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''The Four Books of Sentences'' (''Libri Quattuor Sententiarum'') is a book of
theology
Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...
written by
Peter Lombard
Peter Lombard (also Peter the Lombard, Pierre Lombard or Petrus Lombardus; 1096, Novara – 21/22 July 1160, Paris), was a scholastic theologian, Bishop of Paris, and author of '' Four Books of Sentences'' which became the standard textbook of ...
in the 12th century. It is a systematic compilation of theology, written around 1150; it derives its name from the ''
sententia
''Sententiae'', the nominative plural of the Latin word ''sententia'', are brief moral sayings, such as proverbs, adages, aphorisms, maxims, or apophthegms taken from ancient or popular or other sources, often quoted without context. ''Sententia' ...
e'' or authoritative statements on biblical passages that it gathered together.
Origin and characteristics
The ''Book of Sentences'' had its precursor in the
glosses (an explanation or interpretation of a text, such as, e.g. the ''
Corpus Iuris Civilis
The ''Corpus Juris'' (or ''Iuris'') ''Civilis'' ("Body of Civil Law") is the modern name for a collection of fundamental works in jurisprudence, issued from 529 to 534 by order of Justinian I, Byzantine Emperor. It is also sometimes referred ...
'' or biblical) by the masters who lectured using
Saint Jerome
Jerome (; la, Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος Σωφρόνιος Ἱερώνυμος; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was a Christian priest, confessor, theologian, and historian; he is comm ...
's Latin translation of the Bible (the
Vulgate
The Vulgate (; also called (Bible in common tongue), ) is a late-4th-century Latin translation of the Bible.
The Vulgate is largely the work of Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Gospels u ...
). A gloss might concern syntax or grammar, or it might be on some difficult point of doctrine. These glosses, however, were not continuous, rather being placed between the lines or in the margins of the biblical text itself. Lombard went a step further, collecting texts from various sources (such as Scripture,
Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Af ...
, and other Church Fathers) and compiling them into one coherent whole. In order to accomplish this, he had to address two tasks: first, that of devising an order for his material, because systematic theology had not yet been constituted as a discipline, and secondly, finding ways to reconcile doctrinal differences among his sources.
Peter Abelard
Peter Abelard (; french: link=no, Pierre Abélard; la, Petrus Abaelardus or ''Abailardus''; 21 April 1142) was a medieval French scholastic philosopher, leading logician, theologian, poet, composer and musician. This source has a detailed desc ...
's ''
Sic et Non'' provided crucial inspiration for the latter tasks.
Lombard arranged his material from the Bible and the Church Fathers in four books, then subdivided this material further into chapters. Probably between 1223 and 1227,
Alexander of Hales grouped the many chapters of the four books into a smaller number of "distinctions". In this form, the book was widely adopted as a theological textbook in the high and late Middle Ages (the 13th, 14th, and 15th centuries). A commentary on the ''Sentences'' was required of every master of theology, and was part of the examination system. At the end of lectures on Lombard's work, a student could apply for bachelor status within the theology faculty.
The importance of the ''Sentences'' to medieval theology and philosophy lies to a significant extent in the overall framework they provide to theological and philosophical discussion. All the great scholastic thinkers, such as
Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas, OP (; it, Tommaso d'Aquino, lit=Thomas of Aquino; 1225 – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican friar and priest who was an influential philosopher, theologian and jurist in the tradition of scholasticism; he is known wit ...
,
Ockham,
Bonaventure,
Aureolus
Aureolus was a Roman military commander during the reign of Emperor Gallienus before he attempted to usurp the Roman Empire. After turning against Gallienus, Aureolus was killed during the political turmoil that surrounded the Emperor's assassina ...
,
Holcot
Holcot is a village and civil parish in the West Northamptonshire in England. At the time of the 2001 census, the parish's population was 399 people. At the 2011 census this had increased to 438 people, living in 182 households.
The villages ...
, and
Scotus
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. Federal tribunals in the United States, federal court cases, and over Stat ...
, wrote commentaries on the ''Sentences''. But these works were not exactly commentaries, for the ''Sentences'' was really a compilation of sources, and Peter Lombard left many questions open, giving later scholars an opportunity to provide their own answers.
See also
*
Minuscule 714 – the manuscript of the New Testament and of Sententiae
Editions
Standard modern translation into English
*Peter Lombard, ''The Sentences,'' Books 1–4. translator, Giulio Silano, 4 vols. (Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 2007-2010).
*: Book 1: The Mystery of the Trinity
*: Book 2: On Creation
*: Book 3: On the Incarnation of the Word
*: Book 4: On the Doctrine of Signs
Further reading
*Elizabeth Frances Rogers, ''Peter Lombard and the Sacramental System'' (Merrick, NY: Richwood Pub. Co., 1976).
*Philipp W. Rosemann, ''Peter Lombard'' (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004).
*Philipp W. Rosemann, ''The Story of a Great Medieval Book: Peter Lombard's "Sentences"'' (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2007).
External links
* http://magistersententiarum.com/authors
Various commentaries, and a partial English translation of ''The Four Books of the Sentences'' itself*
''Textus Sententiarum''(Patrologie Latine, 192, col. 519-964)
*
(1502 Edition, by Bayerische Staatsbibliothek digital)
*
from the Logic Museum about the Book of Sentences.
*
by
St. Thomas Aquinas (complete)
{{Authority control
1150s books
12th-century Latin books
12th-century Christian texts
Medieval literature
Scholasticism
Christian theology books