The Jesuits, 1534-1921: A History of the Society of Jesus from Its Foundation to the Present TimeCampbell, Thomas J. (Thomas Joseph)
History
The Jesuits, 1534-1921: A History of the Society of Jesus from Its Foundation to the Present Time
Campbell, Thomas J. (Thomas Joseph)
Jesuits -- History
Another great Jesuit theologian of this period was the Spaniard, Juan
Maldonado, who was born in 1533 at Casas de Reina, about sixty-six
leagues from Madrid. He went to the University of Salamanca, where he
studied Latin under two blind professors. He took up Greek with El
Pinciano, philosophy with Toletus, and theology with Soto. He was
endowed with a prodigious memory and never forgot anything he had ever
learned. His aspirations were at first for law, but he turned to
theology; and after obtaining the doctorate, taught theology, philosophy
and Greek at the university. He entered the Society in 1562, and was
ordained priest in the following year. He lectured on Aristotle in the
new College of Clermont in 1564, and then taught theology for the four
following years; after an interruption of a year, he continued his
courses until 1576. His lectures attracted such crowds that at times the
college courtyard was substituted for the hall. He was appointed a
member of the commission for revising the Septuagint; his knowledge of
Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Syriac, Chaldaic and Arabic and his comprehensive
knowledge of history, of the early Fathers and of all the heresies, gave
him the first rank among the Scriptural exegetes of his time. In
Cornely's opinion, his "Commentaries on the Gospels" are the best ever
published. Above all, he was a man of eminent sanctity, endowed with an
extraordinary instinct for orthodoxy, and an unflinching courage in
fighting for the Church as long as he had life. "His constant desire,"
says Prat, "was to make everything the Society undertook, bear the mark
of the greatness and sanctity which St. Ignatius had stamped on the
Institute."
There was also the great Suárez, who was born at Granada in 1548, and
became a Jesuit in 1564. Pope Paul V appointed him to answer King James
of England and wanted to retain him in the Holy City, but Philip II
claimed him for Coimbra to give prestige to the university. When he
visited Barcelona the doctors of the university went out to meet him
processionally to pay him honor. Bossuet declared that his writings
contained the whole of Scholastic theology. In Scholasticism he founded
a school of his own, and modified Molinism by his system of Congruism.
His book, "De defensione fidei," was burned in London by royal command,
and was prohibited as containing doctrines against the power of
sovereigns. One edition of his works consisted of twenty-three and
another of twenty-eight volumes in folio. De Scoraille has written an
admirable biography of this great man.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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