John Colet on the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy of Dionysius: A New Edition and Translation with Introduction and Notes

by Daniel J. Nodes (Editor), Daniel Lochman (Editor)

Overview

The commentary of John Colet (1467-1519) on Dionysius the Areopagite’s Ecclesiastical Hierarchy adapts a work widely neglected by medieval theologians to the early sixteenth century. Dionysius’s “apostolic” model allowed Colet to set ecclesiastical corruption against the ideas for re-forming the mind as well as the church. The commentary reveals Colet’s fascination with the Kabbalah and re-emergent Galenism, but it subordinates all to harmonizing Dionysius and his supposed teacher, Paul. This first new edition in almost 150 years and first edition of the complete manuscript is edited critically, translated expertly, and provided with an apparatus that advances historical, theological, and rhetorical contexts. It resituates study of Colet by identifying a coherent center for his theology and agenda for reform in Tudor England.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9789004257887
Publisher:	Brill Academic Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	09/25/2013
Series:	Studies in Medieval and Reformation Traditions , #171
Edition description:	New
Pages:	380
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.50(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Daniel T. Lochman, Ph.D. (1982) in English, University of Wisconsin-Madison, is a Professor of English at Texas State University. He has published widely on the writings of John Colet and has co-edited Discourses and Representations of Early Modern Friendship (Ashgate, 2010).

Daniel J. Nodes, Ph.D. (1982) in Medieval Studies, University of Toronto, is Professor of Classics in Baylor University. He has published extensively on the intersection of early Christian theology and classical literary culture.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations xi

Preface xiii

Introduction: Contexts of Colet and Dionysius Daniel T. Lochman 1

The Demarcations of "Blotterature" and "Literature" in John Colet's Latin Prose Daniel J. Nodes 83

Abbreviations 101

Notes on the Text, Translation, and Transcription 103

Text and Translation

John Colet on the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy of Saint Dionysius 109

Chapter 1 On Hierarchy 109

Chapter 2.1 On Baptism 135

2.2 On the Rite of Baptism 139

2.3 Spiritual Contemplation of Baptism 155

Chapter 3.1 On Holy Communion or Synaxis 171

3.2 The Mass before Communion 173

3.3 The True Meaning of Holy Eucharist 187

Chapter 4.1,2 On the Consecration of Oils 211

4.3 Spiritual Contemplation of the Consecration of Oils 225

Chapter 5.1 On the Ranks of the Secular Clergy 227

5.2 On the Consecration of Clergy 263

5.3 Spiritual Contemplation of the Consecration of Clergy 265

Chapter 6.1 On the Ranks of Regular Clergy and Laity 283

6.2,3 On the Consecration of Regular Clergy 303

Chapter 7.1 On the Death of Christians 309

7.2 On the Rites of the Dead 317

7.3 Spiritual Contemplation of Rites of the Dead 319

7.4 Rites and Contemplation of Infant Baptism and Confirmation 351

Bibliography 367

Index 377