1st Edition

Love as the Divine Presence, from Augustine to Peter Lombard The Theological Anthropology in the Early Western Culture

By Aage Rydstrom-Poulsen Copyright 2026
152 Pages 3 Color Illustrations
by Routledge

Love as the Presence of God in Humanity explores the profound theological anthropology of human love in Western Christian thought, tracing its development from Saint Augustine to the twelfth-century scholastic tradition, where love was understood as both divine and a revelation of God. The book offers a deep understanding of how theologians of the time went even so far as to seeing in the... Read more

CONTENTS

 

INDEX

 

ABBREVIATIONS

 

INTRODUCTION

 

 

CHAPTER ONE

AUGUSTINE – DOCTOR CARITATIS

 

 

CHAPTER TWO

AT THE OPENING OF THE TWELFTH CENTURY

  1. Caritas in the Latin Commentaries to the Epistle to the Romans before Lanfranc of Bec

 

  1. Marius Victorinus
  2. Ambrosiaster
  3. Origines Latinus (Rufin of Aquleia)
  4. Pelagius
  5. Cassiodor
  6. Florus of Lyon (with an excursus about Beda Venerabilis, Isidore of Seville, and Gregory the Great)
  7. Rhabanus Maurus
  8. Sedulius Scotus
  9. Ps.-Haymo of Halberstadt (Haymor of Auxerre)
  10. Atto of Vercelli
  11. Bruno the Carthusian

 

  1. Lanfranc of Bec
  2.  Anselm of Canterbury
  3. Anselm of Laon
  4. Glossa ordinaria
  5. William of Champeaux and the Sententie divine pagine

VII. Conclusion

 

 

CHAPTER THREE

THE EARLY SCHOLASTIC AND THEIR SCHOOLS

I.                    Peter Abelard and Disciples

II.                 Hugh of Saint-Victor and the Victorine Environment

III.              Richard of Saint-Victor

IV.              Gilbert Porreta and the Porretani

V.                Conclusion

 

 

CHAPTER FOUR

TWO MONASTIC THEOLOGIANS

I.                    William of Saint-Thierry

II.                 Bernard of Clairvaux

III.              Conclusion

 

 

CHAPTER FIVE

PETER LOMBARD AND THE SCHOOL OF PARIS

I.                    Magna Glossatura

II.                 Caritas in Peter Lombard’s Sermons

III.              Caritas in Peter Lombard’s Sententie in IV libris distinctae

IV.              The Impact of Peter Lombard’s Theory in Dist. I,17

V.                Critics of Peter Lombard’s Theory in Dist. I,17

VI.              Conclusion

 

 

GENERAL CONCLUSION

 

 

BIBLIOGRAPHIES

I.                    SOURCES

II.                 SECONDARY LITERATURE

 

 

ONLINE SUMMARY

Biography

Aage Rydstrøm-Poulsen is former rector, head of department, associate professor, and head of institute of the Institute of Culture, Language & History, at The University of Greenland, Nuuk, Greenland.