Customer Reviews

Robert Grosseteste (Great Medieval Thinkers)

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McEvoy's volume on Grossesteste is a scholarly, thorough and balanced account of this great medieval thinker. If, like me, you are more interested in Grosseteste the philosopher and natural scientist you may find this book a little disapointing as its main focus seems to be on Grosseteste the ecclesiastic. It should not be forgotten, however, that this distant father of the scientific revolution was also the Bishop of Lincoln as well as a devout Christian scholar, and any book on this man that does not cover these aspects of his life thoroughly would unfairly misrepresent him. In general I found McEvoy's account of Grosseteste's life and thought to be a balanced and solid presentation of the life of this seminal thinker of the Middle Ages. I would recommend this book both to serious scholars and the interested "general reader."

Robert Grosseteste was one of the most interesting philosopher-theologians writing towards the close of the golden age of Scholasticism. Like many Scholastics before him, this philosopher attempted to reconcile the truths of faith with those of reason.

This book highlights several aspects of Grosseteste's ideas, his career and life, and his theology.

Perhaps the most interesting and relevant idea of Grosseteste was his 'metaphysics of light.' Possibly influenced by earlier Christian thinkers such as Pseudo-Denys, Eriugena, and Maximus Confessor, Grosseteste regarded creation as a sort of 'light' through which God has shared his own inaccessible light, which is his transcendant being. Grosseteste, in some beautiful bible commentaries, remarks how light is the most noble of all created things because it is most like God, who is the metaphysical light of all things.

Grosseteste helped lay the foundations of modern science by actively exploring creation and sidelining the decaying structure of medieval scholasticism, and like some other thinkers, felt there was no division between the truths of faith and those to be found in the modern world.

Having read through Southern, McEvoy's other works and Ginther's most recent publication, all of which are truly splendid works of the academy, I must say that this is one of the most concise, yet detailed, presentation of Grosseteste's life and works. While not an academic presentation of primary sources, McEvoy does include some primary works in the appendix.

I have to say, the "Great Medieval Thinkers" series from Oxford has been one of the greatest series of medieval thinkers that I have seen in some time - I have not been disappointed yet. McEvoy's work on Grosseteste has been my favorite of the series so far in that it seems to be the most approachable while at the same time it remains appropriately scholarly.

This is a read for both the aspiring philosopher/theologian/medievalist as well as the trained academic!