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Book Cover
E-book
Author Coolman, Boyd Taylor, 1966-

Title Knowing God by experience : the spiritual senses in the theology of William of Auxerre / Boyd Taylor Coolman
Edition 1st ed
Published Washington, D.C. : Catholic University of America Press, ©2004

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Description 1 online resource (xi, 255 pages)
Contents A synaesthetic beatific vision -- The manifold effects of the metaphysical good -- The Trinity as manifold delectable -- Creation : the manifestation of the delectabilia divina -- The virtue of faith : knowledge of God in a visual mode -- The virtue of charity : love of God in a tactile mode -- Symbolic theology : exterior perception of God's effects -- Mystical theology : interior perception of God's effects -- Taste and see : the spiritual senses and the Eucharist -- Conclusion : spiritual apprehension : the spiritual senses and the knowledge of God
Summary Author of the first true summa of theology, William of Auxerre (d. 1231), early magister at the University of Paris, is considered a seminal figure in early thirteenth-century scholasticism. From the uncertain climate of the late twelfth century, William's Summa Aurea emerges with impressive originality and scope. Scholars have long recognized his contribution to the evolution of scholastic thought and his influence on later figures, such as Bonaventure and Aquinas. Yet, until now, William has been largely unstudied, his theological achievement and pervasive influence thus remaining shrouded. For William, the end of human life is an experiential apprehension of God. To capture the fullness of this encounter, he employs the ancient doctrine of the soul's spiritual senses. Not only will the blessed see divine beauty, they will also hear its symphony, smell its odor, taste its sweetness, and touch its suavity. A striking feature of William's theology, though, is that he integrates this spiritual aesthetic within a scholastic view of theology as a science, involving conceptual rigor and intellectual cognition. Knowledge of God proceeds from simple affirmation of creedal doctrine, through deeper understanding, and culminates in pleasurable spiritual sensation. The result is "wisdom," connoting both understanding and savoring, and thus evoking this "tasted knowledge," which unites scholastic speculation and spiritual experience. This book, the first English-language monograph on William of Auxerre, traces the motif of the spiritual senses through his Summa Aurea, using it as an illuminating and unifying lens through which to appreciate his theology. Given William's importance and his neglect, much commends this study to scholars of medieval theology, philosophy, and spirituality. Bridging a pivotal phase in medieval theology, William incorporates certain twelfth century monastic sensibilities, while at the same time grappling with the Aristotelian philosophy rapidly gaining currency. This study also highlights William's initiation of scholastic use of the doctrine of the spiritual senses and, finally, it sets the stage for a fuller appreciation of William's wide-ranging influence on later scholastic luminaries
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 241-247) and index
Notes Print version record
Subject Guillermus, Altissiodorensis, -1231. Summa aurea.
SUBJECT Wilhelm (von Auxerre) swd
Summa aurea (Guillermus, Altissiodorensis) fast
Subject God (Christianity) -- Knowableness -- History of doctrines -- Middle Ages, 600-1500
Experience (Religion) -- History of doctrines -- Middle Ages, 600-1500
Senses and sensation -- Religious aspects -- Christianity -- History of doctrines -- Middle Ages, 600-1500
God -- Knowableness -- History of doctrines -- Middle Ages, 600-1500
RELIGION -- Christian Theology -- Systematic.
RELIGION -- Christianity -- General.
RELIGION -- Christian Theology -- History.
Gotteserfahrung
Theologie.
Form Electronic book
ISBN 9780813215945
0813215943