Peter Lombard’s major work, the four books of the
Sentences, was written in the mid twelfth century, and as
early as the 1160s, the text was glossed and commented on in the
schools. There is hardly a theologian of note throughout the rest
of the Middle Ages who did not write a commentary on the
Sentences. Yet in spite of its importance in Western
intellectual history and its capacity to excite many generations of
students and teachers, the Sentences has received
little attention in more recent times. Indeed, it has been called
‘one of the least read of the world’s great
books’.
This volume makes available for the first time in English a full
translation of Book 1 of the Sentences. It consists of
forty-eight Distinctions, the bulk of which deal with God in his
transcendence and with the mystery of the Trinity. The person of
God the Father is the topic in Distinction iv, that of God the Son
in v-ix, that of God the Holy Spirit in x-xviii. Distinctions
xix-xxxiv are deeply concerned with the language that can be used
in describing the Trinity and the relations among the divine
persons. The remaining distinctions deal with the divine attributes
as they become manifest in God’s action towards creatures. An
important concern is the preservation of God’s sovereign
freedom and the avoidance of any confusion regarding the absolute
transcendence of God, despite his graceful self-disclosure in
creation and revelation.
The volume contains an introduction to Peter and to the
Sentences and its first book, a list of the major chapter
headings, and a bibliography.