Bernard & Abelard

FAIRACRES PUBLICATIONS 222
This essay examines the theology of, and relationship between, the saintly Bernard of Clairvaux (1090–1153), customarily considered a traditionalist, and the arrogant, brilliant and controversial philosopher Peter Abelard (1079–1142), disruptive and famously disgraced in his lifetime. To modern readers Bernard emerges from his conflict with Abelard in an unappealing light, yet Bernard’s behaviour, however much we may now appreciate Abelard, arose from his view of the older man as a climber among the foothills of theology, the effect of whose excursions into higher altitudes of thought on his followers was, in the long run, more deadly than bracing; a calamity against which Bernard attempted to raise the alarm. Sister Edmée examines the attitudes and fortunes of both men with her customary wit and engaging style.
Sister Edmée (1930–2018) trained as a ballet dancer and modelled for Vogue before, as she said, meaning finally entered her life when she became an Anglican and then joined the order of the Sisters of the Love of God in 1966. Her studies in the Convent led to two years learning Hebrew at Leo Baeck College and finally a DPhil, gained at the age of 73. Her dissertation was published as The Song of Songs and the Eros of God: A Study in Biblical Intertextuality (Oxford University Press, 2009).