BETWEEN ETERNITY AND DIVINE DUALISM: HUGH OF SAINT-CHER’S OPUS II, PARS I

Abstract

The paper contains the first Latin transcription and an English translation of the first part of the second book of Hugh of Saint-Cher's Opus, his commentary on Peter Lombard's Sentences accomplished between 1231 and 1234. The transcription is based on the codex Vat. lat. 1098 collated with five auxiliary manuscripts. In line with William of Auxerre and Alexander of Hales Hugh critically disavows pagan and heretical stances represented by Plato, Aristotle, Epicurus, and Manichean regarding the creation of the world. My foreword sheds light on the philosophical value of presented arguments plus the historical background of the issue and Hugh's relation with contemporary theologians whose ideas Hugh rearranges and modifies in one concise text. I argue that Hugh blends together these four authorities to challenge and reject the concepts of eternity and dualism. The theologian imputes dualism — contrary to the run-of-the-mill attribution of three beginnings — to the Stagyrite while putting the concept of opposite principles from Aristotle referenced before by William in Cathar's mouth. Even Plato and Epicurus become proponents of the heretical repudiation of creation from nothing in favor of divine production from adjacent matter which aligns the Greeks with Cathars' metaphysics. Hugh's Opus, if not original in the modern sense, anticipated a surge of refutations aimed at heretics and “Averroists”. The proposed isomorphism between Aristotle-Heretic and Cathar-Peripatetic partially molded early arguments in the theological Sentences as well as inquisitorial Summa. Whereas the focus on Сathars' dualism diminished when they were brutally wiped off the map, William, Alexander, and Hugh's reasons against the Peripatetic view on eternity continued to draw attention among theologians fighting back “Averroism”.