The Comprehensive Trinitarianism of the Summa Halensis

The Trinitarian theology of the Summa Halensis is both a remarkable achievement in its own right (synthesizing a growing stream of traditional sources, including Augustine, Dionysius, John of Damascus, and Richard of St Victor), as well as a significant influence on later scholastic luminaries, especially St Bonaventure. Some of its signature features include the important role of innascibilitas in the understanding of the person of the Father, the emphasis on emanational modes of origin as constituting each of the divine Persons, the importance of self-diffusive goodness as the fundamental ground of Trinitarian plurality, and lastly, its comprehensiveness, its inclination to think trinitarianly about all of reality, from the divine nature itself, to divine activity in creation and salvation, to the transcendental properties of all being, including the human person, to its original theory of trinitarian beauty. Introduction: St Francis, the Trinity, and the Early Franciscans ‘You are three and one, the Lord God of gods; You are the good, all good, the highest good’—so St Francis near the beginning of his ‘[The] Praises of God’.1 The Poverello was devoted to the Three-in-One, not as a speculative doctrine, but as a Reality to be worshipped. He begins his Rule, accordingly, with this Trinitarian doxology: Wherever we are, in every place, at every hour, at every time of the day, every day and continually, let all of us truly and humbly believe, hold in our heart and love, honor, adore, serve, praise and bless, glorify and exalt, magnify and give thanks to the Most High and Supreme Eternal God Trinity and Unity.2  Francis of Assisi, ‘The Praises of God,’ in Early Documents, vol. 1, The Saint, ed. Regis J. Armstrong, J.A. Wayne Hellmann, and William J. Short (New York: New City Press, 2001), 109. St Francis composed this prayer of praise on Mount La Verna in September 1224, when he received the stigmata. The prayer was written on a parchment which also contains the blessing that Francis gave to brother Leo. The parchment with the autographs of Francis is conserved as a relic in the Basilica of St Francis in Assisi.  ‘The Early Rule (The Rule Without a Papal Seal)’ [=Regula non bullata], c. 23, in Early Documents, vol. 1, The Saint, 85. See William J. Short, ‘The Rule of the Lesser Brothers: Earlier Rule, Fragments, Later Rule, The Rule for Hermitages,’ The Writings of Francis of Assisi: Rules, Testament and Admonitions, ed. Michael W. Blastic, Jay M. Hammond, and J.A.Wayne Hellman (St. Bonaventure, NY: Franciscan Institute Publications, 2011), 31. OpenAccess. © 2020 Lydia Schumacher, published by De Gruyter. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110685008-009 Three things are noteworthy in Francis’ Trinitarian devotion: the emphasis on divine goodness; the attention to both unity and trinity; the subtle progression from interior, heart-felt faith (‘believe, hold in our heart and love, honor, adore ( ... )’) to external, doxological confession (‘( ... ) praise and bless, glorify and exalt, magnify and give thanks’). Shortly after his death, when his brothers did begin to speculate on matters Trinitarian, all three aspects figured centrally. As expressed in the Summa Halensis (SH), that massive summary of early Franciscan theology prior to Bonaventure, the early Franciscan intellectual tradition (EFIT) grounded its trinitarian theology in divine goodness, strove to hold one and three together, and organized its textual expression according to this progression from belief in the heart to confession with the mouth. In short, early Franciscan trinitarian speculation seems to derive from the spiritual impulse of St Francis, even as it pursues a scholastic intellectus fidei never attempted by the Poverello.3 The Trinitarian theology of the SH was pioneering and innovative in its time,4 and proved influential among subsequent scholastics. There are several signature features of this account that will be noted below, but the most important overarching characteristics are two: first, the centrality of the Trinity within Halensian theology as a whole and second its comprehensive scope. The SH signals the centrality of the Trinity in its General Prologue: The whole discipline of Christian faith (fidei disciplina) pertains to two things: to the faith and understanding (fidem et intelligentiam) of the Creator and to the faith and understanding of the Savior. Hence, the prophet Isaiah, speaking in the person of the Lord, said (43:10–11): “Believe and understand that I am he: before me no God was formed and after me there will not be. I am, I am the Lord, and there is no Savior apart from me.” For the faith of the Creator principally contains two things, namely, the cognition (cognitio) of the substance of the Creator and cognition of the works of the Creator. The cognition of the substance of the Creator consist in the cognition of the divine Unity and of the same most blessed Trinity ( ... ).5 Here, all divine activity in history reduces to the acts of creating and saving, and both are acts of a single triune Agent. The whole disciplina fidei pertains ultimately to that single Reality.  Cf. Bert Roest, ‘Religious Life in the Franciscan School Network (13 Century),’ in Bert Roest, Franciscan Learning, Preaching and Mission (c. 1220– 1650) (Leiden: Brill, 2014), 51–82.  Hence, the title of Lydia Schumacher’s ERC project.  Alexander of Hales, Doctoris irrefragabilis Alexandri de Hales Ordinis minorum Summa theologica (SH), 4 vols (Quaracchi: Collegium S. Bonaventurae, 1924–48), Vol I, Prologus Generalis: ‘Tota christianae fidei disciplina pertinet ad duo: ad fidem et intelligentiam Conditoris et fidem atque intelligentiam Salvatoris. Unde Isaias Propheta, in persona Domini loquens, dicit, 43:10– 11: “Credatis et intelligatis quia ego ipse sum: ante me non est formatus deus et post me non erit. Ego sum, ego sum Dominus, et non est absque me Salvator.” Fides enim [Conditoris] principaliter continet duo, scilicet cognitionem substantiae Conditoris et cognitionem operis Conditoris. Cognitio substantiae Conditoris consistit in cognitione divinae Unitatis et eiusdem beatissimae Trinitatis.’ 108 Boyd Taylor Coolman