دانلود کتاب Concepts of prophecy in the Middle Ages: Inspired exegesis, visions from God, and the interaction of theories and practice

This dissertation examines medieval conceptualizations of prophecy beginning in the twelfth century, when Europe produced its first widely-noticed prophets, and ending in the early sixteenth century when the Fifth Lateran Council sought to subject dissemination of prophecy to the control of the bishops. This dissertation finds that the conceptualization of prophecy in the Middle Ages evolved over time, in part due to shifting intellectual currents, and in part due to interactions with prophecy as it was practiced. Furthermore, research presented in this study identifies two broad arcs of development as a way of understanding the evolution of medieval thinking about prophecy. The first begins with Joachim of Fiore (ca. 1135–1202) who both theorized and practiced a new way of thinking about prophecy that challenged the existing conception that regarded prophecy as the passive and direct reception of divine revelation. Rather than see himself as a direct conduit or mouthpiece for God, Joachim believed he was an inspired exegete and that God granted him special methodological insights that guided his efforts to interpret the Scriptures and derive from them hidden truths and predictions about the future. The second arc begins midway through the fourteenth century with the decline of this type of prophecy and the return to widespread belief that a prophet ought to be a passive conduit of divine revelation. The second arc is also characterized by the emergence of concerns about the possible role of demons as a source of apparently prophetic vision, and accordingly, greatly increased attention on the part of both prophets and theologians in determining which was which. By examining a longer history of conceptualizations of prophecy, and by seeking a synthetic understanding of how medieval thinking about prophecy and its practice interrelated, this dissertation proposes both structures and explanations for these developments.