Four Books of Sentences by Peter Lombard
The "Four Books of Sentences" by Peter Lombard is a significant theological work that systematically addresses key questions of Christian doctrine. Divided into four distinct books, it covers various themes: the first explores the nature of God, the Trinity, providence, and the problem of evil; the second focuses on creation, the fall of humanity, and the nature of sin; the third examines the Incarnation, Redemption, and the Ten Commandments; and the fourth discusses the Sacraments and the eschatological concepts of death, judgment, hell, and heaven. Lombard's work is notable for its integration of the teachings of early Church Fathers, particularly Saint Augustine, while also engaging with contemporary theological debates of his time.
His approach emphasizes the limitations of human reason in understanding divine mysteries, yet he argues that some truths, like the Trinity, can be partially grasped. Lombard also presents differing views on complex theological concepts, such as the hypostatic union of Christ's natures, without necessarily endorsing any singular interpretation. The "Four Books of Sentences" not only served as a foundation for medieval theology but also encouraged ongoing theological inquiry, situating Lombard as a pivotal figure in the development of Christian thought during the Middle Ages.
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Four Books of Sentences by Peter Lombard
First published:Sententiarum libri IV, 1148-1151 (English translation, 2000)
Edition(s) used:Magistri Petri Lombardi Parisiensis episcopi Sententiae in IV libris distinctae. Grottaferrata, Italy: Editiones Collegii S. Bonaventurae ad Claras Aquas, 1971, 1981
Genre(s): Nonfiction
Subgenre(s): Didactic treatise; theology
Core issue(s): Catholics and Catholicism; Creation; God; Jesus Christ; reason; salvation; the Trinity
Overview
Peter Lombard’s Four Books of Sentences treat many individual questions about Christian doctrine. The four books have different themes: the first examines God and the Trinity, providence, predestination, and evil; the second, the creation of the universe and the fall of humankind; the third, the Incarnation, the Redemption, and the Ten Commandments; and the fourth, the Sacraments and the four last things, death, judgment, hell, and heaven.
Book 1 of the Four Books of Sentences, while acknowledging that there is a definite limit to human reason in its attempt to know divine things, treats the doctrine of the Trinity as a truth approachable in part by human reason, because God deigned to reveal something of his nature as Trinity. To introduce this major theme, Lombard adopted the technical vocabulary and line of reasoning set forth in Saint Augustine’s De doctrina Christiana (books 1-3, 396-397, book 4, 426; On Christian Doctrine, 1875): All teaching consists of two parts, things and signs regarding things. They can be distinguished according to another division: things that are used and things that are enjoyed. Lombard set forth these dichotomies because Augustine, after doing the same thing, categorically claimed: “The things to be enjoyed are the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the very Trinity, one particular thing, the highest of things, the same to all who enjoy it.”
From this point of departure, book 1 examines the doctrine of the One God in three distinct persons. It discusses the relationship of the person of the Son to the Father as coeternal Son, begotten not made, and examines the procession of the Holy Spirit. Lombard defends the Western teaching of the procession of the Holy Spirit from Father and Son (Filioque) in contrast to the Nicene creedal formula that states that the Spirit proceeded from the Father. Lombard, however, did reinforce the creed’s language of unbegotten, begotten, and proceeding as the most legitimate way to discuss the relationship of the persons of the Trinity.
Book 2 treats of the Creation, acknowledging God as the one principle of the universe. Lombard examines what is meant by humanity’s creation in the “image” and “likeness” of God, and he presents various understandings of how those two concepts are distinct. The subsequent human fall and the nature of sin are then discussed through a deliberation of whether sin is an aspect of will, of will combined with action, or of neither will nor action. Lombard acknowledges that some actions are evil, even if those who do them believe they are doing good. He follows Augustine’s understanding of the sin of Adam as having made all human descendants sinful by sharing in the fault or guilt as well as Augustine’s belief that the debt of death and the world’s general malaise are effects of the first sin. Lombard, however, still considers people as having the free will to perceive and desire the good, as evidenced by the impulse of the conscience, although people are not quite capable of making the right choices on their own.
Among the questions treated in book 3 is the means of the union of divine and human natures in Jesus Christ. Lombard sets out three theologies, all current in his day and all considered legitimate, about how this mystery, known as the hypostatic union, is correctly to be understood. Some understood the second person of the Trinity as assuming a human nature. Others understood the incarnate Word of God as subsisting of two natures and three substances. Still others taught the Son’s taking on a fully human manhood as a “covering” or “garment.” Lombard considered none of these explanations fully satisfactory. Book 3 is also where Peter discusses Christ’s redemption of fallen humankind and the virtues springing from Christ’s life.
Book 4 discusses the seven Sacraments as the outward signs of God’s grace and the normal conduit for that grace to humans. Unlike his immediate predecessor, Hugh of St. Victor, Lombard discusses the Sacraments in the order in which the faithful generally receive them instead of beginning with holy orders or ordination. He attributes the efficacy of the Sacraments to God alone, while acknowledging the gift of the power to bind and to loosen symbolized by the power of the keys that Jesus entrusted to the apostles. For Lombard, all priests communicate the efficacy of the Sacraments, but unless they live holy lives and act worthily, they commit grave sin. Regarding the last four things (death, judgment, hell, and heaven), Peter teaches that the damned are justly damned, for they continue to will evil, just as the blessed continue to will the good.
Christian Themes
The period from 100 to 800 was a time of intense theological labor during which the Church’s leaders and teachers strove, often with much controversy, to express the right understanding of the truth that God had revealed through Scripture and holy tradition and which Christians believed and confessed through their prayer and worship. During that period, the Church, through a series of great councils, formulated and published official statements about its dogma. In subsequent centuries, the work of theology continued, as medieval churchmen both looked back to the statements of the fathers of the Church for guidance as new questions arose and tried to resolve discrepancies among their pronouncements. In the Four Books of Sentences, Saint Augustine is quoted twice as often as all other church fathers combined, so often that the reaffirmation of Augustine is spoken of as fundamental to the work’s program. However, Lombard’s work is not just a validation of Augustine’s. Lombard draws on other patristic writers such as John of Damascus (eighth century), whose writings were not well known in the West before this time.
Lombard shows considerable control over his sources, so that the final product not only promotes patristic authority but also contributes to the exposition of places in the patristic legacy where there are gaps or apparent contradictions. He both uses and argues with his near contemporaries, especially Hugh of St. Victor and Peter Abelard. Lombard, in fact, contributed to the making of theology more of an ongoing project. He refined the discipline’s language and methodology, sought to employ state-of-the-art tools of logical analysis, and further helped thrust the entire project as it was practiced in the Western Middle Ages toward the open spaces where there were still unresolved, problematic areas in expressing the articles of the Catholic faith. Not all of Lombard’s efforts to set forth alternative theological opinions were met favorably. His presentation of the alternative theologies of the hypostatic union led to accusations of nihilism, that Christ’s humanity is nothing. The charges were overruled at the Fourth Lateran Council of 1215.
Sources for Further Study
Colish, Marcia L. Peter Lombard. 2 vols. Leiden, the Netherlands: E. J. Brill, 1994. Attempts to show Lombard as a competent, systematic theologian in control of his sources and displaying a combative but principled spirit.
Pelikan, Jaroslav. The Growth of Medieval Theology (600-1300). Vol. 3 of The Christian Tradition: A History of the Development of Doctrine. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1978. Describes the theological aftermath of the patristic period in the West, especially the reconsideration of doctrine, the application of Aristotelian philosophy, and the rise of the Roman papacy.
Rosemann, Philipp W. Peter Lombard. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004. Presents a detailed description of the Four Books of Sentences, arguing that Lombard’s method of inquiry is rooted not only in the traditions of the church fathers but also in Scripture.