Adam died in 1123, and his successor,
referred to by Abelard in Chapter X, was none other than Suger
himself. From 1127 to 1137 Suger devoted most of his time to the
reorganization and reform of the monastery of St. Denis. If we are
to believe Abelard, such reform was sorely needed, but other
contemporary evidence by no means fully sustains Abelard in his
condemnation of Adam and his fellow monks.
ORIGEN
The ALexandrian theological writer Origen, who lived from about 185
to 254, was the most distinguished and the most influential of all
the theologians of the ancient Church, with the single exception of
Augustine. His incredible industry resulted in such a mass of
Writings that Jerome himself asked in despair, "Which of us can
read all that he has written?" Origen's self-mutilation, referred
to by Abelard, was subsequently used by his enemies as an argument
for deposing him from his presbyterial status.
ATHANASIUS
Abelard's tract regarding the power of God to create Himself was
one of the many distant echoes of the great Arian-Athanasian
controversy of the fourth century. St. Athanasius, bishop of
Alexandria, well deserved the title conferred on him by the Church
as "the father of orthodoxy," and it was by his name that the
doctrine of identity of substance ("the Son is of the same
substance with the Father") became known.
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