ST BONAVENTURE became a Franciscan friar while a student at the University of Paris. As a leading theologian, he was instrumental in translating the life and teaching of Francis of Assisi into formal academic theology. He later became Minister General of the Franciscan Order, and his writings include the official Life of St Francis and devotional works.

This book is the fourth in a series by Douglas Dales on the spiritual theology of Bonaventure, intended to introduce his thought to the modern Church. It was written to commemorate the 750th anniversary of Bonaventure’s death in 1274. The introduction states that focus on the topic of deification has brought unity in Eastern and Western Christian theology. It would have been helpful to the general reader if the author had defined the term “deification” in the introduction, although there is a concise definition on the back cover: “the belief that God can be directly known through Jesus Christ by the indwelling Holy Spirit”.

The first chapter examines the New Testament sources for this belief and Bonaventure’s commentaries on the St John’s and St Luke’s Gospels. The remaining chapters look at what Bonaventure has to say on the topic in each of several works. This starts with what must be the earliest, his Commentary on the Sentences, written while studying in Paris, and finishes with his Life of St Francis, written when he was Minister General.

Although other “academic” theological works are examined, including the Breviloquium, most of the chapters deal with teaching on deification in Bonaventure’s spiritual works, including the well-known Itinerarium (The Journey of the Mind into God), The Tree of Life, and the Soliloquium.

The writing style is not academic and is accessible to a reader with some knowledge of theology. The approach of separately studying the teaching in several different works does, however, lead to significant repetition. There are a comprehensive bibliography, a biblical index, and an index of names, but there is no general index, which makes it more difficult for the reader who is trying to trace the development of a particular aspect of the topic throughout Bonaventure’s writings.

Dr Hilary Pearson is a professed Anglican Franciscan Tertiary. She studied Christian spirituality at Heythrop College. Her research interests are medieval and early-modern women religious writers, and Franciscan spirituality.

Divine Indwelling: Deification in the spiritual theology of St Bonaventure
Douglas Dales
James Clarke & Co £72.50 hbk, £27.50 pbk*
(978-0-227-18091-4 hbk)
(978-0-227-18090-7 pbk*)
*available end of January, Church Times Bookshop £24.75