Philosophical Commentary on the Words of the Gospel 'Compel Them to Come In', written by the Protestant philosopher Pierre Bayle in 1686-88, was a classic statement of the case for toleration at a time of extreme persecution. This collection of Kilcullen's writings on Bayle's work examines a wide range of 17th-century religious and philosophical issues, including Bayle's arguments, Arnauld's attack on Jesuit moral theories similar to Bayle's, the uses and limitations of "reciprocity" arguments, the "ethics of belief," and questions of moral responsibility and free will.

More than any other single thinker, William of Ockham (c.1285-1347) is responsible for the widely held modern assumption that religious and secular-political institutions should operate independently of one another. His point of departure was a tragic collision between two specifically Christian ideals: that of St. Francis and that of a society guided by the single supreme authority of the Pope. This volume begins with his personal account of his engagement in that conflict and continues with essential passages from the major works in which he attempted to resolve it.

William of Ockham (c. 1285-c. 1347) was the most eminent and influential theologian and philosopher of his day, a giant in the history of political thought. He was a Franciscan friar who came to believe that the Avignonese papacy of John XXII had set out to destroy the religious ideal on which the Franciscan order was based: the complete poverty of Christ and the apostles. This is the first complete text by Ockham to be published in English. The Short Discourse is a passionate but compelling statement of Ockham's position on the most fundamental political problem of the medieval period: the relationship of supreme spiritual authority, as represented by the pope, to the autonomous secular authority claimed by the medieval empire and the emerging nation-states of Europe. Professor McGrade's introduction, and the notes on the translation make the volume wholly accessible to a modern readership, while a full bibliography and chronology are included as further aids to the reader.

The long-awaited second volume of The Cambridge Translations of Medieval Philosophical Texts offers first-time English translations of major texts in ethics and political thought from one of the most fruitful periods of speculation and analysis in the history of Western thought. The seventeen texts in this anthology offer late medieval treatments of fundamental issues in human conduct that are both conceptually subtle and of direct practical import. This is an important resource for scholars and students of medieval philosophy, history, political science, theology and literature.

The popular mind often associates scepticism with irreligion, and critical distance with unbelief. In this view, reason and faith, or scientific method and religious dogma, are not only different but indeed antagonistic means of viewing the world, understanding human existence, and conducting ones life. Pierre Bayles scepticism was of a singularly distinct sort. He argued not that religion is untrue, but that the discourses proper to theology and the discourses proper to philosophy are incapable of any meaningful exchange. Bayle sought to advance a secular morality that would be independent of both speculative theism and religious revelation. Bayle blazed a philosophical path that Denis Diderot, David Hume, and other Enlightenment thinkers would follow. The continuing significance of this work is its vigorous defence of complete religious toleration. It is in itself a primary historical source of our modern tradition of religious tolerance.

The popular mind often associates scepticism with irreligion, and critical distance with unbelief. In this view, reason and faith, or scientific method and religious dogma, are not only different but indeed antagonistic means of viewing the world, understanding human existence, and conducting ones life. Pierre Bayles scepticism was of a singularly distinct sort. He argued not that religion is untrue, but that the discourses proper to theology and the discourses proper to philosophy are incapable of any meaningful exchange. Bayle sought to advance a secular morality that would be independent of both speculative theism and religious revelation. Bayle blazed a philosophical path that Denis Diderot, David Hume, and other Enlightenment thinkers would follow. The continuing significance of this work is its vigorous defence of complete religious toleration. It is in itself a primary historical source of our modern tradition of religious tolerance.

Catholic University Of America, Canon Law Studies, No. 251.

The long-awaited second volume of The Cambridge Translations of Medieval Philosophical Texts offers first-time English translations of major texts in ethics and political thought from one of the most fruitful periods of speculation and analysis in the history of Western thought. The seventeen texts in this anthology offer late medieval treatments of fundamental issues in human conduct that are both conceptually subtle and of direct practical import. This is an important resource for scholars and students of medieval philosophy, history, political science, theology and literature.

More than any other single thinker, William of Ockham (c.1285-1347) is responsible for the widely held modern assumption that religious and secular-political institutions should normally operate independently of one another. Today, when this assumption is questioned in some quarters, Ockham's analysis of the basis and functions of authority in spiritual and temporal affairs is of current as well as historical interest. His point of departure was a tragic collision between two specifically Christian ideals: the Franciscan conception of Christ's lordship (as lacking material wealth and power) and the ideal of a society guided by the single supreme authority of Christ's vicar, the Pope. This volume begins with Ockham's personal account of his engagement in that conflict and continues with important passages from the major works in which he attempted to resolve it.

William of Ockham (c. 1285-c. 1347) was the most eminent and influential theologian and philosopher of his day, a giant in the history of political thought. He was a Franciscan friar who came to believe that the Avignonese papacy of John XXII had set out to destroy the religious ideal on which the Franciscan order was based: the complete poverty of Christ and the apostles. This is the first complete text by Ockham to be published in English. The Short Discourse is a passionate but compelling statement of Ockham's position on the most fundamental political problem of the medieval period: the relationship of supreme spiritual authority, as represented by the pope, to the autonomous secular authority claimed by the medieval empire and the emerging nation-states of Europe. Professor McGrade's introduction, and the notes on the translation make the volume wholly accessible to a modern readership, while a full bibliography and chronology are included as further aids to the reader.