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15 pages, 331 KB

Open AccessArticle

Pulchrum in the Summa Halensis: Problems and Originality

by Francisco Javier Ormazabal Echeverría

Religions 2026, 17(4), 497; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17040497 - 18 Apr 2026

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The transcendental status of pulchrum (beauty) has been debated mainly within Thomistic scholarship, often overlooking earlier medieval sources. This study examines the treatment of beauty in the Summa of Alexander of Hales, situating it within the broader discussion on the transcendentals and reassessing [...] Read more.

The transcendental status of pulchrum (beauty) has been debated mainly within Thomistic scholarship, often overlooking earlier medieval sources. This study examines the treatment of beauty in the Summa of Alexander of Hales, situating it within the broader discussion on the transcendentals and reassessing its originality beyond Thomistic categories. This article conducts a close textual and conceptual analysis of the sections of the Summa Halensis that address pulchrum, comparing interpretations in recent scholarship and examining how beauty is discussed in relation to the communissima, causal frameworks, and Trinitarian metaphysics. Four characterizations of pulchrum are identified in the first part of the Summa Halensis: three connected to efficient, final, and formal–exemplar causality, and a fourth defining beauty as harmony and proportion. In the second part of the Summa, beauty is further treated as a principle of order and suitability for contemplation, suggesting a relational dimension among transcendentals. This study argues that, despite the conceptual tensions identified—particularly the opposition between its relational character and its link to formal causality—the account of pulchrum in the Summa Halensis supports interpreting beauty as a distinct transcendental, grounded in the harmony and relational order of being and ultimately connected with Trinitarian metaphysics. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Words and Images Serving Christianity)

24 pages, 347 KB

Open AccessArticle

Anagogical Function of Images in Cusanus’s Thought: The Case of Veraicon

by Agnieszka Maria Kijewska

Religions 2026, 17(4), 457; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17040457 - 7 Apr 2026

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Abstract

The paper presents Nicholas of Cusa’s position in the debate on mystical theology, which had a place around the middle of the 15th century in monastic environments. His contribution to that debate was presented in the form of the treatise entitled On the [...] Read more.

The paper presents Nicholas of Cusa’s position in the debate on mystical theology, which had a place around the middle of the 15th century in monastic environments. His contribution to that debate was presented in the form of the treatise entitled On the Vision of God, complemented by a painted representation of the “All-seeing Face”. Both the treatise and the painting were designed to be aids in an experiment projected by Cusanus for his benedictine friends of Tegernsee Abbey, to help them in their progress towards mystical contemplation. The intention was to show them a way to lift their thought from the perception of the image, through meditation and prayer, to the contemplation of God. Thus, both the icon and his treatise were intended to fulfil an anagogical function for the users in inspiring them start on a journey of returning to God and teaching them how to effect that return. Besides giving an account of the experiment projected by Cusanus, the most important elements of his fascinating system are delineated, such as the way of mystical ascent, his use of paradox, his conception of God as the Infinity, and the conception of God’s seeing as the foundation of the existence of all things. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Words and Images Serving Christianity)

28 pages, 369 KB

Open AccessArticle

What Is a Divine Procession? Liturgy, Pure Perfection, and the Filioque and Essence–Energy Debates

by Mark K. Spencer

Religions 2026, 17(4), 426; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17040426 - 1 Apr 2026

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Abstract

Many debates in Christian theology and philosophy, especially debates having to do with the Trinity (like the debate over the filioque) and with divine action (like the debate over whether there is a distinction between God’s essence and God’s energies), have made use [...] Read more.

Many debates in Christian theology and philosophy, especially debates having to do with the Trinity (like the debate over the filioque) and with divine action (like the debate over whether there is a distinction between God’s essence and God’s energies), have made use of the idea of divine processions. But with rare exceptions, theologians have said little about how the terms used for divine processions are the same terms used for liturgical, military, and state processions and marches. Rather, in general, theologians have treated these terms in a purely technical metaphysical sense. I contend that progress will be made on solving these debates if we attend to the image of actual processions that is conveyed by words originally used for divine processions (including Latin words like ‘processio’ and ‘procedere’ and Greek words like ‘proodos’ and ‘ekporeusis’). After describing the relevant debates, I outline a method for recovering the experiences and images conveyed by those procession words; this perceptual and aesthetic method draws upon the work of a range of phenomenologists and phenomenologically-inspired thinkers. I then use this method to draw out the content of procession words, and to show that procession as such is a pure perfection, a property of being, a privileged manifestation of persons, and a divine attribute. Finally, I show how this more holistic approach to divine processions allows for a defense of the Western Christian doctrine of the filioque, without losing essential Eastern Christian insights about the procession of the Holy Spirit, and a defense of the Eastern doctrine of the essence–energies distinction, without losing crucial Western insights about divine simplicity. While it is of course beyond the scope of a single paper to solve such complex debates, this paper lays a foundation for future synthesis between Eastern and Western views. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Words and Images Serving Christianity)

24 pages, 725 KB

Open AccessArticle

A Sacred Ambition: Mosaic Symbolism of Spiritual Ascent in Gregory of Nyssa and Giovanni Pico Della Mirandola

by Francisco Bastitta-Harriet

Religions 2026, 17(4), 421; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17040421 - 26 Mar 2026

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Abstract

This study offers a comparative analysis of the symbolism of the soul’s ascent in Gregory of Nyssa’s De vita Moysis and Giovanni Pico della Mirandola’s Oratio. Rather than attempting to establish a linear or exclusive dependence, it focuses on a series of [...] Read more.

This study offers a comparative analysis of the symbolism of the soul’s ascent in Gregory of Nyssa’s De vita Moysis and Giovanni Pico della Mirandola’s Oratio. Rather than attempting to establish a linear or exclusive dependence, it focuses on a series of Mosaic themes that articulate a dynamic conception of perfection in both authors. Beginning with Moses as a paradigm of virtuous life, the paper examines the shared anthropology of desire underlying Nyssen’s notion of unending progress and Pico’s sacra ambitio. It then traces the ordered sequence of symbols as it develops in Gregory’s treatise: light and darkness, the mountain of the knowledge of God, Jacob’s ladder, the tabernacle, the eagle, death as consummation, and divine friendship. Through the interplay of these symbols both thinkers configure spiritual growth as an ever-deepening participation in divine unity and truth. Particular attention is given to integration of the classical disciplines of the ancient philosophical curriculum within the Mosaic itinerary, as well as to the conception of truth as gradually apprehensible but ultimately inexhaustible. The paper concludes by pondering the results of the comparative study and reflecting on Pico’s way of assimilating the wide variety of sources in his project of philosophical concord. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Words and Images Serving Christianity)

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28 pages, 19767 KB

Open AccessArticle

Architecture Serving Words: Sensus Litteralis in Richard of Saint Victor’s Exegesis

by María José Zegers-Correa

Religions 2026, 17(4), 420; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17040420 - 26 Mar 2026

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Abstract

Medieval biblical exegesis in the twelfth century was largely dominated by allegorical interpretation, often at the expense of the literal sense of Scripture. Richard of Saint Victor stands out as a significant exception. This article argues that his commitment to the literal sense [...] Read more.

Medieval biblical exegesis in the twelfth century was largely dominated by allegorical interpretation, often at the expense of the literal sense of Scripture. Richard of Saint Victor stands out as a significant exception. This article argues that his commitment to the literal sense of Scripture constitutes not merely a methodological requirement but a theological conviction that operates consistently across works of very different character. Through an analysis of Beniamin Minor, Beniamin Maior, and In Visionem Ezechielis, it shows that the literal sense functions in all three as the indispensable foundation upon which allegorical and tropological meanings are constructed. In the Beniamins, predominantly received as works of spiritual and allegorical theology, the literal sense quietly sustains the entire interpretative edifice—through etymology, onomastics, and precise biblical description. In In Visionem Ezechielis, by contrast, the littera itself becomes the object of an explicit and historically remarkable defence: Richard translates the complex architectural descriptions of Ezekiel’s Temple into architectural drawings that constitute some of the earliest known examples of representation in plan, elevation, and section. In doing so, he demonstrates not only that the literal sense of this contested passage is fully intelligible, but that word and image together can bear the weight of God’s revealed Word, enabling the reader to move from the literal and historical sense towards the spiritual meanings of Scripture and, ultimately, towards the contemplation of God. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Words and Images Serving Christianity)

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13 pages, 250 KB

Open AccessArticle

Image, Sign, and Vestige in the Augustinian Theory of Time

by Salomea Slobodian

Religions 2026, 17(3), 330; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17030330 - 5 Mar 2026

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Abstract

The relationship between time and eternity is a central theme in Augustine’s thought and has often been interpreted, under Neoplatonic influence, through the paradigm of image and model. This article contributes to recent reassessments of Augustine’s doctrine of time by arguing that interpreting [...] Read more.

The relationship between time and eternity is a central theme in Augustine’s thought and has often been interpreted, under Neoplatonic influence, through the paradigm of image and model. This article contributes to recent reassessments of Augustine’s doctrine of time by arguing that interpreting time as image does not adequately reflect his conceptual distinctions and his original thought. It proposes instead that time should be understood primarily as a sign, and more specifically as a vestige of eternity because time exhibits the defining features of a vestige, directing the soul from the temporal order toward the eternal and highlighting the salvific dimension of time within Augustine’s eschatology. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Words and Images Serving Christianity)

14 pages, 261 KB

Open AccessArticle

Ricoeur and the Power of Symbolic Representation Between Concealment and Revelation

by Vinicio Busacchi

Religions 2026, 17(3), 328; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17030328 - 5 Mar 2026

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Abstract

This paper investigates the hypothesis that it is particularly in the field of symbolic interpretation that, in Ricoeur, the intertwining of philosophical reason and religious faith remains strong and proves fruitful without one discourse cancelling out the other. The interest in Ricoeur’s hermeneutics [...] Read more.

This paper investigates the hypothesis that it is particularly in the field of symbolic interpretation that, in Ricoeur, the intertwining of philosophical reason and religious faith remains strong and proves fruitful without one discourse cancelling out the other. The interest in Ricoeur’s hermeneutics of symbols is reinforced by the fact that it seems to be a privileged field for evaluating the productivity of philosophical work in the service of religion and religious work for the benefit of philosophy. Moreover, his research gives shape to a specific philosophy of the symbol and of symbolic creativity, which finds its deepest and most meaningful expression precisely in the field of the hermeneutics of revelation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Words and Images Serving Christianity)

13 pages, 260 KB

Open AccessArticle

From Shadows to Light: Albert the Great on the Semiotic Structure of Human Cognition

by Mercedes Rubio

Religions 2026, 17(3), 289; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17030289 - 26 Feb 2026

Viewed by 447

Abstract

This article explores Albert the Great’s understanding of human cognition as a hierarchical, semiotic structure, made of light. It examines his response to the question “What is good for man?”, tracing his shift from a moral–theological to an anthropological and epistemological perspective in [...] Read more.

This article explores Albert the Great’s understanding of human cognition as a hierarchical, semiotic structure, made of light. It examines his response to the question “What is good for man?”, tracing his shift from a moral–theological to an anthropological and epistemological perspective in dialogue with Aristotelian, Neoplatonic, and Arabic sources. Through close textual analysis of his writings on the soul and intellect, the article reconstructs man’s hierarchical constitution and highlights the central role of signs and of the imagery of light and shadows in his understanding of cognition. It argues that, for Albert, each level of apprehension functions as a semiotic link that dynamically leads the human intellect from lower to higher degrees of comprehension, intentionally pointing toward the divine source of all being, understood as light. Albert’s conception of signs, intentionality, and intellectual illumination is shown to anticipate and go beyond later semiotic theories. Consequently, the article proposes that he should be regarded as a “proto-semiotic” thinker whose original anthropological synthesis, centered on epistemology and sign-theory, illuminates the intrinsic role of signs in human perfection and clarifies how words and images can express the cognitive relation between created and uncreated being. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Words and Images Serving Christianity)

36 pages, 5676 KB

Open AccessArticle

Verbum Verbo Concepisti. The Word’s Incarnation in Some Images of the Annunciation in the Light of Medieval Liturgical Hymns

by José María Salvador-González

Religions 2025, 16(4), 456; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16040456 - 1 Apr 2025

Viewed by 1904

Abstract

This article aims to explain why, in some European representations of the Annunciation, a bundle of rays of light comes from the mouth of God the Father toward the head/ear of the Virgin Mary. In order to find a satisfactory answer to this [...] Read more.

This article aims to explain why, in some European representations of the Annunciation, a bundle of rays of light comes from the mouth of God the Father toward the head/ear of the Virgin Mary. In order to find a satisfactory answer to this problem, the author first studies a series of biblical, patristic, theological, and liturgical sources referring to the supernatural human conception of the Word of God in Mary’s immaculate womb. He then analyzes eleven images of the Annunciation that present this peculiarity. Finally, through a comparative analysis between the doctrinal texts and these exceptional images, the author concludes that the latter illustrate as visual metaphors the textual metaphors contained in the writings of some Church Fathers, medieval theologians, and liturgical hymnographers; that is to say, the beam of rays of light emitted by the mouth of the Most High to the Virgin’s head/ear metaphorizes the human conception/incarnation of the Word of God in the virginal womb of Mary. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Words and Images Serving Christianity)

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