The Ecclesiology of Saint Bonaventure of Bagnoregio in the Hexaëmeron: its traces in the Lumen Gentium

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7213/2175-1838.16.001.AO03

Abstract

This article presents the ecclesiology of St. Bonaventure of Bagnoregio, Doctor of the Church, in his work Collationes in Hexaëmeron, and its traces in Lumen Gentium, thus seeking to gather the influences of Bonaventurian ecclesiology on conciliar ecclesiology. Bonaventure's ecclesiology is characterized by being deeply Christocentric, biblical and spiritual or ascetic-mystical. Christocentric (which is characteristic of all Bonaventurian theological work), because according to him, in the Church rules Christ the Pontiff, light of the Peoples, as Lumen Gentium will say, of which the Church is like the moon that, illuminated by this Sun, Christ, illuminates, in turn, to all men; biblical, because in this work he compares the ages or stages of the Church (from Adam to Christ) with the days of creation. Furthermore, he resorts several times to the symbolic reading of biblical texts relating to the Church, in the wake of the Church Fathers; spiritual or ascetic-mystical, since for him the celestial hierarchy is illuminative of the Church militant. As the year 2024 celebrates the 60th anniversary of the dogmatic constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium, one of the basic documents of the Second Vatican Council, this article brings the ecclesiological contribution of this illustrious medieval theologian, and demonstrates how these traits are present in this conciliar document, which was characterized, as is already clear in its proem – where imagery and typological language is used -, by a return to the Fathers of the Church and some medieval theologians.

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Author Biography

Meque Augusto Macumo, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro - PUC-Rio

Doutorando em teologia

Published

2024-05-09

How to Cite

Macumo, M. A. (2024). The Ecclesiology of Saint Bonaventure of Bagnoregio in the Hexaëmeron: its traces in the Lumen Gentium. Pistis Praxis, 16(1), 170–186. https://doi.org/10.7213/2175-1838.16.001.AO03