Truth and Reality

"This introduction and commentary to St Bonaventure's Collations comes from one of today's most important scholars on the 13th century Franciscan friar, scholar and bishop. Dales shows how, heavily dependent on the Church Fathers, the 'seraphic doctor' warmed intellectual scholasticism with the humility and poverty of St Francis of Assisi, combining his love of Scripture with a search for divine wisdom. Speaking from a time of natural catastrophe and social unrest much like ours today, Bonaventure invites us to pick up the galaxy of mirrors surrounding us to reflect on ourselves, our world, and our need to hope." Geoffrey Scott, OSB, Abbot Douai "Dales, like a wise and sympathetic guide, accompanies the reader through the intricacies and insights of Bonaventure's Collations on the Six Days of Creation, drawing out his profound affinity with insights of the Fathers on whom he builds, and whose synthesis between heart and mind he preserves, and demonstrating, too, his ability to bestride the growing gulf between Greek East and Latin West. We encounter Bonaventure as the Schoolman for our times. The trilogy, as a whole, is an immense achievement, which is enhanced by Dales' clarity and the grace of his prose." Andrew Louth, FBA, Professor Emeritus, University of Durham "In introducing Bonaventure's last work, given as lectures in Paris, then the most dynamic centre for study in Europe, Douglas Dales shows both why students flocked to his lectures and that there is still great attraction in encountering the text of the Bible presented with insights from earlier writers. This is an invaluable work, well worth reading alone or with the previous two volumes. Benedicta Ward, SLG