The relationship between divine and human action in salvation has long been a central issue in Christian theology. What role, if any, does human action play in the process that is salvation by grace? Such a question can invite any number of responses depending on the problematic that undergirds it. One problematic that has historically been at the forefront of polemical disputes between Protestants and Catholics is whether and how human action might 'merit' eternal life. In a move that is (...) as theologically rich as it is ecumenically sensitive, Shawn Colberg has reframed such issues within the overarching theme of divine rewards in his recent book The Wayfarer's End: Bonaventure and Aquinas on Divine Rewards in... Read More. (shrink)

Michael Cusato has made an outstanding contribution to Franciscan studies specifically and medieval studies more broadly with his deeply learned, even provocative, analysis of Francis of Assisi and the original movement that coalesced around this charismatic and challenging saint. The designation 'challenging' (or something stronger) is applicable, but not in the typically romantic way that centuries of accumulated tradition have chosen to honor Il Poverello. The reader looking for that much-beloved 'little poor man' who rejoiced in poverty and simplicity, and (...) so spawned a spiritual reform movement, will not exactly find that here. Cusato's Francis challenged the Christian society of his own day (and ours) with an... Read More. (shrink)

All religious orders in the Middle Ages supported the composition of commentaries among their learned members to expound the original meaning of the text on which they made their religious profession. With this operation, monastic and mendicant orders adapted their rule to their contemporary needs. Although one of the latest medieval religious rules, the Rule of Francis of Assisi stimulated several hermeneutics via these commentaries with no equal among Western Christian religious orders. Despite these developments, scholarship has lacked a study (...) dedicated to the full history of Franciscan commentaries on Francis's Rule. Francesco Carta's book fills this gap by collecting, analysing, and discussing the expositiones... Read More. (shrink)