J. Johnson

Bonaventure, On the Eucharist J. Johnson

Since Bonaventure never wrote a treatise dedicated to the Eucharist, his
extensive treatment in the fourth book of his commentary on Peter
Lombard's Sentences, which covers many of the topics that would
have comprised such a work, stands as his most extensive discussion. In
it the Seraphic Doctor considers, among other things, the symbolism of
the Eucharist, its connection to the imagery of the Old Testament, the
metaphysics of transubstantiation, and the efficacy of the sacrament in
the heart of the believer. The result is a treatment that in many ways
parallels the doctrine of Thomas Aquinas, yet is distinctively
Bonaventurean.




This volume presents a translation of this discussion in its
entirety, together with the Latin text of the Quaracchi edition.
Professor Johnson's introduction situates this text in the larger
development of medieval Eucharistic doctrine and comments extensively on
the theology of this set of questions. In addition to explaining dense
technical and linguistic issues in the text, the notes key the reader to
Bonaventure's rich inheritance of material in the Fathers and in earlier
medieval theologians.