St. Bonaventure University

News, Publications & Research


Bychkov co-translates, co-edits work on The Summa Halensis

Nov 17, 2021

Dr. Oleg Bychkov, professor of theology and Franciscan studies, co-translated and co-edited with Lydia Schumacher from King’s College, London, "A Reader in Early Franciscan Theology: The Summa Halensis," published by Fordham University Press:  https://research.library.fordham.edu/philos/26/
 
This book presents for the first time in English key passages from the so-called Sum of Theology of Alexander of Hales, one of the first major examples of a theological “sum.” This systematic work of philosophy and theology was collaboratively written mostly between 1236 and 1245 by the founding members of the Franciscan school at the University of Paris, such as Alexander of Hales and John of La Rochelle. 
 
As the selections of this reader show, the compilers of the Sum of Alexander of Hales first articulated many positions that eventually became closely associated with the Franciscan tradition on issues such as the nature of God, the proof of God’s existence, free will, the transcendentals, and Christology. 
 
This book will assist anyone wishing to understand the ways in which medieval thinkers employed philosophical concepts in a theological context as well as the evolution of Franciscan thought and its legacy to modernity.