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Frane Petrić’s Reading of John Damascene’s De fide orthodoxa
Natali Hrbud
Sažetak
When in his masterpiece Nova de universis philosophia (1591), notably in its second part Panarchia, Frane Petrić refers to Zoroaster and to him ascribed Oracula Chaldaica, he also refers to De fide orthodoxa (749) by the Greek Father St. John of Damascus. Moreover, he quotes the mentioned work both in the Greek original and in his own Latin translation, which somewhat departs from the Late Renaissance editions of Latin translations of De fide orthodoxa, as from that by Jacques Lefèvre d’Ètaples, for example.
In Panarchia Petrić refers to Damascene’s De fide orthodoxa on seven occasions. In “De uno trino principio,” Book IX of Panarchia, the philosopher from Cres quotes Damascene’s sentence with four attributes of the Holy Spirit: “[He who is] filling all things with essence, maintaining all things, filling the universe with essence, while yet the universe is not the measure of His power.” This quotation is to be found in “De loco Dei et quod solus Deus incircumscriptus sit,” Chapter 13, Book I of De fide orthodoxa, that is, in its Latin editions of Petrić’s day, as, for example, in that by Lefèvre – in Chapter 18 of Book I entitled “Collectanea de deo, patre, filio, spiritu sancto, verbo, spiritu.” Therefore, the ideas developed by Zoroaster, as comprised in the Oracula Chaldaica, Petrić tries to support with an assertion by an influential Greek Father, authority for Christian orthodoxy.
In “De intellectu,” Book XV of Panarchia, Petrić leans on an assertion by John of Damascus: “The Son is from Father, and derives from Him all His properties.” This, along with similar Damascene’s thoughts the philosopher from Cres may have read in the following three sources: in Chapter 6 “De Verbo ac Dei Filio, probatio ducta a ratione” of Book I De fide orthodoxa, in Chapter 7 “De una Dei Verbi composita persona” of Book III of the same work, as well as in the already mentioned Chapters 13 or 18 of Book I.
In “An Deus Pater sit intellectus?,” Book XVI of Panarchia, Petrić writes a historical survey of sentences on the topic, whereby he includes John of Damascus among those authors who stated that God is above the intellect, i.e. who neither Trinity nor God the Father called the intellect (intellectus). These thoughts Petrić draws from Chapter 14 “Proprietates seu attributa divinae naturae” in Book I of the De fide orthodoxa, that is, from Chapter 19 in the Late Rennaisance editions of the same work.
In “De rerum creatione,” Book XXII of Panarchia, Petrić first emphasizes that John of Damascus for the Creator uses the Greek word κτίστης, while the Greek Father does so in his definition of angel in the third chapter “De angelis” of Book II of De fide orthodoxa. The philosopher from Cres makes his second reference to John of Damascus in order to stress that three divine persons in the Christian doctrine on Trinity differ only “by personal properties”: “of not being begotten, of birth, and of procession” (ingenitura, genitura, processione), which Damascene argues in Chapters 8 and 10 of Book I of his De fide orthodoxa.
In “An mundus sit animatus,” Book IV of Pampsychia, regarding the problem of world soul, Petrić divides the philosophers into three groups: those who argue that the world, i.e. heavenly bodies have a soul, those who refute it, and those who are undecided. According to Petrić, John of Damascus leads the group of those who reject that the world has a soul. This statement the Greek Father elaborates in Chapter 6 »De caelo« of Book II of his De fide orthodoxa.
The name of John Damascene is also mentioned in Books V, XV and XVII of Pancosmia. In the first two books Petrić refers to John of Damascus, while in Book XVII the name of Damascene appears in an annotation of the Church censor Jacob de Lugo. In “De primario calore,” Book V of Pancosmia, while dealing with the problem of the primary heat, Petrić again refers to the quotation from Book I of De fide orthodoxa by John of Damascus, which he had already used in Book IX of his Panarchia.
In “An sidera sint ignes?,” Book XV of Pancosmia, Petrić uses a general statement of “our theologians” that the heaven is fire. John of Damascus, however, expounds the topic in Chapter 7 “De luce, igne, luminaribus, Sole, Luna et stellis” of Book II of De fide orthodoxa. The philosopher from Cres actually refers only to the statement made by John of Damascus: “fire is not a different thing from what light is, as some maintain.” Therefore, Petrić does not submit his views on other statements which John of Damascus presents in the ‘astronomical part’ of Book II of De fide orthodoxa.
In his annotation to Book XVII of Pancosmia, entitled “De astrorum motu,” Church censor Jacob de Lugo refers to the assertion in Chapter 6 “De caelo” of Book II of De fide orthodoxa, in which John of Damascus refutes that heavenly bodies have a soul. Petrić himself refers to this place in Damascene’s work when in Book IV of Pampsychia he questions whether the world has a soul. In so doing the censor lets Petrić know that he acknowledges the fact that in his work he refers to the Church Father John of Damascus and his work De fide orthodoxa. But the censor also follows a trodden path, since Thomas Aquinas also refers to John of Damascus regarding that issue.
Thus Petrić’s reading of De fide orthodoxa, Damascene’s major work, may be described as rather selective. In Damascene’s most elaborate argumentation of the Holy Trinity, Petrić finds four points which he later used while writing his Panarchia: attributes of the Holy Spirit “filling all the things,” the assertion that the Father is above the intellect, Greek term for the Creator, and “personal properties” of three divine persons in the Christian doctrine of the Trinity. In this way John of Damascus has contributed to Petrić’s harmonization of Zoroaster’s doctrine on the principles with Christian doctrine on the Trinity.
From the ‘astronomical part’ of Book II of De fide orthodoxa, the philosopher from Cres refers to only two assertions: “heavenly bodies have no soul” and “fire is not other than light,” while for all other numerous topics which he has discussed in his Pancosmia he does not lean on John of Damascus. To the ‘psychological,’ that is, anthropological part of Book II of De fide orthodoxa Petrić makes no reference whatsoever.
Ključne riječi
Frane Petrić; Ioannes Damascenus; De fide orthodoxa; Zoroaster; Damascius; Jacques Lefèvre d’Ètaples; 16th century metaphysics; 16th century natural theology; 16th century psychology; 16th century natural philosophy; 8th century astronomy; unum trinum principium / Trinity; soul; stars; fire; light
Hrčak ID:
254877
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Datum izdavanja:
20.12.2020.
Posjeta: 607 *