Poetria Nova
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Book Series
Mediaeval Sources in Translation, vol. 45
Peter Lombard
The Sentences - Book 3:
On the Incarnation of the Word
- Pages: 190 p.
- Size:150 x 230 mm
- Language(s):English, Latin
- Publication Year:2008
- € 35,00 EXCL. VAT RETAIL PRICE
- ISBN: 978-0-88844-295-6
- Paperback
- Available
Summary
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, it has
received little attention in recent times. This volume makes
available for the first time in English a full
translation of Book 3 of the Sentences, which deals with
the mystery of the Word made flesh: Christ’s incarnation,
passion, and death, the consequent restoration of humankind,
and the virtues to be practised in imitation of Christ. Book 3 is
divided into forty Distinctions. The first twenty-two are devoted
to Christ’s incarnation and his redemptive work. With the
question of whether Christ had the virtues of faith, hope, and
charity, a transition is made from Christology to a consideration
of the virtues themselves, as each Christian is called to live them
in imitation of Christ. The last four Distinctions outline the
Decalogue in the context of the two commandments given by Christ
regarding the love of God and neighbour; the Book closes with the
assertion of the superiority of the Gospel over the Law of the Old
Testament.