The Biblical Commentaries of Cornelius A'Lapide and Guilielmus Estius, and the Post-Tridentine View on Priesthood and Eucharistic Sacrifice

The main aim of the project is to examine, through a careful selection of significant Bible pericopes, how the Counter-reformation biblical commentators Cornelius A’Lapide and Guilielmus Estius represent theologies of priesthood and the eucharistic sacrifice in their exegetical work.  To illuminate these themes, primary consideration will be given to the Letter to the Hebrews and the Gospel Institution Narratives as prototypes for priestly and eucharistic theology.  The study will highlight two major elements that determine the shape and tenor of these virtually unknown but very high-quality commentaries.  First, the sources (‘auctoritates’) such as Augustine and Aquinas that each commentator uses in their construction of a biblical theology, especially how these sources determine dialogue c.q. controversy with the major Protestant commentators (e.g. Calvin, Beza, Luther).  Second, the role of hermeneutics, in particular, how each commentator engages the literal meaning of the text as a basis for the construction of a coherent theology.  Insights gleaned from these two elements will lead to an assessment of how the exegetical methods of A’Lapide and Estius relate to those of modern historical criticism, particularly in regard to re-visioning a biblical theology of priesthood and eucharistic sacrifice.