Sunday, September 19, 2010

Jesuit Theology Of The 17th Century

The Society of Jesus substantially adhered to the Summa of Thomas Aquinas, yet at the same time it made use of an eclectic freedom. Luis Molina (d. 1600) was the first Jesuit to write a commentary on the Summa of St. Thomas entitled, Concordia liberi arbitrii cum gratiae donis (1588–89; “The Harmony of Free Will with Gifts of Grace”). He was followed by the first Jesuit Cardinal Franciscus Toletus (d. 1596) and by Gregory of Valencia surnamed "Doctor doctorum," (d. 1603), mentioned above as a controversialist

A leading Jesuit group are the Spaniards Francisco Suárez, Gabriel Vasquez, and Didacus Ruiz. Francisco Suárez (d. 1617), the most prominent among them, had the title "Doctor eximius", which Pope Benedict XIV gave him. In his colleague Gabriel Vasquez (d. 1604), Suárez found a good critic. Didacus Ruiz (d. 1632) wrote on God and the Trinity, subjects which were also thoroughly treated by Christopher Gilles (d. 1608). Harruabal (d. 1608), Ferdinand Bastida (d. about 1609), Valentine Herice belong to the history of Molinism.
During the succeeding period James Granado (d. 1632), John Præpositus (d. 1634), Caspar Hurtado (d. 1646), and Anthony Perez (d. 1694) wrote commentaries on Aquinas. Theological manuals were written by Arriaga (d. 1667), Martin Esparza (d. 1670), Francis Amicus (d. 1651), Martin Becanus (d. 1625), Adam Tanner (d. 1632), and finally by Sylvester Maurus (d. 1687), who is clear and a philosopher. 

Major monographs were:
Cardinal Pallavicini, (d. 1667), known as the historiographer of the Council of Trent, won repute as a dogmatic theologian by several of his writings.
Link (here) to an extensive article called, History of Catholic Dogmatic Theology

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