Bonaventure, John Duns Scotus, and the Franciscan Tradition - by Peter Damian Ofm Conv Fehlner & R Trent Pomplun

Book Synopsis

In this fourth volume of Collected Essays, Bonaventure, John Duns Scotus, and the Franciscan Tradition, Peter Damian Fehlner traces the development of the Franciscan theologies of redemption, co-redemption, and the Immaculate Conception as they both flow from and return to a very concrete spirituality rooted in devotion to the persons of Jesus and Mary. The main protagonists in these studies are the towering figures of Bonaventure and John Duns Scotus. Framed within an ecclesiological and sacramental worldview, shaped by the correlative and markedly Franciscan doctrines of the Absolute Primacy of Jesus and the Immaculate Conception, Fehlner outlines the theological background and rationale for affirming Mary's co-redemptive role in creation and salvation history. In articulating this great vision of the church, Fehlner discloses the Catholic and Franciscan understanding of Tradition and its progressive penetration and integration of doctrinal and devotional development into the life of the church. For Fehlner, Mary's co-redemptive association with her Son and her union in charity with the Holy Spirit provides both the primary instance of and the hermeneutical key for prayerfully receiving and living the mysteries of our salvation.

Review Quotes

"In this volume, Fr. Peter Damian Fehlner, OFM Conv. (1931-2018) manifests his profound understanding of Franciscan Mariology. He illuminates the deeper reasons for Mary's predestination and Immaculate Conception, and he shows how Marian co-redemption is at the heart of the Marian doctrine of both St. Bonaventure and Blessed John Duns Scotus."
--Robert Fastiggi, professor of dogmatic theology, Sacred Heart Major Seminary

"It is terrific to see these volumes appear in print. There is no greater authority on the Franciscan tradition than Fr. Fehlner, and these are certain to become standard reading for students of the history of theology and for interested readers more broadly speaking. Highly Recommended!"
--John Cavadini, professor of theology, University of Notre Dame

"Fr. Peter Damian Fehlner was to me a friend, a teacher, a counselor, and a model of holiness and deep learning, and I am pleased that many more scholars and students can now share his company in the pages of his collected works and essays. Fr. Fehlner is a true master of the Franciscan theological tradition, worthy to share the intellectual company of Bonaventure, Scotus, Kolbe, and Bonnefoy, and has a profound contribution to make to a wide range of related fields, especially cosmology, ecclesiology, pneumatology, and Mariology."
--Scott W. Hahn, professor of biblical theology, Franciscan University of Steubenville

About the Author

Peter Damian Fehlner, OFM Conv. (1931-2018), was a Franciscan priest and theologian. For nearly forty years he taught theology in Franciscan schools and seminaries in Italy and the United States. He is the author of several books and countless articles in theological and pastoral journals. His final work was published posthumously as The Theologian of Auschwitz: St. Maximilian Kolbe on the Immaculate Conception in the Life of the Church (2019).



J. Isaac Goff is an instructor of dogmatic theology at Saints Cyril and Methodius Byzantine Catholic Seminary. He is coeditor of A Companion to Bonaventure (2014) and author of Caritas in Primo: A Study of Bonaventure's Disputed Questions on the Mystery of the Trinity (2015).