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The Library

Forty Centuries of Christian Writing

1774 works catalogued century by century, from the literature the Bible was written among to the present — each with a note on what it is, why it lasted, and where to read it.

1201–1300

The Thirteenth Century

2 works

c. 1271

Latin

On the Eternity of the World

Siger of Brabant · c. 1240–c. 1284

An argument that on Aristotelian principles the world must be eternal, whatever faith holds — the philosopher reasoning as a philosopher and stopping there.

Scholastic · PhilosophyRead elsewhere

1297

Latin

Reading on the Apocalypse

Lectura super Apocalipsim

Peter John Olivi · 1248–1298

Revelation read through Joachim's scheme, identifying the coming crisis with the persecution of those who keep Francis's rule strictly, and the carnal church with Babylon.

Franciscan · CommentaryRevelationRead elsewhere

1301–1400

The Fourteenth Century

1 work

c. 1340

Latin

The Universal Treatise

Exigit Ordo Executionis

Nicholas of Autrecourt · c. 1299–1369

An argument that nothing can be demonstrated beyond the principle of non-contradiction — not causation, not substance, not other minds — leaving only probability.

Scholastic · PhilosophyRead elsewhere

1401–1500

The Fifteenth Century

1 work

1486

Latin

The Nine Hundred Theses

Giovanni Pico della Mirandola · 1463–1494

Propositions drawn from Latin, Greek, Arabic, and Hebrew sources, including the Kabbalah, offered for public disputation in Rome at the author's own expense.

Western · ThesesRead elsewhere

1601–1700

The Seventeenth Century

1 work

1675

Spanish

The Spiritual Guide

Miguel de Molinos · 1628–1696

A method of interior quiet in which the soul ceases from acts and simply rests in God, leaving even meditation and petition behind.

Western · MysticalRead elsewhere