THE MEDIAEVAL DISTINCTION OF GOD’S POTENTIA ABSOLUTA/ORDINATA AS AN ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE EARLY MODERN INVESTIGATION OF POWER

The distinction between two different types of power in God, i.e. potentia Dei absoluta and ordinata, is taken as an example of the more general investigation into God’s attributes performed again and again by theologians throughout the Middle Ages. Originally concerned with the problem of divine om...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Traversino, Massimiliano (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:Italian
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Published: Edizioni Studio Domenicano 2012
In: Divus Thomas
Year: 2012, Volume: 115, Issue: 2, Pages: 35-82
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
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Summary:The distinction between two different types of power in God, i.e. potentia Dei absoluta and ordinata, is taken as an example of the more general investigation into God’s attributes performed again and again by theologians throughout the Middle Ages. Originally concerned with the problem of divine omnipotence, the question of potentia Dei was subsequently displaced from theological territory to the freshly emerging new level of new politico-legal analysis. Indeed, late-mediaeval canonists and civil lawyers first worked out a new terminology to define the power-holders’ authority, that would be developed in early modern times into a politico-legal framework represented by the concepts of the Prince and Sovereignty. La distinzione di due diverse forme di potere in Dio, definite potentia Dei absoluta ed ordinata, è presa quale esempio della più generale ricerca che i teologi cristiani condussero sugli attributi divini lungo tutto il Medioevo. Inizialmente legata all’analisi teologica sul problema dell’onnipotenza divina, la questione della potentia Dei mosse successivamente verso un nuovo approccio, di tipo politicogiuridico. La nuova terminologia del potere che i canonisti e i civilisti tardo-medievali elaborarono a partire da tale questione fu infatti modello essenziale per lo sviluppo del pensiero politico-giuridico della prima età moderna, qui esaminato con specifica attenzione ai due paradigmi concettuali del Principe e della Sovranità.
Contains:Enthalten in: Divus Thomas