.
Order of Contents
Theology 12
. Contra 2
. Eastern Orthodox 2
. Doctrines 5
Philosophy 16+
Thought 8+
. Specific Topics 2
Specific Centuries 3
Individuals 6+
Muslim
.
On Medieval Theology
Also check treatments of the Middle Ages in Historical Theologies of the whole Christian era. See also the philosophy section below as theology and philosophy strongly overlap in the Medieval era.
.
Dictionaries
2000’s
Brown & Flores – Historical Dictionary of Medieval Philosophy & Theology Buy (2007) 464 pp.
Ginther, James – The Westminster Handbook to Medieval Theology Buy (Westminster John Knox Press, 2009) 240 pp. The publisher is liberal. This work is laid out as a dictionary, besides introductory articles.
.
Introductions
2000’s
Evans, G.R. – The Medieval Theologians: An Introduction to Theology in the Medieval Period Buy (2001) 408 pp.
van Nieuwenhove, Rik – An Introduction to Medieval Theology Buy (Cambrdige, 2012) 308 pp.
.
Histories & Surveys on the Whole Middle Ages
Books
1800’s
Poole, Reginald – Illustrations of the History of Medieval Thought in the Departments of Theology & Ecclesiastical Politics (London: Williams & Norgate, 1884) 405 pp. ToC
.
1900’s
Gilson, Etienne Henry – Reason & Revelation in the Middle Ages Buy (1946) 114 pp. ToC
Gilson is a Romanist scholar.
Cassidy, Frank – Molders of the Medieval Mind: The Influence of the Fathers of the Church on the Medieval Schoolmen Buy (1966)
Meyendorff, Jean – Byzantine Theology: Historical Trends & Doctrinal Themes Buy (Fordham Univ. Press, 1974) 255 pp. ToC
Evans, G.R. – Philosophy & Theology in the Middle Ages Buy (1993) 152 pp. ToC
.
2000’s
D’Onofrio, Giulio – The History of Theology II: The Middle Ages Buy (2008) 560 pp.
A Roman Catholic scholar writes for laymen.
.
On the Early Middle Ages
Anthology
ed. McCracken, George – Early Medieval Theology in Library of Christian Classics, vol. 9 Buy (London: SCM Press, 1957) 428 pp. ToC
.
On the Late Middle Ages
Oberman, Heiko – The Harvest of Medieval Theology: Gabriel Biel & Late Medieval Nominalism Buy (Harvard Univ. Press, 1963; 2001) 512 pp. ToC
While this work is specifically about Biel (d. 1495), yet it gives great coverage of his times, including before and after.
.
Contra Medieval Theology
Articles
1600’s
Turretin, Francis – 9. ‘Was man created in puris naturalibus, or could he have been so created? We deny against the Pelagians and Scholastics.’ in Institutes of Elenctic Theology, tr. George M. Giger, ed. James Dennison Jr. (1679–1685; P&R, 1992), vol. 1, 5th Topic, pp. 462-64
.
Quote
Leonard Riissen
A Complete Summary of Elenctic Theology & of as Much Didactic Theology as is Necessary trans. J. Wesley White MTh thesis (Bern, 1676; GPTS, 2009), ch. 11, ‘Christ’, pp. 84-85, 112-13, 121-22
“Controversy – Is God able not only to deprive an innocent creature of life but also to condemn them to the eternal tortures of hell? We deny against certain Scholastics.
Arguments
1. All the ways of God should be mercy and truth to those who keep covenant (Ps. 25:10).
2. Anyone approaching God should believe that He will reward their obedience with a reward not condemn them (Heb. 11:6).
3. In an innocent creature there can be no consciousness of guilt or the just judgment of God, which is the meaning of punishment.
4. No glory to God could arise from this but rather the dishonor of a tyrannical lord.
5. The righteousness of God demands that He acquit the holy, but it does not permit him to condemn someone who has not merited it (Ps. 18:26-27, Gen. 18:25, Ps. 7:11).
Objections
1. He can reduce the innocent to nothing. Reply. Then he only takes away what He gave, but punishment would be to do injury to someone while existing.
2. He acts this way with Christ. Reply. He was our surety, who took our debts on Himself.
3. God can impute to us the sin of Adam. Reply. That is imputed to be ours which is truly ours just as the children of slaves are slaves and the sons of citizens are citizens and are reputed to be such.
4. We are permitted to kill innocent creatures. Reply. 1. Not rational ones. 2. Irrational ones (bruta) for our use (2 Pet. 2:12). 3. It is one thing to kill, another to give to the living the highest punishment according to one’s pleasure.
…
Controversy 3 – Would Jesus Christ have been made m-an and come into the world if men had not sinned? We deny against the Socinians and Scholastics.
Arguments:
1. He was only promised after the fall (Gen. 3:15), and He could not have been born of a virgin except in virtue of the promise.
2. Those who are well have no need of a physician (Mt. 9:13). He only came to save sinners (2 Tim. 1:15).
3. He has been sent on the basis of the love of God toward fallen man (Jn. 3:16), which could not exist in that case. [That is, He would not have had compassion on fallen man, if man had not fallen. This compassion and love for fallen man is given as the reason for the Father sending the Son.]
4. It would not have been necessary for God to be man; therefore, He would have come in vain.
5. Nor would humanity have had any obligation (obligatio) to Him as incarnate.
Objections:
1. Christ is the firstborn of all creatures (Col. 1:15). Reply. ‘Firstborn’ means generated from eternity before all creatures.
2. In all things, He is preeminent (primus) (v. 19). Reply. In dignity and position.
3. All things have been created in Him (meaning “on account of Him”). Reply. All things have been created on account of Him as God not as man.
4. Then we have not been made on account of Christ, but He was made on account of us. Reply. Yes, as man. Objection. Then we should be given thanks since it is on account of us. Reply. That’s ridiculous.”
…
Controversy 3 – Was Christ on account of the personal union so holy that He was not able to sin? We affirm against the scholastics and Arminians.
Arguments
1. The devil could not do anything against Him (Jn. 14:30).
2. Everything He does, He does by the person (hypstasi) of the divine nature, although the actions are of the natures (suppositorum)
(Acts 20:28), but that person cannot sin.
3. Then the union could be dissolved, since God has no communion with sin (Is. 59:2, 2 Cor. 6:14).
4. Christ, as a sinner, could be damned (Gal. 3:10).
5. Then God could lie in promises and predictions contrary to Heb. 6:17.
6. Then Christ could be cut off from the mediatorial office, and thus the foundation of salvation could be overturned contrary to Acts 2:25.
Objection
1. He was free; therefore He was able to sin. Reply. So God and the angels in heaven are free, and will we be free after the judgment.”
.
On Eastern & Greek Orthodox Theology
Article
Louth, Andrew – ‘The Nature of Eastern Orthodox Theology’ (2010) 28 pp.
Louth briefly surveys Athanasius, Dionysios the Areopagite, Maximus the Confessor and Gregory Palamas, who cover a period of about a millennium, stretching from the fourth to the fourteenth century.
.
Book
Lossky, Vladimir – Orthodox Theology: an Introduction Buy (St. Vladimir’s Press, 1978) 135 pp. ToC
.
On Specific Doctrines in the Middle Ages
Natural Theology
Webb, Clement – Natural Theology in the Middle Ages in Studies in the History of Natural Theology in Studies in the History of Natural Theology (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1915) 220 pp. ToC
.
On the Trinity
Paasch, J.T. – Divine Production in Late Medieval Trinitarian Theology: Henry of Ghent, Duns Scotus & William Ockham Buy (Oxford, 2012) 240 pp. ToC
.
Soteriology
Carlson, C.P. – Justification in Earlier Medieval Theology Buy (1975) 157 pp. ToC
The Early & Medieval Church on Limited Atonement
Much of Medieval thought did not use the paradigm of limited atonement, though there were some significant precedents.
.
Law
Evans, G.R. – Law & Theology in the Middle Ages Buy (2001) 272 pp.
.
.
On Medieval Philosophy
Introductions
Martin, C.F.J. – An Introduction to Medieval Philosophy (Edinburgh Univ. Press, 1996) 155 pp. ToC
Marenbon, John – Medieval Philosophy: An Historical & Philosophical Introduction Buy (Routledge, 2006) 464 pp.
“This new introduction replaces Marenbon’s best-selling editions Early Medieval Philosophy (1983) and Later Medieval Philosophy (1987) to present a single authoritative and comprehensive study of the period.”
Koterski, Joseph W. – An Introduction to Medieval Philosophy: Basic Concepts Pre (Blackwell, 2009) ToC
.
Companions
eds. Cross, Richard & J.T. Paasch – The Routledge Companion To Medieval Philosophy (Routledge, 2008) 435 pp. ToC
eds. Gracia, Jorge J.E. & Timothy B. Noone – A Companion to Philosophy in the Middle Ages in Blackwell Companions to Philosophy (Blackwell, 2003) 745 pp. ToC
.
Histories & Surveys on the Whole of the Middle Ages
Books
1900’s
Turner, William – Part 2, Section B, Scholastic Philosophy in History of Philosophy (1903), pp. 244-422
de Wulf, Maurice
History of Medieval Philosophy (1909) 510 pp. ToC
Philosophy & Civilization in the Middle Ages (Princeton Univ. Press, 1922) 325 pp. ToC
Rickaby, Joseph – Scholasticism (London: Constable & Co., 1911) 140 pp. ToC
Workman, Herbert – chs. 6-9 of Christian Thought to the Reformation, pp. 128-243 1916 115 pp.
Workman (1862–1951) was a Methodist minister and pastor.
Gilson, Etienne Henry
The Spirit of Medieval Philosophy Buy (1940) 490 pp. ToC
History of Christian Philosophy in the Middle Ages Buy (1955) 820 pp.
“This authoritative Roman Catholic treatment is arranged chronologically from Justin Martyr to Nicholas of Cusa [†1464]… An extensive bibliography (pp. 552-804) covers every name and topic mentioned in the text, and an index of authors and historians is provided… [it] is not for the absolute beginner.” – G.E. & Lyn Gorman
Copleston, F. – Medieval Philosophy Buy (London: Methuen, 1952) 200 pp. ToC
“For the schoolmen the following are standard accounts:” – Owen Chadwick
Maurer, Armand Augustine – Medieval Philosophy in A History of Philosophy, vol. 2 Buy (Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies, 1962; 1982) 475 pp. ToC Preface by Etienne Gilson
Jones, W.T. – A History of Western Philosophy: the Medieval Mind, vol. 2 (NY: Harcourt, Brace, 1969) 380 pp. ToC
.
2000’s
Kenney, Anthony – Medieval Philosophy in A New History of Western Philosophy, vol. 2 Buy (Oxford, 2007) 352 pp.
Adamson, Peter
Medieval Philosophy in A History of Philosophy without any Gaps, vol. 4 Pre (Oxford Univ. Press, 2014) 630 pp. ToC
Byzantine & Renaissance Philosophy Pre (Oxford, 2022) 475 pp. ToC
.
Bibliographies
At HistoryofPhilosophy.net
‘Medieval Philosophy’
‘Early Medieval Philosophy’
‘Thirteenth Century Philosophy’
‘Fourteenth Century Philosophy’
.
On Early Medieval Philosophy
ed. Armstrong, Arthur – The Cambridge History of Later Greek & Early Medieval Philosophy Buy (Cambridge Univ. Press, 1967) 685 pp. ToC
Marenbon, John – Early Medieval Philosophy (480-1150): an Introduction (Routledge, 1983) 195 pp. ToC
This volume has been replaced by his Medieval Philosophy: An Historical & Philosophical Introduction above.
.
On Jewish Philosophy
Husik, Isaac – A History of Mediaeval Jewish Philosophy (1918) 520 pp. ToC
.
On Islamic Philosophy
Leaman, Oliver – An Introduction to Medieval Islamic Philosophy (Cambridge Univ. Press, 1985) 220 pp. ToC
Adamson, Peter
Philosophy in the Islamic World in A History of Philosophy without any Gaps, vol. 3 Pre (Oxford Univ. Press, 2016) 500 pp. ToC
Philosophy in the Islamic World: a Very Short Introduction Pre (Oxford Univ. Press, 2015) 130 pp. ToC
.
On Medieval Thought
Books
1900’s
Taylor, Henry
The Mediaeval Mind: the History of the Development of Thought & Emotion in the Middle Ages, vol. 1, 2 (1914)
The Classical Heritage of the Middle Ages (1903) 415 pp.
Poole, Reginald – Illustrations of the History of Medieval Thought & Learning (1920) 340 pp.
Leff, Gordon – Medieval Thought: St. Augustine to Ockham Buy (1958)
Knowles, M.D. – The Evolution of Medieval Thought Buy (1962)
Oberman, Heiko A. – Forerunners of the Reformation: the Shape of Late Medieval Thought: Illustrated by Key Documents (Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1966) ToC Covers from the 1300’s forward
Manchester, William – A World Lit Only by Fire: the Medieval Mind & the Renaissance; Portrait of an Age (1993) 350 pp.
.
2000’s
Evans, G.R. – Fifty Key Medieval Thinkers (Routledge, 2002) 220 pp. ToC
.
On Specific Regions
Green, Otis – The Literary Mind of Medieval & Renaissance Spain (1970) 280 pp.
.
On Specific Topics
Grant, Edward – Physical Science in the Middle Ages (Cambridge Univ. Press, 1977) 140 pp. ToC
Ward, Benedicta – Miracles & the Medieval Mind: Theory, Record & Event, 1000-1215 (1982) 346 pp.
.
On Specific Centuries
1100’s
Laistner, Charles – The Renaissance of the Twelfth Century (1957) 440 pp.
.
1300’s
Leff, Gordon – The Dissolution of the Medieval Outlook: an Essay on Intellectual & Spiritual Change in the Fourteenth Century (Harper, 1976) 160 pp. ToC
.
1500’s
Taylor, Henry – Thought & Expression in the Sixteenth Century, vol. 1, 2 (1920)
.
Studies on Individuals
Peter Abelard d. 1142
Marenbon, John – Abelard in Four Dimensions: a Twelfth-Century Philosopher in his Context & Ours (Univ. of Notre Dame Press, 2013) 285 pp. ToC
.
Bonaventura
Gilson, Etienne – The Philosophy of St. Bonaventure [1221-1274] (NY: Sheed & Ward, 1938) ToC
.
Bradwardine 1290-1349
Books
Leff, Gordon – Bradwardine & the Pelagians: a Study of his ‘Dei Causa Dei’ & its Opponents in Cambridge Studies in Medieval Life & Thought, New Series, vol. 5 (rep. 2008; Cambridge, 1957) 295 pp. ToC
Thomas of Bradwardine, his Tractatus de Proportionibus: its Significance for the Development of Mathematical Physics ed. & trans. H. Lamar Crosby Jr. (Univ. of Wisconsin Press, 1961) ToC
This includes an English translation of Bradwardine’s Tractatus with an introduction.
Dolnikowski, Edith Wilks – Thomas Bradwardine: A View of Time and a Vision of Eternity in Fourteenth-Century Thought in Studies in the History of Christian Thought in Studies in the History of Christian Traditions Buy (Brill, 1997) 364 pp.
.
Article
Oberman, Heiko A. – ‘Thomas Bradwardine: The Cause of God Against the Pelagians’ in Forerunners of the Reformation… (1966)
.
Biel
Oberman, Heiko – The Harvest of Medieval Theology: Gabriel Biel [1420-95] & Late Medieval Nominalism Buy (Harvard Univ. Press, 1963; 2001) 512 pp. ToC
.
Ockham
Armstrong, Arthur – The Philosophy of William of Ockham [1287-1347] in the Light of its Principles (Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies, 1999) 600 pp. ToC
.
On Muslim Philosophy & Theology in the Middle Ages
See also, ‘On Muslim Metaphysics’.
.
On Avicenna
Burrell, David B. – Knowing the Unknowable God: Ibn-Sina [Avicenna], Maimonides, Aquinas (University of Notre Dame Press, 1986) 140 pp. ToC
.
After Avicenna
Shihadeh, Ayman & Jan Thiele – Philosophical Theology in Islam: Later Ashʿarism East & West in Islamicate Intellectual History, vol. 5 Pre (Brill, 2020)
.
.
.
Related Pages