Alexander Neckam (1157-1217)
• Alexander Neckam (1157-1217) was an English scholar, teacher, theologian and abbot of Cirencester Abbey from 1213
until his death.[1]
• The Speculum speculationum (edited by Rodney M. Thomson, 1988) is Neckam's major surviving contribution to the
science of theology. It is unfinished in its current form, but covers a fairly standard range of theological topics derived from
Peter Lombard's Sentences and Augustine. Neckam is not regarded as an especially innovative or profound theologian,
although he is notable for his early interest in the ideas of St. Anselm of Canterbury. His outlook in the Speculum, a work
written very late in his life, probably in 1215, and perhaps drawing heavily on his teaching notes from the past decades,
combines an interest in the Platonic writings of earlier 12th-century thinkers such as Thierry of Chartres and William of
Conches, with an early appreciation of the newly translated writings of Aristotle and Avicenna. Neckam was a firm admirer
of Aristotle as an authority in natural science as well as in the logical arts, one of the first Latin thinkers since antiquity to
credit this aspect of the Stagirite's output. (Alexander Neckam. Wikipedia. <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Neckam>)
• In the Speculum speculationum Alexander identifies one of his key purposes as combating the Cathar heresy,
particularly its belief in dualism. He spends a large part of Book 1 on this, and thereafter passes on to focus on his other
key purpose, the application of dialectic logic to the study of theology.[3] (Alexander Neckam. Wikipedia.
<en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Neckam>)
• Alexander Nekkam (Nekam) - English Catholic theologian, encyclopedic scholar, poet, regular Augustinian canon.
...Apparently, in Cirencester, Nekkam continued his teaching activities, most of his surviving works are attributed to this
time. As part of the English delegation participated in IV Lateran Council in 1215. (Encyclopedia. The World History.
<w.histrf.ru/articles/article/show/niekkam_niekam_alieksandr>.)
HITS:
● [Book 1.25]
Indeed, Bede says when expounding the mentioned passage: "'There are three who give testimony' to Christ in heaven, that is in heavenly nature (divinity for sure), namely 'the Father, Word and Holy Spirit, and these three are one,' because they are of one nature, or rather they are one nature. The Father gave testimony of his [Jesus] divinity when He said: 'this is my beloved Son.' The Son himself gave it, for He revealed his divine power and the hope of eternal blessedness in his transfiguration on the mount. The Holy Spirit gave it when He rested on Him in the form of a dove in his baptism or when He had worked faith in the heart in calling on the Name of Christ." And there are three who give testimony on earth (that is in lesser nature), spirit, water and blood: the spirit, that is the human soul which the Lord gave up in his passion, water and blood which flowed from the Lord's side. And there three are one because they are attestations of one nature.
(Alexander Neckam, Speculum speculationum [1215 AD]; Translated by Jeroen Beekhuizen, correspondence, June 2020)
