Cognitio de Deo. Philosophy and Theology in Nicholas of Lyra’s Principium

Nicholas of Lyra incepted as a Master of Theology at Paris in 1308. Following the tradition of other inception speeches, his principium, which has been transmitted to us as the first prologue to the Postilla litteralis super totam Bibliam, sets out to establish the preeminence of Holy Scripture over all other forms of knowledge. Basing himself on a quotation from the beginning of Aristotle’s De anima, Nicholas argues that Scripture and theology clearly surpass philosophy, albeit that the latter is indeed capable of attaining knowledge of God. While his arguments draw principally upon Thomas Aquinas and his epistemology, they also include Franciscan elements which are difficult to reconcile with the interpretation of De anima I, 1 then prevailing. The resulting tensions are indicative of the broader systematic challenges theologians were facing as regards the epistemological foundations of their discipline.