Putting Peter Lombard Into Perspective

Moreso than Anselm, Peter Lombard (c. 1100-1160) was influential in defining the shape of subsequent discussions of the Doctrine of God: B. The High Scholastic Doctrine of God: Theologians of the Thirteenth Century Once scholastic theology has been arranged in a definitive form, such as Peter Lombard’s Sentences became for the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth …

Anselm of Canterbury: An 11th Century “Sinner’s Prayer”

There is an exhortation of Anselm (1033-1109) to a dying brother, written in the most comforting words: “When a brother seems to be in his death struggle, it is godly and advisable to exercise him through a prelate or other priest with written questions and exhortations. He may be asked in the first place: ‘Brother, …

A Brief History of the Christian Doctrine of God, Part 3: The Sentences of Peter Lombard

“Summas” and systematization Steven Ozment notes, “Before the Ockhamists made Pelagianism a major issue in medieval theology, the scholastic debate over religious justification focused on how grace could be present in man’s soul. How can something divine be within human nature? If medieval philosophers had problems conceiving existence of a universal within a particular, there …

A Brief History of the Christian Doctrine of God, Part 2: Some Early Defining Characteristics

Following up on the section on Anselm, Muller continues to discuss some of the issues which later became some defining issues in the evolving Christian Doctrine of God. Developing Questions over God’s Freedom, the Persons of the Trinity, “Divine Simplicity”: Although Anselm’s genius certainly assured the ultimate victory of philosophical realism in the debates of …

A Brief History of the Christian Doctrine of God, Part 1: Anselm

Anselm of Canterbury and the Beginnings of “Classical Theism” The Westminster Confession of Faith explicitly endorses reason as well as Scripture as being a source of doctrine, when it says, “The whole counsel of God, concerning all things necessary for his own glory, man’s salvation, faith, and life, is either expressly set down in Scripture, …

“The Real and True Nature of Anglicanism”

There are Anglicans who still believe this: The Real and True Nature of Anglicanism Our ultimate question does not concern the real and true nature of Anglicanism but the real and true nature of Christianity and as to how well the Anglican tradition of Christian faith comports with the revealed faith of the Lord Jesus …