Jacques Guy Bougerol
Ashgate Variorum
Hardback
310
1989
In the history of Christian thought St Bonaventure stands out as the pre-eminent Franciscan philosopher of the 13th century and as a key figure in the development of the spiritual theology of the Church. The four studies which constitute this volume present detailed investigations into some of the principal sources from which Bonaventure drew his inspiration from Antiquity through to St Bernard in the century before his own. Proceeding from a careful analysis of the quotations he makes from these sources the studies make clear the precise extent and nature of their importance in Bonaventure?s own thought and the manner in which he selected ideas and used them to serve his own purposes. The first two pieces focus on the influence exerted by the Pseudo-Dionysius in particular as concerns his notion of hierarchy this became a central and fertile theme in the work of the Franciscan. Father Bougerol shows how Bonaventure interpreted and developed it in the process transforming it into a meditation on the relationship between man and God. This emphasis also emerges in the third study on his attitude towards Aristotle which demonstrates Bonaventure?s deliberate progress towards the elaboration of his spiritual theology.
Ashgate Variorum
Hardback
310
1989
In the history of Christian thought St Bonaventure stands out as the pre-eminent Franciscan philosopher of the 13th century and as a key figure in the development of the spiritual theology of the Church. The four studies which constitute this volume present detailed investigations into some of the principal sources from which Bonaventure drew his inspiration from Antiquity through to St Bernard in the century before his own. Proceeding from a careful analysis of the quotations he makes from these sources the studies make clear the precise extent and nature of their importance in Bonaventure?s own thought and the manner in which he selected ideas and used them to serve his own purposes. The first two pieces focus on the influence exerted by the Pseudo-Dionysius in particular as concerns his notion of hierarchy this became a central and fertile theme in the work of the Franciscan. Father Bougerol shows how Bonaventure interpreted and developed it in the process transforming it into a meditation on the relationship between man and God. This emphasis also emerges in the third study on his attitude towards Aristotle which demonstrates Bonaventure?s deliberate progress towards the elaboration of his spiritual theology.