his ordination as a priest in 1473, Ficino became a canon of the
Cathedral of Florence. His original work Theologica Platonica (1482), a
study of the immortality of the human soul, demonstrates Ficino's knowledge
of St. Thomas Aquinas; it also takes account of the Plotinian cosmology and
of the influence of the stars on human lives. His commentary on Plato's
Symposium introduced the notion of platonic love. This concept of a special
friendship based on love of God was seminal in the literature of the later
Renaissance.
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Meister Eckhart
Meister Eckhart, full name JOHANNES ECKHART (1260?-1328?), German mystic
and Christian theologian. Born in Hochheim, Eckhart joined the Dominicans at the
age of 15 and continued his theological studies as a member of the order. He
received a master's degree in theology from the University of Paris in 1302 and
then served as prior at Erfurt and as Dominican vicar-general for Bohemia. He was
a professor of theology in Paris in 1311, and between 1314 and 1322 he taught and
preached in Strasbourg and was also a preacher in Cologne, where he was
respected for both his administrative ability and his sermons.
Eckhart's theology followed that of another Dominican, St. Thomas Aquinas, but it
also incorporated much Neoplatonic thought. His teachings on the union of the
soul with God led to accusations of pantheism, a charge also made against the
Rhineland mystics who followed him. In 1327 the Avignonese pope John XXII
summoned Eckhart to defend himself against accusations of heresy. Eckhart
recanted on some 26 articles (or propositions), but a papal bull issued in 1329 to
condemn Eckhart's teaching named 28.
Modern scholars consider Eckhart's mysticism generally orthodox, although
surviving sermons and tracts are usually thought to have been edited by Eckhart's
friends and foes. Talks of Instruction (1300?), The Book of Divine Consolation
(1308?), and a score of sermons are considered among the most authentic works.
Eckhart had a profound influence on the development of the German language, as
he wrote in German as well as in Latin. The German idealists looked to Eckhart as
a forerunner of their movement, and modern scholars have traced his influence in
the development of Protestantism and existentialism.
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John Duns Scotus
John Duns Scotus (1266?-1308), Scottish theologian and philosopher, founder of a school
of Scholasticism known as Scotism.
Born in Duns, Duns Scotus entered the Franciscan order and studied at the universities of
Oxford and Paris. He later lectured at both universities on the Sentences, the basic
theological textbook by the Italian theologian Peter Lombard. In 1303 he was exiled from
Paris for refusing to support Philip IV, king of France, in his quarrel with Pope Boniface
VIII over the taxation of church property. After a brief exile Duns Scotus returned to
Paris, and he lectured there until 1307. Toward the end of that year he was sent to
Cologne, where he lectured until his death on November 8, 1308, in Cologne. His most
important writings are two sets of Commentaries on the Sentences and the treatises
Quodlibetic Questions, Questions on Metaphysics, and On the First Principle. Because of
his intricate and skillful method of analysis, especially in his defense of the doctrine of
the Immaculate Conception, he is known as Doctor Subtilis (Latin, “the Subtle Doctor”).
In his system of philosophy Duns Scotus closely analyzed the concepts of causality and
possibility in an attempt to set up a rigorous proof for the existence of God, the primary
and infinite being. He held, however, that in order to know the truth in all its fullness and
to fulfill one's eternal destiny, a person must not only make use of the insights afforded
by natural knowledge or philosophy but must also be taught by divine revelation.
Revelation supplements and perfects natural knowledge, and, in consequence, no
contradiction can exist between them. For Duns Scotus, theology and philosophy were
distinct and separate disciplines; they were, however, complementary, because theology
uses philosophy as a tool. In his view, the primary concern of theology is God,
considered from the standpoint of his own nature, whereas philosophy properly treats of
God only insofar as he is the first cause of things. With regard to the nature of theology
as a science, however, Duns Scotus departed sharply from his Dominican forerunner,
Thomas Aquinas.
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Saint Dominic
Saint Dominic (circa 1170-1221), Spanish theologian and founder of the Roman Catholic
religious order of Friars Preachers, or Dominicans.
He was born Domingo de Guzmán about 1170 in Caleruega, Castile. At the age of 17
Dominic entered the University of Palencia, where he studied theology and philosophy.
Known for his generosity, he is said to have sold all of his possessions to help the poor
during a famine in 1191. About 1196 he became canon of the Cathedral of Osma, in
Castile, and was soon actively engaged in local ecclesiastical reforms. He accompanied
his superior, Didacus of Acebes, bishop of Osma, on a religious mission to Rome in
1203; on his way back to Spain he was overwhelmed by the clerical abuses and the
prevalence of the Albigensian heresy (a dualist doctrine that rejected creation as evil,
affirming two eternal principles of good and evil) that he observed in the Languedoc
region of southern France. He observed that the Albigenses were able to spread their
teachings because they were well educated and well organized. He set up the opposition
along similar lines, determined that his preachers would be even better educated and
organized. Dominic and a few companions were given a house and church at Prouille,
near Toulouse, where they began their life of penance, study, and preaching. In 1206 a
convent for women was formed, and in 1216 the Order of Friars Preachers was granted
ecclesiastical approval. Dominic's preachers traveled throughout Europe, instructing not
only the common people, but civic and religious leaders as well.
Dominic insisted on the importance of education. His friars studied theology at the
University of Paris and canon law at the University of Bologna. They were also involved
in academic pursuits in Toulouse, Madrid, and Rome. In the four years after the order
was recognized, Dominic established the following priories: six in Lombardy
(Lombardia), four in France, three in Tuscany (Toscana) and Rome, four in Provence,
and two in Spain. Dominican preachers went to England, Scandinavia, Hungary, and
Germany.
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Johann Joseph Ignaz von Döllinger
Johann Joseph Ignaz von Döllinger (1799-1890), German Roman Catholic
theologian and historian, born in Bamberg, Bavaria, and educated at the lyceum for
philosophy and Roman Catholic theology. He was ordained a priest in 1822 and
four years later became professor of theology at the University of Munich. In 1844
he represented his university in the second chamber of the Bavarian legislature. In
Die Reformation (1848) and Luther (1850; trans. 1853) he attacked the theologians
of the Reformation. Döllinger delivered two addresses in Munich in 1861 that were
regarded as hostile to the temporal sovereignty of the pope; he attempted to justify
his position in The Church and the Churches; or, The Papacy and the Temporal
Power (1861; trans. 1862). See Papacy.
When Vatican Council I issued a decree in 1870 affirming the infallibility of the
pope, Döllinger refused to accede to the doctrine. The following year he organized
a meeting of theologians in Nürnberg that publicly repudiated the doctrine, and he
later was a principal organizer of the Old Catholic movement. In 1871 Döllinger
was excommunicated by the archbishop of Munich. In 1874 and 1875 he presided
over joint conferences of theologians of the Old Catholic, Orthodox, and Anglican
churches that were convened in Bonn to formulate plans for church unity.
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Saint Bonaventure
Saint Bonaventure (circa 1217-74), Christian theologian and minister general of the
Franciscans; especially noted for his spiritual writings, he was called the Seraphic Doctor.
Bonaventure was born at Bagnoregio (near Viterbo, Italy), the son of John of Fidanza.
Called John, he went to the university at Paris in 1235, where he studied under Alexander
of Hales. He joined the Franciscans in 1243, taking the name Bonaventure and
progressing in his theological studies to become a master (professor) of theology in 1254.
During this period he wrote a commentary on Scripture, the Breviloquium, and, like his
contemporary, Thomas Aquinas, worked to integrate Aristotelian insights into the
Augustinian tradition. Bonaventure accepted much of Aristotle's scientific philosophy,
but he rejected what he knew of Aristotle's metaphysics as insufficient because Aristotle
was not guided by the light of Christian faith. The doctrine of the illumination of the
human mind (the soul) by the divine—a means of identifying truth or falsity of
judgment—he took from St. Augustine. His Journey of the Mind to God (1259) and his
short mystical treatises reflect his concern with the way in which the soul recognizes and
unites with God.
Noted for his learning and good judgment, Bonaventure was elected minister general
(superior) of the Franciscans in 1257, at a time when the order was divided over how
strictly it could, as an order, observe St. Francis's commitment to poverty. He healed the
division and thus came to be regarded as the order's second founder. He wrote (1263) the
official Life of St. Francis of Assisi, and he himself traveled and preached the Franciscan
way of life.
Pope Gregory X (reigned 1271-76) made him cardinal archbishop of Albano in May
1273, and Bonaventure assisted in the preparations for a council at Lyons called to repair
the breach with the Eastern church. He died at Lyons on July 15, 1274.
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Berengar of Tours
Berengar of Tours (1000?-1088), French Scholastic theologian and
philosopher, known in Latin as Berengarius.
Born in Tours, Berengar studied under the bishop and scholar Fulbert of
Chartres until about 1029, when he returned to Tours and became director of
the school of Saint Martin. There he won a reputation as a staunchly
independent thinker, excelling in logic, medicine, and poetry as well as in
theology. Sometime after 1040 he began criticizing the traditional
interpretation of the Eucharist. He argued that the body and blood of Christ
are symbolically but not physically present in the consecrated bread and
wine. Repeatedly condemned by Rome for his opinions, he never
permanently recanted, although he ultimately retreated in silence to a
monastery near Tours, where he died. See Transubstantiation.
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Saint Thomas Aquinas
Saint Thomas Aquinas, sometimes called the Angelic Doctor and the Prince of
Scholastics (1225-1274), Italian philosopher and theologian, whose works have
made him the most important figure in Scholastic philosophy and one of the
leading Roman Catholic theologians. Aquinas was born of a noble family in
Roccasecca, near Aquino, and was educated at the Benedictine monastery of
Monte Cassino and at the University of Naples. He joined the Dominican order
while still an undergraduate in 1243, the year of his father's death. His mother,
opposed to Thomas's affiliation with a mendicant order, confined him to the family
castle for more than a year in a vain attempt to make him abandon his chosen
course. She released him in 1245, and Aquinas then journeyed to Paris to continue
his studies. He studied under the German Scholastic philosopher Albertus Magnus,
following him to Cologne in 1248. Because Aquinas was heavyset and taciturn, his
fellow novices called him Dumb Ox, but Albertus Magnus is said to have predicted
that “this ox will one day fill the world with his bellowing.” Aquinas was ordained
a priest about 1250, and he began to teach at the University of Paris in 1252. His
first writings, primarily summaries and amplifications of his lectures, appeared two
years later. His first major work was Scripta Super Libros Sententiarum (Writings
on the Books of the Sentences, 1256?), which consisted of commentaries on an
influential work concerning the sacraments of the church, known as the
Sententiarum Libri Quatuor (Four Books of Sentences), by the Italian theologian
Peter Lombard. In 1256 Aquinas was awarded a doctorate in theology and
appointed professor of philosophy at the University of Paris. Pope Alexander IV
(reigned 1254-1261) summoned him to Rome in 1259, where he acted as adviser
and lecturer to the papal court. Returning to Paris in 1268, Aquinas immediately
became involved in a controversy with the French philosopher Siger de Brabant
and other followers of the Islamic philosopher Averroës.
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Saint Anselm
Saint Anselm (circa 1033-1109), theologian, philosopher, and church leader, who proposed an
argument for God's existence that is still being debated.
Anselm was born of a well-to-do family at Aosta, in northern Italy; in 1060 he joined the
Benedictine monastery at Bec, in Normandy (Normandie), where the English prelate Lanfranc
was prior. Some time later, after Lanfranc was called to England to become archbishop of
Canterbury, Anselm was elected abbot of Bec. During these years he acquired a reputation for
learning and piety, and his monks urged him to write out the meditations that were the basis of
his instructions to them. Thus, he composed the Monologium (Soliloquy, 1077) in which—
reflecting the influence of St. Augustine—he spoke of God as the highest being and investigated
God's attributes. Encouraged by its reception, in 1078 he continued his project of faith seeking
understanding, completing the Proslogium (Discourse), the second chapter of which presents the
original statement of what in the 18th century became known as the ontological argument.
Anselm argued that even those who doubt the existence of God would have to have some
understanding of what they were doubting: Namely, they would understand God to be a being
than which nothing greater can be thought. Given that it is greater to exist outside the mind rather
than just in the mind, a doubter who denied God's existence would be making a contradiction
because he or she would be saying that it is possible to think of something greater than a being
than which nothing greater can be thought. Hence, by definition God exists necessarily.
The basic criticism of Anselm's argument is that one cannot infer the extramental existence of
anything by analyzing its definition. In Anselm's own time a fellow monk, Gaunilo of
Marmoutier, challenged his argument, as did the later philosophers Thomas Aquinas and
Immanuel Kant. Nonetheless, René Descartes, Baruch Spinoza, Gottfried Leibniz, and some
contemporary philosophers have offered similar arguments.
In 1093 Anselm was called to succeed Lanfranc as the archbishop of Canterbury. As archbishop,
Anselm entered into a time of great strife with King William II, the successor of William the
Conqueror, over the church's independence of the king's control (see Investiture Controversy). In
and out of England, in exile in Italy, Anselm led a life of conflict with the secular powers.
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Saint Albertus Magnus
Saint Albertus Magnus (circa 1200-80), called Albert the Great and known as doctor universalis for his
wide interest in natural science. He was especially noted for his introduction of Greek and Arabic science
and philosophy to the medieval world.
Born in Lauingen, Bavaria, to a noble military family, Albert was studying at Padua (Padova) in 1223,
when he was attracted to the Dominican Order of Preachers, then less than ten years old. He was ordained
in Germany and taught there before going on to the University of Paris, where he became a master of
theology in 1245 and subsequently held one of the Dominican chairs of theology. Among his early
students was Thomas Aquinas. Albert was an influential teacher, church administrator, and preacher. He
traveled through western Europe on behalf of his order and served as a provincial and, briefly, as bishop
of Regensburg (1260-62) before returning to teaching and research.
Albert was a key figure in the assimilation of Aristotelian philosophy into medieval Scholasticism and in
the revival of natural science that it inspired. Early in the 13th century, a body of philosophical and
scientific writings previously unknown to Western philosophers and theologians became a disturbing
force in Scholastic circles. These Latin writings, based on Arabic translations of the works of Aristotle,
were accompanied by the writings of Arab commentators, notably Avicenna and Averroës. As such, they
presented a point of view foreign to the church-trained Scholastics, whose knowledge of Aristotle was
confined to his logic, as taught and interpreted for centuries by the church, in the tradition of St.
Augustine and the Neoplatonists. See Scholasticism.
Albert had, on his journeys, shown an intense interest in natural phenomena, and he seized on Aristotle's
scientific writings. He examined them, commented on them, and occasionally contradicted them on the
evidence of his own careful observations. He produced essentially new works and, according to the
English philosopher Roger Bacon, held much the same authority in his time as did Aristotle himself.
As a theologian, Albert was outstanding among the medieval philosophers but not as innovative as his
pupil Aquinas. In his Summa Theologiae (circa 1270), he attempted to reconcile Aristotelianism and
Christian teachings. He maintained that human reason could not contradict revelation, but he defended the
philosopher's right to investigate divine mysteries.
Albert died at Cologne on November 15, 1280. He was beatified in 1622 and declared a saint by Pope
Pius XI in 1931, at which time he was acclaimed an official Doctor of the Church. In 1941 Pope Pius XII
made him the patron of all who study the natural sciences. His feast day is November 15.
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Peter Abelard Peter Abelard (1079-1142?), French philosopher and theologian, whose fame as a teacher
made him one of the most celebrated figures of the 12th century.
Born in Le Pallet, Brittany, Abelard left home to study at Loches with the French
nominalist philosopher Roscelin and later in Paris with the French realist philosopher
William of Champeaux. Critical of his masters, Abelard began to teach at Melun, at
Corbeil and, in 1108, at Paris. He soon gained fame throughout Europe as a teacher and
original thinker. In 1117 he became tutor to Héloïse, the niece of Fulbert, a canon of the
Cathedral of Notre-Dame in Paris.
Héloïse and Abelard fell in love, and she gave birth to a son whom they named Astrolabe.
At Abelard’s insistence they were married secretly. Abelard persuaded Héloïse to take
holy vows at the Benedictine Abbey of Saint-Argenteuil. Her uncle Fulbert, at first
enraged by the relationship between Héloïse and Abelard and later somewhat placated by
their marriage, finally decided that Abelard had abandoned Héloïse at the abbey and had
him castrated. Abelard, too, retired to a religious retreat at the Abbey of Saint-Denis-en-
France, in Paris.
Abelard’s first published work, a treatise on the Trinity (1121), was condemned and
ordered burned by a Roman Catholic council that met at Soissons in the same year.
Forced by criticism to leave Saint-Denis-en-France, Abelard founded a chapel and
oratory, called the Paraclete, at Nogent-sur-Seine. In 1125 he was elected abbot of the
monastery at Saint-Gildas-de-Rhuis. Héloïse, who meanwhile had become prioress at
Argenteuil, was called to the Paraclete as abbess of the convent established there. At
Saint-Gildas, Abelard wrote his autobiographical Historia Calamitatum (History of
Misfortunes, 1132). At this time the famous exchange of letters with Héloïse began; these
letters have become classics of romantic correspondence. In 1140 Saint Bernard of
Clairvaux, an eminent French ecclesiastic who thought Abelard’s influence dangerous,
prevailed upon a Roman Catholic council in session at Sens, and upon Pope Innocent II,
to condemn Abelard for his skeptical, rationalistic writings and teaching. On his way to
Rome to appeal the condemnation, Abelard accepted the hospitality of Peter the
Venerable, abbot of the Abbey of Cluny, remaining there for many months. Abelard died
at a Clunist priory near Chalon-sur-Saône. His body was taken to the Paraclete; when
Héloïse died in 1164 she was buried beside him. In 1817 both bodies were moved to a
single tomb in the cemetery of Père Lachaise in Paris.
The romantic appeal of the life of Abelard often overshadows the importance of his
thought. In the emphasis he placed on dialectical discussion, Abelard followed the 9th-
century philosopher and theologian Johannes Scotus Erigena, and he foreshadowed the
Italian Scholastic philosopher Thomas Aquinas. Abelard’s important dialectical thesis
that truth must be attained by carefully weighing all sides of any issue is presented in Sic
et Non (Thus and Otherwise, 1123?). He also foreshadowed the later theological reliance
on the works of Aristotle, rather than on those of Plato.
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Filaret
Filaret (1782-1867), one of the most prominent leaders in the Russian
Orthodox church in the 19th century. He was originally named Vasily
Drozdov and took the name Filaret when he became a monk in 1808. A noted
preacher and biblical scholar, he promoted the translation of the Bible, which
was previously available only in Church Slavonic, into modern Russian. As
the metropolitan of Moscow (1821-1867), he was an influential member of
the Holy Synod. His Catechism (1823) became a standard school textbook.
Filaret also drafted the manifesto of 1861, signed by Tsar Alexander II,
which emancipated the Russian serfs.
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Saint Gregory of Nyssa
Saint Gregory of Nyssa (circa 335-394), bishop of Nyssa, in Cappadocia, and an
early Father of the Church, born in Neocaesarea (now Niksar, Turkey), younger
brother of Saint Basil. Gregory married, but on the death of his wife he entered the
monastery founded by Basil in Pontus, near the Iris River. About 371 he was
ordained by his brother and made bishop of Nyssa. Gregory's religious position
was strictly orthodox, and he was particularly zealous in combating the doctrine of
Arianism. The Arians charged Gregory with fraud in his election to the bishopric
and with mishandling the funds of his office. Convicted of these charges, he was
exiled from Nyssa in 376 to 378. After his return Gregory was a strong supporter
of the orthodox position against the Arians at the first Council of Constantinople in
381. In the next year he was sent by the church to reorganize the churches of
Arabia.
Gregory's fame is chiefly as a theologian. Among his important theological
treatises are Great Catechetical Discourse, a defense of the Christian faith against
Jews and pagans; On Faith, a treatise against the Arians; and Ten Syllogisms,
directed against the Apollinarists, who in many ways were allied to the
Manichaeans. His feast day is March 9
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Aleksey Stepanovich Khomyakov
Aleksey Stepanovich Khomyakov (1804-60), Russian philosopher and
theologian, a leading figure of the Slavophile movement, which defended
traditional Russian culture against the influence of the West. A member of
the gentry, he wrote books on history and theology, which were initially
published abroad in French. His influential theology emphasized the concept
of sobornost (Russian, “togetherness”), which he interpreted as a collective
responsibility for truth, as opposed to institutional or juridical authority. In
his pamphlet The Church Is One (1862; trans. 1948), he strongly affirmed the
Orthodox church, based on sobornost, as opposed to Western Christianity,
which he regarded as too authoritarian in its Roman Catholic form and too
individualistic in its Protestant form.
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Saint Seraphim of Sarov
Saint Seraphim of Sarov (1759-1833), Russian monk, ascetic, and spiritual
counselor, who followed the contemplative tradition of ancient Eastern
Christian hesychast monks (see Hesychasm). Born Prokhor Moshnin in
Kursk, he entered the monastery of Sarov at the age of 19 and took the name
Seraphim on becoming a monk. From 1794 to 1810 he was a hermit in the
forest near Tambov. His way of life included constant mental prayer (the
Jesus Prayer) and the weekly reading of all four Gospels. Toward the end of
his life he settled in the convent of Diveyevo, near Sarov, welcoming
pilgrims and giving spiritual direction. Some of his teachings and visions
were recorded by a man he cured of illness, Nicholas Motovilov, in
Conversations with Motovilov. Canonized in 1903, he has become one of the
most popular saints of the modern Orthodox church.
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Saint Vincent of Lérins
Saint Vincent of Lérins (died before 450), theologian, noted for his
Commonitoria, which contains the Vincentian Canon, a formula for
determining orthodoxy. In about 425 he became a monk at the abbey on the
island of Lérins (near present-day Cannes, France). About 435 he wrote,
under the pseudonym Peregrinus (“pilgrim”), two volumes called
Commonitoria, of which only one has survived. This work was intended to
address the growing problem of conflicting theological opinions. The
Vincentian Canon strongly emphasized tradition, defining orthodoxy as
“what has been believed everywhere, always, and by all.” The Commonitoria
by implication attacked St. Augustine, whose doctrine of predestination and
grace Vincent considered a disturbing innovation. His own position was that
of Semi-Pelagianism (see Pelagianism), which acknowledged the necessity of
grace but held that the human will also has a role in achieving salvation.
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Karl Barth
Karl Barth (1886-1968), Swiss Protestant theologian, widely regarded as one of the most
notable Christian thinkers of the 20th century.
The son of the Swiss Reformed minister and New Testament scholar Fritz Barth, Karl
Barth was born in Basel, May 10, 1886, and was reared in Bern, where his father taught.
From 1904 to 1909, he studied theology at the universities of Bern, Berlin, Tübingen, and
Marburg. In 1913 he married Nelly Hoffman; they had five children. Barth held
professorships successively at Göttingen and Münster universities from 1923 to 1930,
when he was appointed professor of systematic theology at the University of Bonn. He
opposed the Hitler regime in Germany and supported church-sponsored movements
against National Socialism; he was the chief author of the Barmen Declaration, six
articles that defined Christian opposition to National Socialist ideology and practice. In
1934 he was expelled from Bonn. Barth's further defiance led, the following year, to
deportation to his native Switzerland, where he pursued his literary and teaching work at
the University of Basel, enjoying a special extension beyond the usual retirement age of
70. He remained in Basel until his death, December 10, 1968.
He regarded the Bible, however, not as the actual revelation of God but as only the record
of that revelation. For Barth, God's sole revelation of himself is in Jesus Christ. God is
the “wholly other,” totally unlike humankind, who are utterly dependent on an encounter
with the divine for any understanding of ultimate reality. Barth saw the task of the church
as that of proclaiming the “good word” of God and as serving as the “place of encounter”
between God and humankind. Barth regarded all human activity as being under the
judgment of that encounter.
Barth left more than 600 writings. Among his better known works are Epistle to the
Romans (1919; trans. 1933), The Word of God and the Word of Man (1924; trans. 1928),
Credo (1935; trans. 1936), Evangelical Theology, an Introduction (1962; trans. 1963),
and the monumental multivolume Church Dogmatics (1932-62; trans. 1936-62).
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Ferdinand Christian Baur
Ferdinand Christian Baur (1792-1860), German Protestant theologian, who
founded the Tübingen School of New Testament studies; he is considered the
father of modern study of church history and the history of theology.
Baur was educated at Blaubeuren and the University of Tübingen. He taught
history and philosophy at Blaubeuren from 1817 until he was called to Tübingen in
1826 to become professor of historical theology, a position he held until his death.
Believing that faith must be grounded in history, Baur used the historical-critical
method to reconstruct the development of the early church. Influenced by the
German philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel's conception of history as a
movement of opposing forces that become resolved into a synthesis, Baur
theorized in The So-called Pastoral Epistles of the Apostle Paul (1835) that
primitive Christianity was characterized by a struggle between Petrine Jewish-
Christian and Pauline Gentile-Christian views, the synthesis of which became the
Roman Catholic church.
Using the same methodological principles, Baur in later years traced the
development of the Christian doctrines of the atonement, the Trinity, and the
incarnation and wrote extensively on the history of dogma. In Paul the Apostle of
Jesus Christ (1845; trans. 1873-1875) Baur aroused controversy by regarding only
Galatians, 1 and 2 Corinthians, and Romans as genuine Pauline epistles.
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Theodore Beza
Theodore Beza (1519-1605), French theologian and educator, who assisted, then
succeeded, John Calvin as head of the Protestant Reformation in Geneva. Born in
Vézelay, Burgundy, on June 24, 1519, Beza studied law and letters at Orléans
(1535-39), Bourges, and Paris. In 1548, after recovering from a serious illness, he
converted to Protestantism, then joined Calvin in Geneva. A year later he began
teaching Greek at Lausanne. In 1559 he founded the Genevan Academy with
Calvin and became its first rector.
As Calvin's successor Beza upheld the reformer's views, emphasizing God's eternal
decrees and the centrality of predestination in the divine plan. In addition, he
espoused supralapsarianism, the doctrine that God's determination of the saved and
the damned had preceded Adam's fall.
Beza contributed two Greek editions (1565, 1582) and an annotated Latin
translation (1556) of the New Testament; these texts were used by Protestants for
more than a century. Both the Geneva Bible (1560) and the King James Version
(1611) were based on Beza's works. In 1581 he gave to the University of
Cambridge the Codex D or Codex Bezae, a 5th-century manuscript containing
Greek and Latin texts of the Gospels and Acts, which he claimed to have
discovered in a monastery in Lyon. Among Beza's own writings are a biography of
Calvin and the Histoire ecclésiastique des églises réformées au royaume de France
(Ecclesiastical History of the Reformed Church in the Kingdom of France, 1580).
He died in Geneva on October 13, 1605.
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Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945), German Lutheran theologian, whose life and
thought have had increasing influence on the church since his execution by the
Nazis.
The son of a noted physician, Bonhoeffer was born in Breslau, Prussia (now
Wrocław, Poland), on February 4, 1906. He received his theological education at
the universities of Tübingen and Berlin. After serving (1928-1929) as an assistant
pastor in a German-speaking congregation in Barcelona, Spain, and a further year
of study at Union Theological Seminary in New York City, he became a lecturer in
theology in Berlin in the fall of 1931.
An outspoken opponent of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi regime on their rise to power
in 1933, Bonhoeffer joined the Confessing Church, which resisted the Nazi attempt
to impose anti-Semitism on the church and society. Leaving Berlin in protest, he
spent two years (1933-1935) as pastor of German-speaking congregations in
London. Called back to Germany in 1935, Bonhoeffer became director of a
seminary of the Confessing Church at Finkenwald, Pomerania. This “illegal”
enterprise was eventually closed by the Gestapo; after the start of World War II,
Bonhoeffer joined in the political resistance to Hitler that led to his imprisonment
in April 1943 in Berlin and his death by hanging at the Nazi concentration camp at
Flossenbürg on April 9, 1945.
Bonhoeffer is important for his ecumenism, his efforts toward world peace, and his
firm belief in the need for a reinterpretation of Christianity for the modern secular
world. His most influential books have been The Cost of Discipleship (1937; trans.
1949), Life Together (1939; trans. 1954), and the posthumously edited Letters and
Papers from Prison (1951; trans. 1953).
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Emil Brunner
Emil Brunner (1889-1966), Swiss Protestant theologian, born in
Winterthur. He received a doctorate from the University of Zürich in
1913 and was ordained in the Swiss Reformed church. With another
Swiss theologian, Karl Barth, Brunner was a leader in the post-World
War I revolution in Protestant theology that emphasized the Bible as
divine revelation, and redemption as that which must be perceived and
obtained by man through faith. Brunner differed from Barth in regarding
man as retaining a spark of divinity. Brunner taught theology at the
University of Zürich (1924-1953), Princeton University (1938-1939),
and International Christian University, Tokyo (1953-1955). He was a
founder (1948) of the World Council of Churches, an ecumenical body
consisting of many Christian denominations. His books include The
Divine Imperative (1932; trans. 1947) and The Divine-Human Encounter
(1937; trans. 1938; revised ed., Truth as Encounter,1964).
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Martin Bucer
Martin Bucer (1491-1551), German ecumenical theologian and Protestant
reformer, who strove to reconcile the divergent reform groups of his time.
Originally surnamed Kuhhorn, Bucer (or Butzer) was born on November 11, 1491,
at Schlettstadt (now Sélestat, France). At the age of 15, he entered the Dominican
order. He became a Lutheran and, under the influence of the Dutch writer
Desiderius Erasmus, a humanist. In 1521 he withdrew from the order and married
Elizabeth Silbereisen, a former nun. Bucer soon became a leader in Strasbourg,
France, where reformers were seeking to implement religious and governmental
reform. In the conflict that arose between the reformers Martin Luther and
Huldreich Zwingli over the wording of the Eucharist, Bucer tried vigorously to
mediate between northern German groups that supported Luther and Swiss and
southern German groups that supported Zwingli. He debated frequently with the
radical Anabaptists in an attitude of openness and mutual respect. He even
attempted to reconcile Roman Catholics and Protestants in a compromise theology
expressed at the Colloquy of Regensburg (1541). Exiled from Strasbourg for his
opposition to the Augsburg Interim (1548) imposed by Holy Roman Emperor
Charles V, Bucer took refuge in England, where he taught theology at the
University of Cambridge and helped to guide the reform of the English church
under Thomas Cranmer, then archbishop of Canterbury. Bucer died in England on
February 28, 1551. Modern ecumenical scholars increasingly appreciate Bucer's
contributions, though his pragmatism was not popular in his own time. He
recognized the need for church discipline but wanted it to be flexible and merciful.
When Philip the Magnanimous married a second time, for example, Bucer justified
the act by citing patriarchal precedents. This position eventually aroused
controversy and brought discredit to Bucer, who regarded marriage and divorce in
a more contextual fashion than did his contemporaries.
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William Buckland
William Buckland (1784-1856), British geologist and minister, who made important
contributions to geology and paleontology, and who attempted to reconcile 19th-century
geological discoveries with the Bible. Buckland was born in Devonshire, England. He
graduated from Corpus Christi College, University of Oxford, in 1804, and was ordained
in the Church of England in 1809. He was reader in mineralogy at Oxford from 1813 to
1818, and reader in geology from 1818 to 1845; in 1845 he was appointed dean of
Westminster Cathedral. Buckland was also a canon of Christ Church, Oxford, and held
other church appointments during his life.
In the midst of scientific and religious controversies surrounding geology in the 19th
century, Buckland sought to reconcile creation, as described in the Bible, with emerging
scientific theories. He believed that the essential construction of the world had been
carried out over a long period of time before the events described in biblical accounts,
such as the Deluge. He also believed that in the more recent past, the daily effects of
erosion, as well as more dramatic events such as land elevation and flooding, had all left
their marks on the earth's surface. Also, by 1840 Buckland became the first in England to
recognize the role of glaciers in shaping the landscape. Buckland used fossils in
conjunction with observations of rock distributions and strata to interpret the geological
history of an area.
In addition to his academic and clerical positions, Buckland was president of the
Geological Society of London from 1824 to 1825 and 1840 to 1841, and a member of the
Council of the Royal Society of London from 1827 to 1849. His written works include
Geology and Mineralogy Considered With Reference to Natural Theology (1836).
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Johann Bugenhagen
Johann Bugenhagen, known as POMERANUS (1485-1558), German Protestant
reformer, born in Wolin, Pomerania (now in Poland). Ordained a priest in 1509, he
was converted to Lutheranism in 1520 after reading The Babylonian Captivity of
the Church by Martin Luther, with whom Bugenhagen formed an enduring
friendship. From 1521 to 1528 he was professor of theology at the University of
Wittenberg and pastor of a church, and then for 14 years he worked on the
organization of Protestant churches in Brunswick (Braunschweig), Hamburg,
Lübeck, Pomerania, and Denmark. Bugenhagen assisted Luther in translating the
Bible and made his own translation into Low German. Of his own works, the best
known is Interpretatio in Librum Psalmorum (Interpretation for the Book of
Psalms, 1523).
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Rudolf Karl Bultmann
Rudolf Karl Bultmann (1884-1976), German Lutheran New Testament scholar,
who pioneered the form-critical method of studying the Synoptic Gospels.
Born in Wiefelstede, Oldenburg, on August 20, 1884, Bultmann studied at the
universities of Marburg, Tübingen, and Berlin. He taught at Breslau and Giessen
before becoming professor of New Testament at Marburg in 1921, a post he held
until his retirement in 1951. A world-renowned theologian, Bultmann continued to
lecture and to write until his death in Marburg an der Lahn on July 30, 1976.
Bultmann, a skeptic in regard to the historical elements of the Bible, believed that
the Scriptures, and especially the Gospels, must undergo a demythologization, or
reinterpretation, of those mythical elements that have no application or relevance
to contemporary concerns. His theology was strongly influenced by the writings of
the existentialist philosopher Martin Heidegger (see Existentialism).
Bultmann became known as a radical critic when, in his History of the Synoptic
Tradition (1921; trans. 1963), he concluded that the Gospels are not biographies of
Jesus Christ (although he did not deny that Jesus was a historical figure). He
asserted that the Gospels are, rather, devotional and apologetic materials of the
early church that were more or less strung together and are capable of being
classified according to their literary forms. In Jesus and the Word (1926; trans.
1934) he scandalized many by claiming that little can be known of the life and
personality of Jesus and that what is important to Christians is Jesus' call for
believers to make a decision to accept the gospel message (which Bultmann called
the kerygma, or proclamation) and to obey its commands. His major work is
Theology of the New Testament (1948-53; trans. 1952-55).
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Horace Bushnell
Horace Bushnell (1802-76), American theologian, born in Bantam,
Connecticut, and educated at Yale College (now Yale University). In
1833 he became pastor of the North Congregational Church in Hartford,
Connecticut, which he served for 26 years. He was strongly evangelical
in belief but denied the Calvinistic theory of the atonement. For this and
other deviations from orthodoxy he was accused of heresy, but he was
never brought to trial. Bushnell was a voluminous writer, an inspiring
preacher, and a bold and original thinker on theology. His influence
extended to almost all Protestant denominations in the U.S., profoundly
modifying 19th-century religious thought. His works include Christian
Nurture (1847), God in Christ (1849), Nature and the Supernatural
(1858), and The Vicarious Sacrifice (1866).
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John Calvin
John Calvin (1509-1564), French theologian, humanist, pastor, and a leading figure in the
Protestant Reformation. Protestant denominations in the Reformed tradition regard him
as a major formulator of their beliefs (see Reformed Churches). His religious theories and
teachings are collectively referred to as Calvinism. See also Protestantism: History:
Calvin.
John Calvin was probably the greatest theologian of the Reformation. He did much to
shape religious thinking as Protestantism advanced in Europe, and Calvinism became the
basis of Presbyterianism. He also had a direct influence on the later relationships between
Protestant churches and civil governments. Calvin founded a system of government that
was based upon the teachings of the Bible and in which the civil powers were subordinate
to the church and its ruling council. He encouraged production and commerce and
insisted on the individual virtues of honesty, thrift, simplicity, and hard work. His ideas
were well suited to the emerging capitalism of the 16th century.
Calvin was born in Noyon, France, on July 10, 1509. He received formal instruction for
the priesthood at the Collège de la Marche and the Collège de Montaigue, branches of the
University of Paris. Encouraged by his father to study law instead of theology, Calvin
also attended universities at Orléans and Bourges. Along with several friends he grew to
appreciate the humanistic and reforming movements, and he undertook studies in the
Greek Bible. In 1532 he published a commentary on Seneca’s De Clementia, proving his
skills as a humanist scholar. His association with Nicholas Cop, newly elected rector of
the University of Paris, forced both to flee when Cop announced his support in 1535 of
Protestant reformer Martin Luther. Although he seldom spoke of it, Calvin underwent a
personal religious experience about this time.
Calvin moved frequently during the next two years, avoiding church authorities while he
studied, wrote, and formulated from the Bible and Christian tradition the primary tenets
of his theology. In 1536 he published the first edition of his Institutes of the Christian
Religion, a succinct and provocative work that thrust him into the forefront of
Protestantism as a thinker and spokesman. During the same year, Calvin visited Geneva,
Switzerland, on his way to Strasbourg, France, and was asked by Guillaume Farel to
assist in the city’s reformation movement. Calvin remained in Geneva with Farel until
1538, when the town voted against Farel and asked both men to leave. Calvin completed
his interrupted journey to Strasbourg and participated in that community’s religious life
until September 1541. While in Strasbourg, Calvin married Idelette de Bure, a widow.
The couple had one child, who died in infancy. At Strasbourg, Calvin also published his
Commentary on Romans (1539), the first of his many commentaries on books of the
Bible.
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Thomas Chalmers Thomas Chalmers (1780-1847), British theologian and preacher, born in
Anstruther, Scotland, and educated at the University of Saint Andrews. In
1803 he was minister of the parish of Kilmany, Fife County, and in 1815 he
was called to Tron Church, Glasgow, as pastor. He became one of the most
popular preachers in England and Scotland and was noted for his work in
social welfare. In 1819 he became minister of Saint John's parish, where he
established schools, revived church attendance, and increased public well-
being even while he drastically reduced relief expenditures.
Chalmers was professor of moral philosophy at Saint Andrews from 1823 to
1828, when he joined the faculty of the University of Edinburgh as professor
of theology. He taught there until 1843, when he led a group of 470 Scottish
clerics in a movement of secession from the Scottish church. The new
organization, the Free Church of Scotland, took a position of independence
from civil authority in spiritual matters; it was highly successful and within
four years had no fewer than 654 churches. The Free Church founded a
college in Edinburgh, and Chalmers became its first principal, or vice-
chancellor. His chief writings are Christian and Civic Economy of Large
Towns (1826), Political Economy (1832), On the Adaptation of External
Nature to the Moral and Intellectual Constitution of Man (1833), and
Institutes of Theology (1843-47).
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Martin Chemnitz
Martin Chemnitz (1522-86), German Lutheran theologian, born in
Brandenburg and educated in Frankfurt and Wittenberg. Chemnitz
(sometimes spelled Kemnitz) was placed in charge of the ducal library at
Königsberg (now Kaliningrad, Russia) in 1550 but returned to
Wittenberg three years later to lecture on Loci Communes Rerum
Theologicarum (Commonplaces of Theology), by the German religious
reformer Melanchthon. This exposition of the Lutheran doctrine became
the basis for Chemnitz's own posthumously published Loci Theologici
(Theological Arguments, 1591). In 1554 Chemnitz became a preacher in
Brunswick (Braunschweig), and in 1567 he was appointed
superintendent there. He was influential in inducing the Lutherans of
Saxony (Sachsen) and Swabia to unite in accepting the Formula of
Concord, which ended a split in the Lutheran movement. His other
works include Examen Concilii Tridentini (Examination of the Council
of Trent, 4 volumes, 1565-73).
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Jonathan Edwards
Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758), American theologian and Congregational
clergyman, whose sermons stirred the religious revival called the Great
Awakening. Born October 5, 1703, in East Windsor, Connecticut Colony,
Edwards was a child prodigy. At the age of ten he wrote an essay on the
nature of the soul. At 13 he entered the Collegiate School of Connecticut
(now Yale University) and he graduated in 1720 as valedictorian of his class.
After two additional years of study in theology at Yale, he preached for eight
months in a New York church and then returned to Yale as a college tutor,
studying, at the same time, for his master's degree. He was ordained in 1727
and received a call to assist his grandfather, Solomon Stoddard, pastor of the
church at Northampton, Massachusetts Bay Colony, which had one of the
largest and wealthiest congregations in the colony. When Edwards was 26,
his grandfather died, and the young man became pastor at Northampton. He
was a firm believer in Calvinism and the doctrine of predestination; a
tendency toward belief in Arminianism, an ideology that challenged several
fundamental principles of strict Calvinism, however, existed in the New
England colonies. In 1731, in Boston, Edwards preached his first public
attack on Arminianism and, in a sermon entitled “God Glorified in Man's
Dependence,” called for a return to rigorous Calvinism. Three years later he
delivered a series of powerful sermons on the same subject in his own
church; the series included the famous “Reality of Spiritual Light,” in which
the preacher combined Calvinism with mysticism, religious experience
directly given and experienced.
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Guillaume Farel
Guillaume Farel (1489-1565), French reformer and preacher, who played a
major role in the introduction of the Reformation into Switzerland. He was
born into an aristocratic family in Dauphiné. As a student at the University of
Paris, he was strongly influenced by the humanist scholar and moderate
Roman Catholic reformer Jacques Lefèvre d'Étaples. By 1520 Farel had
adopted Protestant views, and in 1523 he was expelled from France for
expounding them. He went to Basel, Switzerland, but his vigorous attacks on
Roman Catholicism soon resulted in his banishment. He continued to preach
reform, chiefly in French-speaking Switzerland and became known for his
courage and fiery eloquence. In 1532 he went to Geneva, where his preaching
and public disputations helped bring about the triumph of Protestantism,
which the town council formally adopted in 1535. In 1536 Farel persuaded
the French theologian and reformer John Calvin to assist him in reforming
and standardizing church practices. Their severe initial measures aroused
opposition, and both men were forced to leave Geneva in 1538. Farel settled
in Neuchâtel but persuaded the Genevans to allow Calvin's return in 1541,
and he remained one of Calvin's closest advisers.
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Matthias Flacius Illyricus
Matthias Flacius Illyricus (1520-75), German Lutheran reformer, born in
Albona, Illyria (now Istria, Croatia). After attending the universities of Basel
and Tübingen, he went to Wittenberg, where he met the German reformer
Melanchthon and came under the influence of Martin Luther. In 1544 he was
made professor of Hebrew at Wittenberg. After Luther's death, Flacius came
into conflict with Melanchthon by opposing the Augsburg Interim (1548),
and in 1549 he moved to Magdeburg. Again he became involved in
theological controversy, defending Luther's doctrine “by faith alone” against
those who claimed that good works following from faith are necessary for
salvation. In 1557 he became professor of New Testament at Jena. There he
was involved in a controversy over his position on original sin, which he
believed was the physical substance of humanity. Most Lutherans rejected
this position, and Flacius was dismissed. He served briefly as pastor in
Antwerp, then moved to Strasbourg, where he was accused of heresy and
expelled. He next fled to Frankfurt, where he died. Besides his defense of a
strict Lutheran position, Flacius is best known for his contribution to church
history as an editor of the Historia Ecclesiae Christi. A severely Lutheran,
antipapal history of the Christian church, from its beginnings until the early
1400s, it later became known as the Magdeburg Centuries.
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Washington Gladden
Washington Gladden (1836-1918), American Congregationalist minister
and journalist, known for his pragmatic social theology. After graduating
from Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts, he entered the
ministry and served congregations in New York, Massachusetts, and
Ohio. He was also the religion editor for the New York Independent from
1871 to 1875. Gladden linked theological liberalism with strong social
concern. His attempts to apply biblical teachings to the problems of
industrialization made him a leader in the Social Gospel movement.
Gladden's more than 38 books include Working People and Their
Employers (1876) and Social Salvation (1901).
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Adolf von Harnack
Adolf von Harnack (1851-1930), leading German Protestant theologian and
historian, whose critical views were a major influence in late 19th- and early 20th-
century theology.
Born in Dorpat (now Tartu, Estonia), he was educated at the universities of Dorpat
and Leipzig. He was appointed professor extraordinary of church history at the
University of Leipzig in 1876 and later held professorships at the universities of
Giessen, Marburg, and Berlin. He served as president of the Evangelical Congress
from 1902 to 1912 and as director of the Prussian National Library from 1905 to
1921.
Harnack traced the evolution of the early church from biblical Christianity, which
he claimed had been corrupted by the introduction of Greek metaphysics. He
advocated a return to the simple faith of the original Gospel, but his distrust of the
institutional church, creeds, dogmas, and sacraments provoked the opposition of
much more conservative scholars. Harnack’s best-known works include the
multivolume Lehrbuch der Dogmengeschichte (1886-1890; trans. History of
Dogma, 1894-1899) and Das Wesen des Christentums (1900; trans. What Is
Christianity? 1901).
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Charles Hartshorne
Charles Hartshorne (1897-2000), American philosopher and theologian, born
in Kittanning, Pennsylvania. He taught at the University of Chicago, Emory
University, and the University of Texas. Hartshorne was one of the chief
advocates of process thought, an approach that emphasizes the progressive or
evolutionary nature of reality. Even God is considered in process through his
association with the changing world. Among Hartshorne's principal works are
The Divine Relativity (1948) and The Logic of Perfection (1962). See Process
Philosophy.
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Richard Hooker
Richard Hooker (1554?-1600), English theologian, born in Exeter, and
educated at Corpus Christi College, University of Oxford. He took holy
orders in 1581, becoming a clergyman in the Church of England. Thereafter
he lived in London and then at Boscombe and, finally, Bishops- bourne. He is
noted for his Of the Lawes of Ecclesiasticall Politie (8 volumes, 1594-1662);
the definitive edition, edited by the British clergyman and poet John Keble,
was published in 1836. The immediate purpose of Hooker's work was to
demonstrate the advantages of the episcopal form of organization of the
Church of England over the presbyterian form used by its opponents. The
lasting value of the work stems from its recognition that natural law is
unchangeable and eternal, but that the law of the state (positive law),
including law affecting the form of government, can be altered when change
is necessary or expedient.
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Jan Hus
Jan Hus or John Huss (1369?-1415), Bohemian religious reformer, whose efforts to
reform the church anticipated the Protestant Reformation.
Hus was born in Husinec, in southern Bohemia (now the Czech Republic), and was
educated at the University of Prague, receiving his M.A. degree in 1396. Two years later,
he became a lecturer in theology at the university and in 1401 was made dean of its
philosophical faculty. Ordained a priest in 1400, two years later he took up additional
duties as preacher at the Bethlehem Chapel, where the sermons were given in Czech
instead of the traditional Latin.
The Czech nationalist and reformist movement that had been initiated by the popular
15th-century Bohemian preacher Jan Milíč was prevalent at both the university and
Bethlehem Chapel, and Hus quickly became involved in it. Less radical than the English
church reformer John Wycliffe, Hus nonetheless agreed with him on many points. On a
practical level, both men vigorously condemned church abuses and attempted, through
preaching, to bring the church to the people. On the doctrinal level, both believed in
predestination and regarded the Bible as the ultimate religious authority. Believing that
ecclesiastical officials are inevitably corrupt, they also held that Christ, rather than any
official, is the true head of the church.
In 1408 the subject matter of some of Hus's sermons was made grounds of complaint to
the archbishop, and Hus was forbidden to exercise his priestly functions in the diocese.
The following year, Alexander V, one of the three rival popes then contending for
authority in the church (see Schism, Great), issued a bull condemning the teachings of
Wycliffe and ordering his books burned. Hus, who was teaching Wycliffe's doctrines,
was excommunicated in 1410, but he had already gained great popular support, and riots
broke out in Prague. Backed by popular demonstrations, Hus continued to preach, even
after the city was laid under interdict in 1412.
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Karlstadt
Karlstadt, real name Andreas Rudolf Bodenstein (1480?-1541), German
religious reformer, born in Karlstadt, Bavaria, and educated at the universities
of Cologne, Erfurt, and Wittenberg. He adopted doctrines later espoused by
Martin Luther. Becoming associated with Luther in 1517, Karlstadt joined
him in theological disputation with the German Roman Catholic theologian
Johann Eck at Leipzig, Saxony (Sachsen), in 1519. He was the leader of the
Protestant cause during Luther's absence at the castle of Wartburg in 1521-
1522, but he later championed radical reforms that brought him into conflict
with Luther and the latter's protector, Frederick III, elector of Saxony (1463-
1525). Karlstadt was banished from Saxony in 1524 and during his exile was
accused of participation in the Peasants' War. Upon retracting statements,
made earlier, of disbelief in the Lutheran doctrine of the Eucharist, he was
allowed to return to Wittenberg on Luther's request. Once again, though, he
engaged in disputation on the Eucharist and in 1529 had to flee to
Switzerland, where he was warmly received by the Swiss religious reformer
Huldreich Zwingli and became professor of theology at the University of
Basel.
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Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483-1546), German theologian and religious reformer, who initiated the
Protestant Reformation, and whose vast influence, extending beyond religion to politics,
economics, education, and language, has made him one of the crucial figures in modern
European history.
In the summer of 1505, however, Luther suddenly abandoned his studies, sold his books,
and entered the Augustinian monastery in Erfurt. The decision surprised his friends and
appalled his father. Later in life, Luther explained it by recalling several brushes with
death that had occurred at the time, making him aware of the fleeting character of life. In
the monastery he observed the rules imposed on a novice but did not find the peace in
God he had expected. Nevertheless, Luther made his profession as a monk in the fall of
1506, and his superiors selected him for the priesthood. Ordained in 1507, he approached
his first celebration of the mass with awe.
After his ordination, Luther was asked to study theology in order to become a professor at
one of the many new German universities staffed by monks. In 1508 he was assigned by
Johann von Staupitz, vicar-general of the Augustinians and a friend and counselor, to the
new University of Wittenberg (founded in 1502) to give introductory lectures in moral
philosophy. He received his bachelor’s degree in theology in 1509 and returned to Erfurt,
where he taught and studied (1509-1511). In November 1510, on behalf of seven
Augustinian monasteries, he made a visit to Rome, where he performed the religious
duties customary for a pious visitor and was shocked by the worldliness of the Roman
clergy. Soon after resuming his duties in Erfurt, he was reassigned to Wittenberg and
asked to study for the degree of doctor of theology. In 1512 he received his doctorate and
took over the chair of biblical theology, which he held until his death.
Although still uncertain of God’s love and his own salvation, Luther was active as a
preacher, teacher, and administrator. Sometime during his study of the New Testament in
preparation for his lectures, he came to believe that Christians are saved not through their
own efforts but by the gift of God’s grace, which they accept in faith.
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Frederick Denison Maurice
Frederick Denison Maurice (1805-72), British Anglican theologian, educator,
and social reformer, who was one of the founders of Christian socialism.
Born in Normanston, England, Maurice studied law at the University of
Cambridge but was denied a degree because he refused to subscribe to the
Thirty-nine Articles of the Church of England. Gradually, however, he
accepted Anglicanism and, in 1830, entered the University of Oxford, where
he was ordained four years later.
While serving as chaplain of Guy's Hospital in London, Maurice wrote The
Kingdom of Christ (1838), generally regarded as his most important work. In
1840 he was elected professor of English literature and modern history at
King's College, London, and six years later he was chosen professor of
theology at the same institution. Maurice was forced to resign after the
publication of his Theological Essays (1853), in which he expressed
skepticism about the eternity of hell. In 1848 he joined the British novelist
and clergyman Charles Kingsley, the British clergyman John Ludlow, and
others to found the Christian socialist movement. Six years later he
established the Working Men's College in London. From 1866 until his death
he was a professor of moral philosophy at Cambridge. Maurice was the
author of one novel, the autobiographical Eustace Conway (1834), and many
religious works, including Modern Philosophy (1862) and What Is
Revelation? (1859).
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Jean Henri Merle d’Aubigné
Jean Henri Merle d’Aubigné (1794-1872), Swiss Protestant theologian,
born near Geneva, and educated in Geneva and Berlin. He was pastor of
the French Protestant Church in Hamburg from 1819 to 1823; in the
latter year he became court preacher to William I, king of the
Netherlands. After the revolution of 1830, which separated Belgium
from the Netherlands, Merle d'Aubigné returned to Geneva, where he
helped establish a new Evangelical church. He was professor of church
history at the Geneva École de Théologie Evangélique from 1831 until
his death. His most important work, Histoire de la Réformation au XV
siècle (History of the Reformation in the Fifteenth Century, 4 volumes,
1835-47), has been translated into most European languages. Among his
other works are Trois siècles de lutte en Écosse (Three Centuries of
Strife in Scotland, 1849) and Histoire de la Réformation en Europe au
temps du Calvin (History of the Reformation in Europe in the Time of
Calvin, 8 volumes, 1862-78).
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H. Richard Niebuhr
H. Richard Niebuhr (1894-1962), American Protestant theologian, born in
Wright City, Missouri, and educated at Elmhurst College, Elmhurst, Illinois;
Eden Theological Seminary, Webster Groves, Missouri; and Yale Divinity
School. Ordained in the Evangelical Synod of North America, he served a
pastorate for two years and then joined the faculty of Eden Theological
Seminary in 1919. He served as president of Elmhurst College from 1924 to
1927. In 1931 he joined the faculty of Yale Divinity School, where he spent
the rest of his teaching career; at retirement he was Sterling Professor of
Theology and Christian Ethics. Unlike his brother Reinhold, he was noted for
his technical expertness as a theologian. His major works, however, indicate
his concern with questions that also claimed the attention of his brother. They
examine the basis of denominationalism in the U.S., the interrelationship
between human beings and the culture within which they live, and the role of
Christian faith in the transformation of that culture. These books include The
Social Sources of Denominationalism (1929), The Meaning of Revelation
(1942), Christ and Culture (1951), Radical Monotheism and Western Culture
(1960), and The Responsible Self (posthumously pub. 1963).
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Reinhold Niebuhr
Reinhold Niebuhr (1892-1971), American Protestant theologian, whose social
doctrines profoundly influenced American theological and political thought.
Born in Wright City, Missouri, June 21, 1892, he was educated at Elmhurst
College, Elmhurst, Illinois; Eden Theological Seminary, Webster Groves,
Missouri; and Yale Divinity School. In 1915 he was ordained in the ministry of the
Evangelical Synod of North America and made pastor of the Bethel Evangelical
Church of Detroit. He held that post until 1928, at which time he joined the faculty
of the Union Theological Seminary, New York City, where he taught for 30 years.
At the time of his retirement (1960) he held a chair of ethics and theology; he also
served as dean (1950-55) and vice president (1955-60). After retiring he continued
at Union as a lecturer.
An outstanding, although not a systematic, theologian, Niebuhr was notable
primarily for his examination of the interrelationships between religion,
individuals, and modern society. Outside the field of theology, he took a keen
interest in trade union and political affairs. He was an active member of the
Socialist Party in the 1930s, waged a vigorous fight against isolationism and
pacifism before and during World War II, and in 1944 helped to found the Liberal
Party in New York State. He received the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom in
1964 and was made a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He
died on June 1, 1971.
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Rudolf Otto
Rudolf Otto (1869-1937), German philosopher and theologian, who, in his The
Idea of the Holy (1917; trans. 1923), attempted to define “the Holy” and the
experience of apprehending it.
Born at Peine, September 25, 1869, Otto acquired a thorough knowledge of
comparative religion, natural science, and Oriental philosophy at the universities of
Erlangen and Göttingen. He taught theology at Göttingen and at the universities of
Breslau and Marburg. Early in his career he was influenced by the teachings of the
German philosopher Immanuel Kant and the German theologian Friedrich
Schleiermacher. Otto, however, later criticized Schleiermacher's concept of
religion as a feeling of absolute dependence because it suggested too close a
resemblance to the basic human feeling of dependency.
Otto understood the Holy as a nonhuman, pure “other,” which can be approached
on a rational level as well as on a nonrational level as a mysterium (Latin,
“mystery”). The existence of the Holy can be rationally determined through the
senses, by perceiving, for instance, the order apparent in nature. The nonrational
apprehension of the Holy, or “numinous,” has two aspects: fascination, or
attraction, and awe. This dual conception of the numinous experience has been
criticized by some philosophers who claim that it is appropriate only for primitive
religions.
Although The Idea of the Holy is his best-known work, Otto also wrote on his
other areas of study. Among his publications are Naturalism and Religion (1904;
trans. 1907), in answer to the theories of Charles Darwin, and Mysticism, East and
West (1926; trans. 1932). Otto died at Marburg an der Lahn, March 7, 1937.
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Edward Bouverie Pusey
Edward Bouverie Pusey (1800-1882), British clergyman and theologian, a leader
of the Oxford movement.
Pusey was born near Oxford, England, on August 22, 1800, and educated at Christ
Church College, University of Oxford. In 1823 he was elected a fellow of Oriel
College, Oxford, where he became affiliated with the British divine John Keble,
the British religious leader John Henry Newman, and other members of the Oxford
movement. Members of this group hoped to inspire greater devotion to the Church
of England by stressing the church's catholic origins. In 1828 Pusey was ordained
in the Church of England, appointed Regius Professor of Hebrew at Oxford, and
made canon of Christ Church.
The Oxford movement began to publish Tracts for the Times in 1833, and Pusey
contributed tracts on fasting and on baptism. When Newman left the Oxford
movement in 1841, Pusey assumed leadership. In 1843 he delivered a sermon
defending certain catholic beliefs, and he was suspended from preaching at the
university for two years. In 1845 he aided in the formation of the first Anglican
sisterhood. The following year his sermon “The Entire Absolution of the Penitent”
established the Anglican practice of private confession. A later sermon, “The Rule
of Faith,” diminished the secessions to Roman Catholicism that his suspension had
inspired. He died at Ascot Priory on September 16, 1882. In addition to a number
of brief theological treatises, Pusey published the scholarly The Minor Prophets,
with Commentary (1860) and the three-part Eirecon (1865-1870), an attempt to
find a meeting ground for uniting the Roman Catholic church and the Church of
England.
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Albrecht Ritschl
Albrecht Ritschl (1822-1889), German Protestant theologian, who
founded one of the most influential schools of modern theology. Born in
Berlin, Ritschl studied philosophy and theology at the universities of
Bonn, Halle, Heidelberg, and Tübingen. He was professor of theology at
Bonn (1846-1864) and at the University of Göttingen from 1864 until
his death. His major work was The Christian Doctrine of Justification
and Reconciliation (3 volumes, 1870-1874; trans. 1872-1900). Ritschl's
theology was characterized by an emphasis on history and a rejection of
metaphysics. Influenced by the 18th-century German philosopher
Immanuel Kant, he associated religious faith and doctrines with
judgments of value rather than of fact. The crucial Christian doctrines
for Ritschl were those of redemption, or the atonement, and the
Kingdom of God, which he understood in ethical terms as the fellowship
of human beings realized through mutual love. Ritschl accordingly
stressed the ethical Christian life, which can be attained only within the
community of faith founded by Christ.
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Friedrich Schleiermacher
Friedrich Schleiermacher (1768-1834), German preacher and philosopher, who is often
called the leading 19th-century theologian of the Protestant church.
Friederich Ernst Daniel Schleiermacher was born on November 21, 1768, in Breslau,
Lower Silesia (now Wrocław, Poland). Despite his being the son of a Reformed
clergyman, Schleiermacher studied under the Moravian Brethren (Herrnhuters), gaining
from them an appreciation for the Latin and Greek classics and a strong sense of religious
life. He found the teaching of the Herrnhuters too restrictive, however, because the
faculty refused to lecture on current intellectual trends. In 1787 he entered the University
of Halle, where he studied the philosophies of Aristotle and Immanuel Kant. After his
ordination in 1794 he accepted a position as a Reformed preacher in Berlin. There he
mingled with German romantic philosophers, became a friend of Friedrich von Schlegel,
and began a translation of the works of Plato.
In On Religion: Speeches to Its Cultured Despisers (1799; trans. 1893), Schleiermacher
addressed the educated classes. He defined religion as “feeling and intuition of the
universe” and “a sense of the Infinite in the finite.” Independent of dogma, religion is a
deep-rooted, universal experience of humanity and necessary to all cultures. Knowledge
of the soul and knowledge of God are inseparable—a concept that had been presented
more than 1000 years earlier by St. Augustine.
Schleiermacher's greatest work, The Christian Faith (1821-22; trans. 1948), was a
crystallization of his theology. It defined religion as the feeling of absolute dependence—
dependence of oneself as a finite entity upon the Infinite, or God. Sin results from the
inability to distinguish between that on which an individual is totally dependent, namely,
God, and that on which dependence is only relative—the temporal world.
Schleiermacher died in Berlin on February 12, 1834. His other writings include The
Soliloquies (1800; trans. 1926), Christmas Eve (1806; trans. 1890), and Brief Outline of
the Study of Theology (1811; trans. 1850).
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Albert Schweitzer
Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965), German-born theologian, philosopher,
musicologist, medical missionary, and Nobel laureate.
The son of a Lutheran pastor, Schweitzer was born in Kaysersberg, Upper Alsace,
Germany (now Haut-Rhin Department, France). Schweitzer was educated at the
universities of Strasbourg, Paris, and Berlin and received three advanced degrees
from Strasbourg—a doctorate in philosophy (1899), a licentiate (a higher degree
than a doctorate) in theology (1900), and a doctorate in medicine (1913). He was
ordained as the curate of the Lutheran Church of Saint Nicholas in Strasbourg in
1900; a year later he became principal of the theological seminary there. In music
he gained fame as an organist and authority on organ construction. His best-known
musicological work, Johann Sebastian Bach, was published in French in 1905 and
rewritten in German in 1908; an English translation appeared in 1911. In this work
Schweitzer emphasized the religious nature of Bach’s music and advocated the
simple, undistorted style of performing Bach’s works that was accepted afterward
as the standard type of presentation.
Schweitzer established his reputation as a theologian with The Quest of the
Historical Jesus (1906; trans. 1910), in which he interpreted the life of Jesus in the
light of Jesus’ beliefs about death and afterlife. In other theological studies such as
The Mysticism of Paul the Apostle (1930; trans. 1931), Schweitzer examined the
New Testament from the viewpoint of its reputed authors—for example,
Schweitzer examined Paul’s letters to learn about his personal experience of the
divine.
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Socinus
Socinus, originally Sozzini or Sozini, name of an Italian family that in the 16th century
produced two theologians. They were noted as the founders of Socinianism, a system of
Protestant religious doctrines.
(1525-62), original name LELIO SOZINI, born in Siena and educated as a jurist. He studied
Greek, Hebrew, and Arabic and engaged in extensive biblical research, which led him to
a sympathetic interest in the work of the Protestant reformers. He visited Switzerland,
France, England, Holland, Germany, and Poland, meeting such Protestant leaders as the
German scholar Melanchthon and the French theologian John Calvin. He spent the last
years of his life in Zürich. Socinus wrote theological dissertations on the sacraments and
on the resurrection of the body and maintained an extensive correspondence with
Protestant theologians. Although he questioned the doctrine of the Trinity, he did not
profess anti-Trinitarian views; he insisted, however, on the right to free theological
inquiry.
(1539-1604), original name FAUSTO SOZINI, nephew of Laelius, born in Siena and
educated privately. In 1559 he was denounced by the Inquisition for holding heretical
opinions and took refuge for three years outside Italy, visiting Zürich, Lyon, and Geneva.
He returned to Italy about 1563 and for 12 years lived in Florence, conforming during
that period with the regulations of the Roman Catholic church. In 1575 he settled at Basel
and engaged in theological speculation and debates with Protestant leaders. Under the
influence of his uncle's writings, he developed a radical doctrinal system, named
Socinianism after both theologians. This system substituted the Unitarian concept of
Jesus Christ as a man and as a deputy of God for the doctrine of Christ as divine and as a
manifestation of a Trinitarian Godhead. Socinianism denied also the dogmas of the
inborn total depravity of humankind and the atonement of Christ for the sins of people,
the potency of the sacraments, and the possibility of damnation for eternity.
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David Friedrich Strauss
David Friedrich Strauss (1808-1874), German theologian and philosopher,
whose controversial skeptical interpretation of the Gospel was an important
influence on modern biblical criticism.
Born in Ludwigsburg, in Württemberg, Strauss was educated at the
evangelical seminary of Blaubeuren and at the University of Tübingen, where
he obtained a post as lecturer. Under the influence of the German
philosophers Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel and Friedrich Schleiermacher,
Strauss developed a skeptical attitude toward the Scriptures as divine
revelation. His theory of the origin of Christianity was formulated in his
famous treatise, The Life of Jesus (1835; trans. 1846), in which he sought to
explain the miracles of the Gospel narratives as a series of myths. Although
the work aroused fierce opposition, it exerted a pervasive influence on 19th-
century biblical criticism.
As a result of his views, Strauss was deprived of his post at Tübingen and
given a minor position in the lyceum (high school) of Ludwigsburg. His later
theological writings, including The Old Faith and the New (1872; trans.
1873), exhibit an even more extreme skepticism than The Life of Jesus.
Strauss also wrote several volumes of literary criticism and biography.
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Paul Tillich
Paul Tillich (1886-1965), German American philosopher and theologian.
Paul Johannes Tillich was born in Starzeddel, Brandenburg, Germany, on August
20, 1886. He was the son of a Lutheran pastor. Tillich studied theology at the
universities of Berlin, Tübingen, and Halle. In 1912 he was ordained a minister in
the Evangelical Lutheran Church and served as chaplain in the German army
during World War I. From 1919 to 1933 he taught at several universities, including
the university at Frankfurt am Main, from which he was dismissed because of his
opposition to the Hitler regime. In 1933 Tillich accepted an appointment to teach at
Union Theological Seminary in New York City. In 1955 he went to the Divinity
School of Harvard University and in 1962, to the Divinity School of the University
of Chicago. He became an American citizen in 1940.
In his many books, Tillich developed ideas concerning the religious basis of life,
including The Religious Situation (1932), The Interpretation of History (1936), The
Protestant Era (1948), and Dynamics of Faith (1957). In The Courage to Be
(1952), he discussed the alienation of the individual in society and argued that
existence is rooted in God as the ground of all being. Tillich believed that
Protestant theology may incorporate the critical posture and scientific concepts of
contemporary thought without endangering its Christian faith. Thus, he was quick
to utilize the insights of depth psychology and existential philosophy in his
attempts to renew the relevance of theology for modern secular society. His
Systematic Theology (3 volumes, 1951-63) was the major instrument of this
reformulation. Tillich died in Chicago on October 22, 1965.
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Ernst Troeltsch
Ernst Troeltsch (1865-1923), German Protestant theologian and scholar,
whose historical and sociological approach to the philosophy of religion
became a major influence in 20th-century theology. Born near
Augsburg, Bavaria, Troeltsch studied theology at the universities of
Erlangen, Göttingen, and Berlin. He taught theology at Göttingen and
the universities of Bonn and Heidelberg before becoming professor of
the history of philosophy and civilization at the University of Berlin in
1915. Influenced by the historical emphasis of the 19th-century German
theologian Albrecht Ritschl, Troeltsch denied that theology can attain an
absolute dogmatic truth that transcends historical and cultural
circumstances. In his work he tried to reconcile this historical relativism
with his belief in permanent and universal ethical values. Troeltsch was
actively concerned with political and social issues, and after World War
I he criticized the German tendency to idolize the state. His most
important work is The Social Teaching of the Christian Churches (1912;
trans. 1931), a historical and cultural analysis of Christian social ethics.
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Willem Adolf Visser ’t Hooft
Willem Adolf Visser ’t Hooft (1900-1985), Dutch Protestant leader,
educator, and ecumenist. Born in Haarlem, he studied at the Leiden
University, earning a doctorate in theology in 1928. Eight years later he
was ordained a minister in the Reformed church. Visser 't Hooft was
secretary of the World Committee of Young Men's Christian
Associations (1924-1931) and then general secretary of the World
Student Christian Federation (1931-1938). In 1938 he was invited to
become general secretary of the newly formed World Council of
Churches, a position he held until 1966. Visser 't Hooft also founded and
edited the council's quarterly publication, the Ecumenical Review. His
many books on ecumenism include Peace Among Christians (1967) and
Has the Ecumenical Movement a Future? (1974).
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John Wesley John Wesley (1703-91), English theologian, evangelist, and founder of Methodism.
Wesley was born in the rectory at Epworth, Lincolnshire, on June 17, 1703, the 15th child of the
British clergyman Samuel Wesley. He was educated at Charterhouse School and Christ Church,
University of Oxford. Ordained deacon in 1725 and admitted to the priesthood of the Church of
England in 1728, John Wesley acted for a time as curate to his father. In 1729 he went into
residence at Oxford as a fellow of Lincoln College. There he joined the Holy Club, a group of
students that included his brother Charles Wesley and, later, George Whitefield, who was to
become the founder of Calvinistic Methodism. The club members adhered strictly and
methodically to religious precepts and practices, among them visiting prisons and comforting the
sick, and were thus derisively called “methodists” by their schoolmates.
In 1735 Wesley went to Georgia as an Anglican missionary. On the ship to Savannah he met
some German Moravians, whose simple evangelical piety greatly impressed him. He continued
to associate with them while in Georgia and translated some of their hymns into English. Except
for this association, Wesley's American experience was a failure.
On his return to England in 1738, he again sought out the Moravians; while attending one of
their meetings in Aldersgate St., London, on May 24, 1738, he experienced a religious
awakening that profoundly convinced him that salvation was possible for every person through
faith in Jesus Christ alone.
In March 1739, George Whitefield, who had met with great success as an evangelist in Bristol,
urged Wesley to join him in his endeavors. Despite his initial opposition to preaching outside the
church, Wesley preached an open-air sermon on April 2, and the enthusiastic reaction of his
audience convinced him that open-air preaching was the most effective way to reach the masses.
Few pulpits would be open to him in any case, for the Anglican church frowned on revivalism.
Wesley attracted immense crowds virtually from the outset of his evangelical career. His success
also was due, in part, to the fact that contemporary England was ready for a revivalist movement;
the Anglican church was seemingly unable to offer the kind of personal faith that people craved.
Thus Wesley's emphasis on inner religion and his assurance that each person was accepted as a
child of God had a tremendous popular appeal. On May 1, 1739, Wesley and a group of his
followers, meeting in a shop on West St., London, formed the first Methodist society. Two
similar organizations were established in Bristol the same month. Late in 1739 the London
society began to meet in a building called the Foundry, which served as the headquarters of
Methodism for many years. With the growth of the Methodist movement, the need for tighter
organization became acute. In 1742 the societies were divided into classes, with a leader for each
class. These class meetings contributed greatly to the success of the movement, but equally
important were their leaders, many of whom Wesley designated lay preachers. Wesley called the
first conference of Methodist leaders in 1744, and conferences were held annually thereafter. In
1751, at the age of 48, Wesley married Mary Vazeille, a widow with four children. The marriage
was not successful, and she finally left him; Wesley had no children of his own. An indefatigable
preacher and organizer, Wesley traveled about 8000 km (5000 mi) a year, delivering as many as
four or five sermons a day and founding new societies.
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Huldreich Zwingli
Huldreich Zwingli or Ulrich Zwingli (1484-1531), Swiss theologian, leader of the
Reformation in Switzerland.
Zwingli was born on January 1, 1484, in Wildhaus, Sankt Gallen. He was educated
at the universities of Vienna and Basel.
During his formative years, Zwingli was deeply influenced by the spirit of liberal
humanism. In 1506 he was ordained and assigned to the town of Glarus as a parish
priest. Glarus then was well known as a center for recruiting mercenary soldiers for
Europe's armies. On two occasions Zwingli served as chaplain with Glarus troops
during bloody fighting on foreign soil, and these experiences led him to denounce
the mercenary system publicly. In retaliation certain town officials conspired to
make his position at Glarus untenable. In 1516 he accepted an appointment at
Einsiedeln, southeast of Zürich.
During his ministry at Einsiedeln, Zwingli began to entertain doubts about certain
church practices. In 1516 he read a Latin translation of the Greek New Testament
published by the Dutch humanist Desiderius Erasmus, which he later transcribed
into notebooks and memorized verbatim. On the basis of these and other scriptural
readings, Zwingli charged in sermons that church teachings and practice had
diverged widely from the simple Christianity of the Holy Writ. Among the
practices cited by Zwingli as unscriptural were the adoration of saints and relics,
promises of miraculous cures, and church abuses of the indulgence system. His
forthright affirmations of scriptural authority won him wide popular repute, and on
January 1, 1519, he was appointed priest at the Gross Münster (German, “Great
Cathedral”) in Zürich.
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Saint Robert Bellarmine
Saint Robert Bellarmine (1542-1621), Italian Roman Catholic churchman and theologian,
one of the leaders of the Counter Reformation.
Roberto Francesco Romolo Bellarmino was born in Montepulciano, Tuscany (Toscana),
October 4, 1542. The son of a local magistrate and a nephew of Pope Marcellus II, he
entered the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) and was ordained a priest in 1570. Appointed
professor of theology at the University of Leuven (now in Belgium), he gained a
reputation as a brilliant controversialist. After 1576 he lectured in Rome on the conflicts
arising from the Reformation. His chief work was the multivolume Disputations on the
Controversies of the Christian Faith (1568-93). His exposition of the Roman Catholic
position was so clear and logical that his approach became the standard in textbooks for
several centuries. He also took a prominent part in the revision of the Vulgate published
in 1592.
Appointed a cardinal in 1599, Bellarmine served as archbishop of Capua from 1602 to
1605. He then returned to Rome, where he continued his scholarly work. An admirer of
Galileo, he defended Galileo's right to publish his writings on the solar system. Having
given all his money for the relief of the poor, Bellarmine died a pauper on September 17,
1621.
All of Bellarmine's works, written in Latin, were compiled between 1870 and 1874 and
were printed in 12 volumes. Many of them, especially his devotional and catechetical
works, had been translated into English as early as 1602. He was canonized in 1930 and
declared a Doctor of the Church the following year. Bellarmine's feast day is September
17.
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Cajetan
Cajetan (circa 1469-1534), Italian theologian, prelate, and diplomat.
Originally named Giacomo de Vio, he was born in Gaeta. At the age of 16 he
entered the Dominican order, and after study at the universities of Naples and
Bologna, he taught theology at the University of Padua. He was appointed
vicar-general of the Dominicans in 1507. Made a cardinal in 1517, he became
bishop of Gaeta in 1519. He defended papal supremacy and ecclesiastical
reform at the Fifth Lateran Council and disputed the stand of Martin Luther at
Augsburg in 1518. Cajetan (from the Latin form of the name of his
birthplace) was a formidable diplomat and often served as papal legate. He
was a biblical scholar and an influential commentator on the theology of St.
Thomas Aquinas, and a major role in the revival of Thomism in the 16th
century is attributed to him. He wrote widely on many aspects of theology;
his commentaries on some portions of the Bible anticipated modern criticism,
raising contemporary opposition.
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Saint Peter Canisius
Saint Peter Canisius (1521-1597), German Jesuit theologian. His original
name was Pieter de Hondt. Born in Nijmegen (now in the Netherlands), he
was the first German to join (1543) the Jesuit order. He established Jesuit
centers in many parts of Germany and taught at German universities,
including those at Cologne and Vienna. Canisius was a leader of the Counter
Reformation, the reform movement that arose in the Roman Catholic church
in answer to the Protestant Reformation. He participated actively in the
Council of Trent and the Diet of Augsburg (1556). His triple catechism,
written for different age levels, is his most important work. He was canonized
in 1925 and in the same year was named Doctor of the Church (see Doctors
of the Church). Canisius's feast day is December 21. Canisius College in
Buffalo, New York, a Jesuit institution founded in 1870, is named for him.
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John Colet
John Colet (1467?-1519), English theologian, born in London, and educated
at the University of Oxford. After traveling in France and Italy, where he was
influenced by the French scholar Guillaume Budé and by the Dutch scholar
and humanist Desiderius Erasmus, he returned to England in 1496 and
became a priest. Colet's lectures on the Epistles of St. Paul attracted great
attention because of their originality. In 1499 Erasmus visited Oxford and
was greatly influenced by Colet's opinions on the proper methods of
Scripture interpretation and the value of scholastic philosophy. In 1509 Colet
became dean of Saint Paul's Cathedral, London, and continued to deliver
controversial lectures. With the large fortune he inherited when his father
died, he founded Saint Paul's School. In 1510 Colet appointed the Mercers'
Company of London managers of his school, thus establishing the first lay
management of an educational institution.
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Pierre d’Ailly
Pierre d’Ailly (1350-1420), French philosopher and theologian, whose
principal aim was to settle the Great Western Schism (1378-1417) that
divided the Christian church (see Schism, Great). A native of Compiègne, he
studied at the University of Paris, where he obtained a doctorate in theology
in 1381. He quickly rose to prominence and by 1389 had become chancellor
of the university. He became a bishop in 1395 and was made a cardinal in
1412.
D'Ailly participated in two assemblies that attempted to end the schism: the
Council of Pisa (1409) and the Council of Constance (1414-18). He
advocated a moderate form of the conciliar theory, holding that the supreme
authority of the church lies with a general council (see Council) rather than
with the pope. Many of his opinions were later adapted and developed by
Martin Luther and the other religious reformers. D'Ailly also wrote on
astrology, geography, and philosophy. His best-known work, Imago Mundi
(Image of the World), in which he suggested that the Indies could be reached
from the West, was known to Christopher Columbus.