Nicholas of Lyra on beatific vision

A fuller picture of Nicholas of Lyra (c. 1270-1349) and of the 14th century controversy in which he played an important part emerges from this study. At a critical moment for the University of Paris, for the Franciscan order, and for the entire church, Nicholas took up his pen to defend orthodoxy as understood in the school tradition. De visione divinae essentiae has remained only in manuscript until the appearance here of an edition and English translation. The occasion of his treatise was the fierce debate over the state of separated souls that raged during the last three years of John XXII's pontificate. In several sermons, the pope had defended the opinion that holy souls would not enjoy beatific vision until after the general resurrection. Two of Nicholas' intended readers, and his primary opponents, were no less than the pope, John XXII, and the Franciscan minister general, Geraldus Odonis. Nicholas wrote as spokesman for the theology faculty of Paris, providing arguments to back up its position and resolving the difficulties raised in the pope's sermons and in a disputation Geraldus had recently held at Paris.

The doctrine in question was central to Christian theology: beatific vision, in particular the current vision of the saints. This had implications for devotion and liturgical practice with regard to the cult of the saints. Divergent perspectives arose over the very nature of the disagreement, and thus over the proper forum in which to discuss and resolve the issue. The papal side argued that it was a matter where diverse opinions had been and should continue to be tolerated. On the opposite side, many regarded the papal view on beatific vision as outright heresy. By the time Nicholas wrote his treatise, an intransigence had set in on both sides. Among the many treatises written in the heat of the debate, Nicholas' De visione divinae essentiae stands out by its clarity of argumentation, devoid of polemical excess, and by its neutrality on the question of the vision's intensification. The latter offered a line of reconciliation onto which the papal side would, in the end, lay hold.