Aquinas, Bonaventure, and the Scholastic Culture of Medieval Paris The Prologue to Bonaventure’s Commentary on the Gospel of Luke
from Part Three - Bonaventure
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 February 2021
One of Bonaventure’s most sophisticated prologues is the prologue to his Commentary on the Gospel of Luke. Although it is likely that the text of this commentary underwent several revisions between its first version and the final one found in the Quaracchi edition, Bonaventure most likely undertook the first version of the work in 1248 while he was a lector biblicus in the Franciscan studium at Paris but not yet a master at the University. Scholars agree that the text shows remarkable proficiency; indeed Theodore Crowley has claimed that “a mere baccalarius biblicus” could not have produced the Commentary on Luke. “The Commentary in its present state is undoubtedly the work of a master and not a beginner.” Jay Hammond’s suggestion, though, seems most reasonable: that Bonaventure composed the earliest version while he was still a lector biblicus, a position above a cursor biblicus (who could give only a cursory reading of the text) but below a magister (the position needed to “determine” a question arising within the text). Even so, the sophistication of this early prologue is still quite remarkable.
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