Skip to main content

Distributed for Karolinum Press, Charles University

Cur homo?

A History of the Thesis of Man as a Replacement for Fallen Angels

Distributed for Karolinum Press, Charles University

Cur homo?

A History of the Thesis of Man as a Replacement for Fallen Angels

Examining, outlining, elucidating, and supplementing the existing body of scholarship concerning the medieval theological supposition that man was created as a replacement for fallen angels, Cur Homo? traces the implications of the question from the first century of the common era to the present day.
           
First introduced by St. Augustine and developed by other church fathers, the concept truly flourished in the twelfth century, when it was decided that man is an “original” being, created for its own sake, for whom God created the world. Vojtech Novotný goes on to trace the idea as it gradually faded over the centuries and, more recently, has been revived in the fields of modern philosophical thought.

250 pages | 5 x 8 | © 2014

Religion: Philosophy of Religion, Theology, and Ethics


Reviews

“This study constitutes a genuine and valuable contribution to scholarship. . . . It provides a well-reasoned and balanced interpretation. The academic community is much indebted to Novotný’s stellar monograph.”

Emery A. De Gaal, University of St. Mary of the Lake

Table of Contents

Introduction
 
I. Origins: the church fathers
 
1. Sources
2. Augustine of Hippo
3. Before Augustine
4. Between Augustine and Gregory
5. Gregory the Great
 
II. Consolidation: the early middle ages
 
1. Eph 1:10
2. Luke 15:8-10
3. Luke 2:14
4. Mark 16:1-7
5. Rev 11:13
6. The Missal
7. Canon law
8. The tithe
9. The number of the saved
10. Other references
 
III. Crisis: the eleventh and twelfth centuries
 
1. Anselm of Canterbury
2. The school of Laon
3. Rupert of Deutz
4. Honorius of Autun
 
IV. Decline: the twelfth and thirteenth centuries
 
1. Authors from the monastic tradition
2. Hugh of St. Victor
3. Summa sententiarum
4. Alcher of Clairvaux
5. Peter Lombard
6. The influence of Lombard’s Sententiae
7. Albert the Great
8. Bonaventure of Bagnoregio
9. Thomas Aquinas
 
Conclusion
 
Resume
Bibliography
1. Abbreviations
2. Electronic sources
3. Primary sources
4. Secondary literature
Index of proper names

Be the first to know

Get the latest updates on new releases, special offers, and media highlights when you subscribe to our email lists!

Sign up here for updates about the Press