Description
Book SynopsisTheologians and church lawyers in William Ockham''s time generally agreed that a pope could become a heretic. According to Ockham, that had happened with Pope John XXII. The first part of Ockham''s Dialogue is intended to show that John was a heretic, and to set out what should be done to remove him from the papacy. The relevant questions are discussed in a long conversation between Master and Student in which Ockham''s own opinions are not directly stated. In Against John, Ockham makes his views very clear.According to Ockham, no individual or body within the Church is infallible, not even the pope or a general council. Religious error can spread almost throughout the Church. But there will always be a remnant who do not fall into the error. Thus, a dissident individual or minority may be in the right. Among Christians there should therefore be freedom of speech. Any Christian, man or woman, learned or illiterate, can put forward an opinion and argue for it ''a thousand times'', in th
Table of ContentsPreface Preliminary note Ockham's life, political writings, and vision of the Church On Heretics, Part 1, Books 1-5 Introduction: Against John Against John, Chapters 5-16 Bibliography Index
