This chapter discusses the work of twelfth-century theologians in Paris who laid the foundations for the development of theology as a discipline in the university. These thinkers explored the characteristics and limits of the discourse on God in theological treatises and summae, which employed increasingly sophisticated technical terminology drawn in part from grammar, logic, and rhetoric.

This chapter discusses the definitions of the virtues employed by early scholastic authors and examines their systems for classifying the virtues, as well as their accounts of specific virtues and the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

This chapter establishes that the Gospel and Epistles of John do not share a common author, highlighting differences in their reception histories, linguistic features, and ideas.

Canonization proceedings underwent dramatic changes during the early modern period in response to scathing external criticism and a growing internal demand for new saints. This chapter explores how these stringent new rules shored up papal authority and redefined Catholic practices of veneration, by complicating the path to sainthood for centuries to come.

Devotional objects, such as rosaries, medals, and relics, have always stood at the heart of the Catholic veneration of saints. Using two Bavarian rosaries as a case study, this chapter examines how such material objects allowed individual believers to tailor their faith in tactile ways, linking their devotions to wider trends within global Catholicism.

This chapter traces the development of a number of Trinitarian issues throughout the second half of the twelfth century - the classification of theological language, the debate about why we can say 'God begot God' but not 'essence begot essence', and the definition of the personal properties - and show how they shape Lateran IV and continue thereafter. Finally, the chapter indicates some new approaches and areas of focus among theologians writing after the council.

This chapter demonstrates that although the Johannine texts do not share a real author, they all share a common implied author. All four purport to be works by an invented figure: a supposed eyewitness to the life of Jesus.

Following the 1578 rediscovery of Roman catacombs, thousands of relics of alleged early martyrs were transported to Catholic communities across the globe. Using Bavaria as a case study, this chapter investigates how these often fragmentary remains were transformed into catacomb saints, complete with names and identities, who served as patrons and protectors for localities far from Rome.

This chapter focuses on the core issues concerning the doctrine of creation that were debated by early scholastic theologians. These include the view that God brought the world into being from nothing; that God created everything, all at once; and that creation occurred at the beginning of time.

This chapter situates 2 and 3 John within ancient practices of pseudo-historical letter writing. It suggests that the authors of these works might have written for quasi-biographical aims, that is, to further flesh out the memory of 1 John.

As with other aspects of the cult of the saints, relics faced increasing official scrutiny during the early modern period. Drawing on legal cases and a new and burgeoning genre of relic manuals, this chapter examines the evolving but ultimately vexed methods of identifying and authenticating relics in response to Protestant attacks and Catholic reform.

The chapter rethinks the message and purpose 1 John. It casts the epistle as the vehicle of a radical perfectionist theology, in which those “born of God” “do not sin” – a view with parallels in ancient Jewish and Christian thought.