Theologian · Patristic

St. Vincent of Lérins

d. c. 445 · Gallic monastic theology

Saint Latin

Monk of Lérins; feast 24 May.

A monk of the island monastery of Lérins off Provence whose Commonitory (434) gave the Church its rule for discerning true tradition from novelty: what has been believed “everywhere, always and by all,” tested by universality, antiquity and consent, with Scripture read according to the Church's understanding. He also described the growth of doctrine as a child growing into a man, “in the same sense and the same meaning.”

Why he matters: Vatican I and Vatican II both quote his formula for the development of doctrine; Newman's Essay on Development is an extended meditation on him.

Where to be careful

He probably wrote the “Objections” against Augustine's predestinarian teaching answered by Prosper; his semi-Pelagian sympathies on grace were overtaken by the Second Council of Orange.

Reading

The Commonitory

St. Vincent of Lérins · Short, and the source of the famous canon.

Journal
Vincent of Lérins and the Development of Christian Doctrine

Thomas G. Guarino · A modern study.

Journal
An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine

St. John Henry Newman · Vincent's rule thought through.

Journal

Documented positions

Where this thinker stands on each dispute the test covers.

Settled teaching Its center Open question Beyond teaching, not condemned Condemned error

God and Being · What is, and whence it is.

Can reason know that God exists? Natural theology

Fideism or agnosticism Natural theology

How is God related to the world? Creation from nothing

Pantheism or emanation Creation from nothing

Is the world governed by purpose? Providence and final causes

Chance and mechanism Providence and final causes

Do natures and essences really exist? Realism

Nominalism Realism

God's essence and His energies Absolute simplicity

Essence–energies distinction Absolute simplicity

How should we speak of God? Between

Apophatic (negative) way Cataphatic (analogical) way

How does creation speak of God? A book of signs and vestiges

Natures studied in their own right A book of signs and vestiges

Faith, Reason and Truth · How we know, and whom we trust.

Faith and reason: who has the last word? Fideism

Rationalism Fideism

Where does knowledge begin? Between

Senses and abstraction Illumination and innate ideas

Is truth objective? Objective truth

Relativism and pragmatism Objective truth

Who interprets revelation? Living Tradition and Magisterium

Private judgment Living Tradition and Magisterium

How should Scripture be read? Fundamentalist literalism

Critical reductionism Fundamentalist literalism

What is theology for? A wisdom ordered to loving

A science ordered to knowing A wisdom ordered to loving

Does doctrine develop? Always the same, in the same words

Always the same, in the same words A living development

Are the world's learning and arts a danger or a gift? Between

A danger: Athens has nothing to do with Jerusalem A gift to be baptized

III

The Human Person · Soul, body, freedom and the Fall.

Is there a spiritual soul? Immortal spiritual soul

Mind is brain Immortal spiritual soul

Are you free? Free will

Determinism Free will

How fallen is human nature? Basically good

Totally depraved Basically good

Does nature desire God? Natural desire for the vision of God

Pure nature Natural desire for the vision of God

The body and its desires Contempt for the flesh

Contempt for the flesh Desire as its own law

Marriage, sex and the body's meaning Given by nature and grace

Given by nature and grace Defined by consent and identity

What is suffering for? A share in the Cross

An evil to be relieved A share in the Cross

The Moral Life · Law, virtue, conscience and the good.

Is morality objective and knowable? Natural law

Relativism Natural law

Are some acts always wrong? Intrinsically evil acts

Consequentialism Intrinsically evil acts

Rules or character? Morality of virtue and beatitude

Morality of obligation Morality of virtue and beatitude

What is conscience? Conscience bound to truth

Autonomous conscience Conscience bound to truth

In doubtful cases Rigorism

Rigorism Laxism

What is happiness? Beatitude in God

Earthly flourishing Beatitude in God

What is heaven's happiness, at its heart? The will's love and enjoyment of God

The intellect's vision of God The will's love and enjoyment of God

Grace and Salvation · How God saves, and whom.

How does grace move the will? Molinist

Thomist (Bañezian) Molinist

How are we made right with God? Infused, transforming grace

Forensic imputation Infused, transforming grace

Who can be saved? Strict exclusivism

Strict exclusivism Indifferentism

What is salvation for? Deification

Pardon and escape Deification

Hell and hope The many are lost

The many are lost All will be saved

Would the Word have become flesh had Adam not sinned? Christ came to redeem sinners

Christ came to redeem sinners Christ was willed first (absolute primacy)

Where does your eye rest in Christ: His divinity or His humanity? The eternal Word made flesh

The eternal Word made flesh The man Jesus of Nazareth

Church and Society · Authority, the state, wealth and the nation.

Church and state Social kingship of Christ

Laicism Social kingship of Christ

Where does authority come from? Authority from God

Social contract Authority from God

Reform or tradition? Guided by tradition

Remake by reason Guided by tradition

The nation and the Church Nation does not matter

Nation or race first Nation does not matter

May the state restrain false religion? The confessional state: error has no rights

The confessional state: error has no rights Civil liberty for every religion

Which form of government best suits a Christian people? Monarchy and hierarchy

Monarchy and hierarchy Democracy and participation

May a Christian take up the sword? Between

Never: the way of the Cross is nonviolence Yes: war can be just and sometimes a duty

VII

Worship, Prayer and the Two Lungs · Liturgy, icons, the Spirit, and the See of Peter.

Liturgical development Receive and develop organically

Reconstruct and innovate Receive and develop organically

Icons and images Veneration of images

Iconoclasm Veneration of images

The way of prayer Between

Stillness and the Jesus Prayer Discursive meditation

The procession of the Holy Spirit From the Father and the Son (Filioque)

From the Father through the Son From the Father and the Son (Filioque)

The office of Peter Universal and immediate primacy

Conciliarism Universal and immediate primacy

What do the sacraments do? Efficacious ex opere operato

Signs only Efficacious ex opere operato

Should the faith take the forms of each culture it enters? Between

One form everywhere The Gospel in each people's own forms

What are the Eastern Catholic Churches? Sister Churches with their own rights and theology

Rites of the one Roman Church Sister Churches with their own rights and theology

Contemplation or action? Contemplation: the one thing needful

Action: the apostolate and the works of mercy Contemplation: the one thing needful