The Role of Philosophy in Richard Fishacre’s Theology of Creation

Fishacre’s theological project has been too thoroughly studied for me to rehearse it at any length here.¹ In a very rich and dense proemium to his Commentary on theSentences,Fishacre borrows imagery from the book of Genesis to illustrate the relationship between scientia or philosophy andsapientiaor theology. Abraham, according to the biblical account, is obliged to have sexual relations with Hagar the slave woman before he is able to impregnate Sarah. The aspiring theologian, in other words, must have commerce with the worldly sciences before he can with any hope of being productive enter the chambers of