Author
Robert Bellarmine
1542–1621
Robert Bellarmine (1542–1621) was born at Montepulciano in Tuscany and entered the Society of Jesus in 1560. He studied at the Roman College, Padua and Louvain, where he was ordained in 1570 and taught theology for six years. In 1576 he returned to Rome to hold the new chair of controversial theology at the Roman College. Clement VIII made him a cardinal in 1599, and he was briefly Archbishop of Capua. He was canonized in 1930 and declared a Doctor of the Church in 1931.
His lectures became the Disputationes de controversiis christianae fidei, the most complete Catholic reply to the Protestant reformers of the period, arranged as a series of controversies on Scripture and tradition, Christ, the papacy, the Church, the sacraments and grace. He also wrote catechisms that were used for centuries and took part in the revision of the Vulgate and in the Roman proceedings concerning Galileo.
The library holds the first three general controversies: on the Word of God, on Christ and on the Supreme Pontiff. The controversy on the Word of God, which treats Scripture and tradition, is the foundation for the rest.
Works
Texts currently available in the library.
De Controversiis, Prima Controversia Generalis: De Verbo Dei
1599Robert Bellarmine’s Controversies on the Word of God (Controversiae de Verbo Dei) is a systematic defense of the Catholic doctrine of divine revelation and Sacred Scripture. Across four books, Bellarmine examines the inspiration and authority of Scripture, the canon of the Old and New Testaments, the Hebrew, Greek, Syriac, and Latin textual traditions, and the authority of the Latin Vulgate. He then addresses the interpretation of Scripture and the proper judge of doctrinal controversies, before concluding with an extensive defense of apostolic Tradition and its relationship to the written Word of God. Written in direct engagement with the theological disputes of the Reformation, the work combines biblical argument, patristic testimony, conciliar authority, and historical analysis in presenting the Catholic understanding of Scripture and Tradition.
De Controversiis, Secunda Controversia Generalis: De Christo
1599In this five-book theological work, Robert Bellarmine presents a systematic exposition and defense of the principal Catholic doctrines concerning Christ. He examines Christ’s divinity, the Trinity, the Incarnation and hypostatic union, the soul and knowledge of Christ, His descent into hell, and His office as Mediator. Drawing extensively on Scripture, the Fathers, councils, and scholastic theology, Bellarmine also refutes Arian, Socinian, Protestant, and other Christological errors, offering a comprehensive defense of Catholic Trinitarian and Christological doctrine.
De Controversiis, Tertia Controversia Generalis: De Summo Pontifice
In progress