Knowledge, Love, and Ecstasy in the Theology of Thomas Gallus

Nonfiction, Religion & Spirituality, Theology, History
Cover of the book Knowledge, Love, and Ecstasy in the Theology of Thomas Gallus by Boyd Taylor Coolman, OUP Oxford
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Boyd Taylor Coolman ISBN: 9780192518132
Publisher: OUP Oxford Publication: January 26, 2017
Imprint: OUP Oxford Language: English
Author: Boyd Taylor Coolman
ISBN: 9780192518132
Publisher: OUP Oxford
Publication: January 26, 2017
Imprint: OUP Oxford
Language: English

Knowledge, Love, and Ecstasy in the Theology of Thomas Gallus provides the first full study of Thomas Gallus (d. 1246) in English and represents a significant advance in his distinctive theology. Boyd Taylor Coolman argues that Gallus distinguishes, but never separates and intimately relates two international modalities in human consciousness: the intellective and the affective, both of which are forms of cognition. Coolman shows that Gallus conceives these two cognitive modalities as co-existing in an interdependent manner, and that this reciprocity is given a particular character by Gallus anthropological appropriation of the Dionysian concept of hierarchy. Because Gallus conceives of the soul as hierarchized on the model of the angelic hierarchy, the intellect-affect relationship is fundamentally governed by the dynamism of a Dionysian hierarchy, which has two simultaneous trajectories: ascending and descending. Two crucial features are noteworthy in this regard: in ascending, firstly, the lower is subsumed by the higher; in descending, secondly, the higher communicates with the lower, according to the nature of the lower. When Gallus posits a higher, affective cognitio above an intellective cognitio at the highest point in the ascent, accordingly, this higher affective form both builds upon and sublimates the lower intellective form. At the same time, this affective cognitio descends back down into the soul, both enriching its properly intellective capacity and also renewing the ascending movement in love. For Gallus, then, in the hierarchized soul a dynamic mutuality between intellect and affect emerges, which he construes as a spiralling motion, by which the soul unceasingly stretches beyond itself, ecstatically, in knowing and loving God.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Knowledge, Love, and Ecstasy in the Theology of Thomas Gallus provides the first full study of Thomas Gallus (d. 1246) in English and represents a significant advance in his distinctive theology. Boyd Taylor Coolman argues that Gallus distinguishes, but never separates and intimately relates two international modalities in human consciousness: the intellective and the affective, both of which are forms of cognition. Coolman shows that Gallus conceives these two cognitive modalities as co-existing in an interdependent manner, and that this reciprocity is given a particular character by Gallus anthropological appropriation of the Dionysian concept of hierarchy. Because Gallus conceives of the soul as hierarchized on the model of the angelic hierarchy, the intellect-affect relationship is fundamentally governed by the dynamism of a Dionysian hierarchy, which has two simultaneous trajectories: ascending and descending. Two crucial features are noteworthy in this regard: in ascending, firstly, the lower is subsumed by the higher; in descending, secondly, the higher communicates with the lower, according to the nature of the lower. When Gallus posits a higher, affective cognitio above an intellective cognitio at the highest point in the ascent, accordingly, this higher affective form both builds upon and sublimates the lower intellective form. At the same time, this affective cognitio descends back down into the soul, both enriching its properly intellective capacity and also renewing the ascending movement in love. For Gallus, then, in the hierarchized soul a dynamic mutuality between intellect and affect emerges, which he construes as a spiralling motion, by which the soul unceasingly stretches beyond itself, ecstatically, in knowing and loving God.

More books from OUP Oxford

Cover of the book Paediatric Respiratory Medicine by Boyd Taylor Coolman
Cover of the book Oxford Handbook of Internet Psychology by Boyd Taylor Coolman
Cover of the book Seeing, Knowing, Understanding by Boyd Taylor Coolman
Cover of the book Res Publica and the Roman Republic by Boyd Taylor Coolman
Cover of the book Plague: A Very Short Introduction by Boyd Taylor Coolman
Cover of the book Class, Politics, and the Decline of Deference in England, 1968-2000 by Boyd Taylor Coolman
Cover of the book Mammals: A Very Short Introduction by Boyd Taylor Coolman
Cover of the book Slang: A Very Short Introduction by Boyd Taylor Coolman
Cover of the book The Price of Indifference: Refugees and Humanitarian Action in the New Century by Boyd Taylor Coolman
Cover of the book The Oxford Handbook of French Politics by Boyd Taylor Coolman
Cover of the book Atiyah's Introduction to the Law of Contract by Boyd Taylor Coolman
Cover of the book The Oxford Handbook of Organizational Paradox by Boyd Taylor Coolman
Cover of the book The Center of the World by Boyd Taylor Coolman
Cover of the book The Changing Face of China by Boyd Taylor Coolman
Cover of the book The Oxford Companion to Philosophy by Boyd Taylor Coolman
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy