Richard Rufus of Cornwall and the Tradition of Oxford Theology by Peter Raedts (review)

542 BOOK REVIEWS The volume has indexes of names (pp. 281-283) and of topics (pp. 284286 ). It is neatly edited, though a considerable number of typographical errors could have been caught in the proofreading. It is especially welcome today as a living instance of the spirit in which wholehearted and appreciative immersion in the teachings of ,the ecclesiastical magisterium (cf. pp. 238-240) can go hand in hand with Glastnost openness to philosophical and theological scholarship. Its discussions are interesting, lively, and thoughtcprovoking from start ·to finish. Nevertheless the overall impression left by the volume may be described in an observation made in the "Preface" (p. 7) about its lexicographical study but applicable also to the general understanding of its topic. It indicates " how much work still lies ahead of us." Pontifical Institute of JJ!ediaeval Stitdies Toronto, Canada. JOSEPH OWENS Richard R~fus of Cornwall and the Tradition ·of Oxford Theology. By PETER RAEDTS, Clarendon Press, Oxford 1987. While the efforts of scholars such as D. Callus, A. G. Little, F. Pelster und W. A. Hinnebusch prepared the framework for a study of thirteenth century theology at the University of Oxford, the last decade has contributed much to fill in the details of this history by careful research and critical editions. New contributions by scholars like the late B. Smalley and the late 0. Lewry, by J.I. Catto and R. Southern, as well as editions of various works by Robert Grosseteste and Robert Kilwardby have added to our knowledge of philosophical developments at Oxford in the generations before Scotus and Ockham. These newer studies have been eomplemented now by the Dutch Jesuit, Peter Raedts, in his well documented book on "Richard Rufus of Cornwall and the Tradition of Oxford Theology"· The first part of the work seeks to sort out information and opinions on the life and work of this mid-century Franciscan theologian. Although the sources are sparse, Raedts presents a plausible picture of Richard's character and career, including the reasons for his at first delayed, then abrupt return to Paris. Raedts' arg·uments are convincing for the authenticity and priority (ca. 1250) of the Commentary on the Sentences, preserved chiefly in Balliol Ms. 62, and for its relationship to the "Abbreviation " which Richard began of Bonaventure's Commentary on the Sentenoes some six years later. Readts can show how, in the points where the Abbreviation disagrees with or supplements Bonaventure, Richard BOOK REVIEWS 543 often has drawn upon his own earlier work as a source. The author masters the difficult problems arising from the excessive attribution in recent years of minor works to Richard and argues convincingly for the authenticity of some six disputed questions and one treatise, all quite early works, most of which are preserved in a famous manuscript of the Sacro Convento in Assisi known to have been used by Bonaventure. The second part of the work seeks to examine Richard's relationship especially to Robert Grosseteste, whose close ties to the Franciscans remained strong even after his election to the episcopacy ended his teaching apostolate to the Friars Minor. While Grosseteste opposed the development of systematics outside the immediate context of biblical exegesis (as in a Summa of systematically ordered questions or in a Commentary on ,the Sentences of Peter Lombard), Richard seems to have been the first Franciscan to compose a Commentary on the Sentences, though perhaps with somewhat less conviction of the advantages of this method than the Dominican Richard Fishacre had shown shortly before in his own Commentary. Raedts contrasts Rufus with Grosseteste and (unfortunately to a much lesser extent) with Fishacre not only in the question of theological method, but also in the areas of creation and the motives of the incarnation, as well as in the related problem of the freedom of will in God and humankind. Raedts sees in Rufus a concern for the arbitrary freedom .of God and the contingency of creation and redemption, which foreshadows the positions of Ockham. One .of the few weaknesses of this valuable work is the excessively negative judgment about the lack of influence of Richard Rufus on subsequent theology (p. 10). In the preface to his edition...