Sentences

This article is about the medieval work. For other uses, see Sentences (disambiguation).

The opening of the Book of Sentences in a 14th-century manuscript (Free Library of Philadelphia, Lewis E 170, fol. 1r)

The Four Books of Sentences (Libri Quattuor Sententiarum) is a compendium of theology written by Peter Lombard around 1150.

Origin and characteristics

An 1841 Latin edition of the Sentences bound together with Aquinas' Summa Theologica.

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 or biblical) by the masters who lectured using Saint Jerome's Latin translation of the Bible (the Vulgate). 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, 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'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.

Influence

The importance of the Sentences to medieval theology and philosophy lies to a significant extent in the overall framework they provide for theological and philosophical discussion. All the great scholastic thinkers, such as Thomas Aquinas, William of Ockham, Bonaventure, Petrus Aureolus, Robert Holcot, and Duns Scotus, wrote commentaries on the Sentences. But these works were not exactly commentaries, for the Sentences was really a compilation of sources, and Lombard left many questions open, giving later scholars an opportunity to provide their own answers.

Editions

• Lombardus, Petrus. Sententiae in Patrologia latina, vol. 192. J. P. Migne, ed. Paris: excudebat Migne, 1855.

Standard modern translation into English

• Lombard, Peter. The Sentences, Books 1–4. Translator, Giulio Silano. 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

See also

• Minuscule 714: A manuscript of the New Testament which includes a fragment of Sententiae.

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

The Sentences Online:

• (in Latin) Les Sentences. Magister Sententiarum, Groupe de Recherche Pierre Lombard.
• (in Latin) Sententiae, Patrologia Latina Database.
• (in Latin) Textus Sententiarum, Patrologia Latina, 192, col. 519-964.
• (in Latin) Sententiarum. Patrologia Latina, 192.

Complete scan of Volume 192 at Google Books.

• (in Latin) Textus Sententiarum: cum conclusionibus magistri Henrici Gorichem, 1502. Bavarian State Library.

Digital scan of manuscript: "The Text of the Sentences: With the conclusions of the master Henry Gorich, and the concordances of the Bible and the Canons: as well as useful summaries at the beginning of the particular distinctions: carefully laid down for the first time..."

• (in Latin) Libri Quattuor Sententiarum, Bibliotheca Augustana.

Transcription of the complete Latin text by Professor Ulrich Harsch at Fachhochschule Augsburg.

• "Peter Lombard". The Franciscan Archive.

Includes various commentaries and an English translation of The Sentences Book I & II by Br. Alexis Bugnolo.

Commentaries on The Sentences:

• (in Latin) St. Thomas Aquinas. Scriptum super Sententiis. Corpus Thomisticum, 2013.
• (in Latin) Bonaventure. Introduction to and text of Bonaventura's Commentaries on Peter Lombard's Sentences. Edward Buckner, The Logic Museum. 2006.