Durandus Of St.- Pourçain And Peter Auriol On The Act Of Beatific Enjoyment

Abstract

This chapter examines and compares the views of Durandus of St.-Pourcain and Peter Auriol on the act of beatific enjoyment ( fruitio beatifica ). The two masters have articulated their views in their Sentences commentaries, Book 1, Distinction 1. The chapter discusses two questions: (1) What is beatific enjoyment? (2) What is its proper object? Both Durandus and Auriol agree that beatific enjoyment is the pleasure and delight experienced by the blessed in the direct vision of God. The point of disagreement and debate between the masters is whether the immediate object of enjoyment is God alone or the act by which the blessed attain God. For Durandus, the immediate object of enjoyment is the act of attaining the direct vision of God, whereas God Himself is only the remote object. For Auriol, God Himself is the immediate object of enjoyment. Keywords: act of beatific enjoyment ( fruitio beatifica ); blessed; Durandus of St.-Pourcain; object of enjoyment; Peter Auriol; proper object; vision of God