Overview

DIVINE ILLUMINATION “An important and ground-breaking study which links growing interest in Augustine and medieval philosophy with cutting-edge questions in contemporary philosophy of religion, particularly concerning epistemology and the ‘rationality’ of religion.” Janet Soskice, University of Cambridge “In this lucidly argued and solidly documented study, Schumacher uncovers the roots of problems notoriously besetting modern theories of knowledge in conflicting medieval interpretations of Augustine’s assumptions about knowledge as divine illumination: an intriguing thesis, which she handles with delicacy and flair.” Fergus Kerr, O.P. University of Edinburgh “Challenges the traditional history of theories of knowledge. A bold and provocative reading.” Olivier Boulnois, École Pratique des Hautes Études (University of Paris, Sorbonne) Divine Illumination offers an original interpretation of Augustine’s theory of knowledge, tracing its development in the work of medieval thinkers such as Anselm, Bonaventure, Thomas Aquinas, and John Duns Scotus. Although Scotus is often deemed responsible for finally pronouncing Augustine’s longstanding illumination account untenable, Schumacher shows that he only rejected a version that was the byproduct of a shift in the understanding of illumination and knowledge more generally within the thirteenth-century Franciscan school of thought. To reckon with the challenges in contemporary thought on knowledge that were partly made possible by this shift, Schumacher recommends relearning a way of thinking about knowledge that was familiar to Augustine and those who worked in continuity with him. Her book thus anticipates a new approach to dealing with debates in contemporary epistemology, philosophy of religion, and theology, even while correcting some longstanding assumptions about Augustine and his most significant medieval readers.

Full Product Details

Author:   Lydia Schumacher (University of Oxford, UK)
Publisher:   John Wiley and Sons Ltd
Imprint:   Wiley-Blackwell
Dimensions:   Width: 16.00cm , Height: 1.90cm , Length: 23.80cm
Weight:   0.531kg
ISBN:  

9780470657423

ISBN 10:   0470657421
Pages:   264
Publication Date:   05 April 2011
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Out of stock  
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Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix Editions x Abbreviations xii Introduction 1 Augustine on Divine Illumination 4 Interpretations of Divine Illumination in Augustine’s Thought 7 Interpretations of Divine Illumination in Medieval Thought 14 Re-interpreting the History of Augustine’s Theory of Knowledge 16 1 Augustine 25 Introduction 25 The Doctrine of God 29 Creation in the Image of God 30 The Fall and Redemption 39 Conforming to the Image of God 42 Divine Illumination 58 2 Anselm 66 Introduction 66 The Image of God 74 Conforming to the Image of God 76 Divine Illumination 82 Anselm the Augustinian 83 3 Divine Illumination in Transition 85 Introduction 85 New Schools 85 New Translations 88 New Religious Challenges 100 New Religious Orders 101 New Intellectual Traditions 103 4 Bonaventure 110 Introduction 110 The Doctrine of God 117 Creation in the Image of God 121 The Fall and Redemption 132 Conforming to the Image of God 135 Divine Illumination 141 Bonaventure the Augustinian? 143 5 Aquinas 154 Introduction 154 The Image of God 160 Conforming to the Image of God 165 Divine Illumination 173 Aquinas the Augustinian 178 6 Divine Illumination in Decline 181 Introduction 181 Peter John Olivi 182 Henry of Ghent 186 John Duns Scotus 194 Augustinian and Franciscan Thought 201 Franciscan and Modern Thought 208 7 The Future of Augustine’s Theory of Knowledge 217 Introduction to a Theological Theory of Knowledge 217 Reason in a Theological Theory of Knowledge 223 Faith in a Theological Theory of Knowledge 226 Conclusion 234 Index 240

Reviews

<p> Schumacher could very well recommend the epistemological itinerary of the de Trinitate without the challenge of re-writing western intellectual history. I look forward to her next book, which promises to do just that. ( Modern Theology , 1 January 2013)

Taking Augustine's Platonism seriously thus affords a better understanding of Augustine's theory of knowledge than taking either Aristotelian or Avicennan notions of the intellect as normative. ( Scottish Journal of Theology , 1 July 2014) Nonetheless, she has written an important and stimulating book. ( Reviews in Religion and Theology , 1 March 2013) This volume merits attention from patristic scholars, medievalists, systematic theologians, and philosophers alike. ( Religious Studies Review , 1 June 2012) Schumacher could very well recommend the epistemological itinerary of the de Trinitate without the challenge of re-writing western intellectual history. I look forward to her next book, which promises to do just that. ( Modern Theology , 1 January 2013)

Author Information

Lydia Schumacher is Research Fellow and a member of the Faculty of Theology at the University of Oxford.

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