Abstract: The proposals developed in 1904 by the Spanish and Latin-American bishops -postulata episcoporum- at the beginning of the 1917 codification of canon law, ordered by pope Pius X in motu proprio Arduum sane munus, suggesting reforms to the patrimonial regime of the Church, in response to the consultation made from Rome, by the Holy See Secretary of State in circular letter Litterae circulares ad omnes Episcopos pro Ecclesiae legibus in unum redigendis, are studied. These proposals allow to appreciate the problems that, in terms of assets, the Hispanic-American bishops had in their particular churches. An overview of the contributions received in Rome from the Spanish-speaking churches regarding ecclesiastical assets is presented.

Resumen: Se estudian las propuestas formuladas en 1904 por los obispos españoles y latinoamericanos -postulata episcoporum- al iniciarse la codificación del derecho canónico de 1917, ordenada por el papa Pío X mediante el motu proprio denominado Arduum sane munus, sugiriendo reformas al régimen patrimonial de la Iglesia, en respuesta a la consulta hecha desde Roma por la Secretaría de Estado de la Santa Sede, mediante la circular Litterae circulares ad omnes Episcopos pro Ecclesiae legibus in unum redigendis. Estas propuestas permiten percibir los problemas que, en materia de bienes, tenían los obispos hispano-americanos en sus iglesias particulares. Se ofrece una visión de conjunto de los aportes arribados a Roma desde las iglesias hispanoparlantes en materia de bienes eclesiásticos.

Abstract The aim of this article is to consider, in the first place, the characteristic traits of ciceronian conception about “conservatio sui” in the context of ciceronian practical philosophy, differentiating between the components of stoic tradition and the position that Cicero proposes as its own. The article makes its center in the ciceronian exposition of De finibus III and IV and passages of other works that allow us to elaborate the links between natura, ratio and lex established by Cicero. In second place, the article proposes a comparison of the ciceronian elaboration of “conservatio sui” with passages of the corpus of Thomas Aquinas, specially with Tractatus de legibus of Summa Theologiae.

Resumen El presente artículo tiene por objeto considerar, en primer lugar, los rasgos propios de la concepción ciceroniana de la “conservatio sui”, en el contexto de la filosofía práctica ciceroniana, distinguiendo los componentes de tradición estoica de la postura que Cicerón expone como propia. El artículo se centra en la exposición ciceroniana de De finibus III y IV, y en pasajes de otras obras que permiten componer los vínculos que Cicerón establece entre natura, ratio y lex. En segundo lugar, el artículo se propone una compulsa de la elaboración ciceroniana de la “conservatio sui” con pasajes del corpus de Tomás de Aquino, en especial con el Tractatus de legibus de Summa Theologiae.

This article sets out what it calls the 'scholastic dilemma' about whether God's relation to the world is necessary or contingent - the former is based on a view of God primarily as intellect and the latter on a view of God primarily as will. In his dictum, Deus legibus solutus est sed non exlex, John Calvin rejects both these positions. The trinitarian basis for this dictum was spelt out more fully by later Calvinistic thinkers, including Abraham Kuyper and Cornelius van Til. Implicitly for Calvin and explicitly for Kuyper and Van Til, the love of the Persons of the Trinity for one another is the basis for God's covenantal trustworthiness in his dealings with the world. Recognising this trinitarian basis allows us to conceive of God as at once faithful in his dealing with the world, and yet not dependent on the world for his existence. This has profound and far-reaching implications for our understanding of society, including the universal and institutional church and a recognition of the priority of relationships, both theoretically and practically.

This paper calis the attention on the outcome of the research offered in the critical edition and Portuguese translation of the book De Legibus Livro I Da Ley em Geral de F. Suárez (Lisboa: 2004), done by the joint effort of contemporary Researchers, who examined that work of jurisprudence born of the lectures that Suarez gave around 1601-3, and that resulted in the original 1612 edition of the Coimbra treatise. I underline aspects of the political doctrine, which exposes a plura novavit-Suarez that promote a new form of the political regimes and influence in the shaping of the modern democratic republic.

Este estudio se propone destacar los resultados ofrecidos en la edición crítica y traducción portuguesa del libro De Legibus Uvm I Da Ley em Geral de F. Suárez (Lisboa: 2004), a cargo del mancomunado esfuerzo de investigadores lusos contemporáneos, quienes examinaron esa Obra de jurisprudencia nacida de las lecciones que F. Suárez diera desde 1601-3 y que plasmara en la edición original del tratado de Coimbra en 1612. Subrayo aspectos de la doctrina política que dejarán al descubierto un Suárez plura novavit, influyente en la conformación moderna de la republica democrática.

Closely following the text of Hugo Grotius' De antiquitate, Simon van Groenewegen argues in his Tractatus de legibus abrogatis that D. 1,3,31 (lex princeps legibus solutus) had been abrogated in Holland in the seventeenth century. More than that, D. 1,3,31 had never been in force and the counts of Holland had never been exempted from its laws. When King Philip II ignored those laws, the States General declared that he had ipso jure forfeited his right to govern and expelled him.

In order to assess some prominent facets of Calvin's position within the intellectual legacy of the West the Greek-Medieval background is first of all highlighted - with a focus on the idea of a cosmic (ontic) world order (logos or law). Particular attention is given to the line of development from early Greek philosophy, via Plato and Aristotle, up to Stoic philosophy, Cicero, the medieval legacy culminating in the thought of Thomas Aquinas. The fundamental dualism present in Greek thought - between form and matter (the constant and the changing) - exerted a lasting influence on medieval thinking. Cicero assumed an immutable, incorruptible and non-arbitrary universal law which is valid per se. He distinguishes between being a Roman citizen on the one hand, and participating in the Roman populus (the public) on the other. When Thomas Aquinas entered the scene in the 13th century his account of medieval society was based upon an attempted synthesis between Aristotle's philosophy and biblical Christianity respectively. He accepted the dual teleological order of Aristotle with its hierarchy of substantial forms arranged in an order of lower and higher. It was designated as the lex naturalis (natural law) which is related to the transcendent lex aeterna (eternal law) as contained within the Divine intellect. By virtue of its substantial form the human being depends upon the community for the satisfaction of its needs. However, the disintegration caused by the late Scholastic movement known as nominalism (in particular Ockham) then entered the scene. Luther was influenced by this nominalism but Calvin reacted against its idea of arbitrariness. For that reason he emphasized God's law for creation and rejected the nominalistic conception of the absolute, despotic arbitrariness of God's will (the so-called potestas Dei Absoluta of God). His alternative claim is that although God is elevated above his laws for creation, He is not arbitrary (Deus legibus solutus est, sed non exlex). A brief indication is given of the relatively undifferentiated societal condition prevailing in the world in which Calvin lived - with reference to the doctrine of resistance (Beza and others). The longstanding over-estimation of human reason caused Thomas Aquinas to relativize the radical effect of the fall into sin and for that reason he held the view that human reason was only "wounded" by the fall - a view that was continued by Calvin. However, the biblical appeal of the legacy of Calvin also contains a number of positive insights that we still have to appreciate. He emphasized the constancy and steadfastness of God's law for creatures and also explicitly rejected the idea of chance and fate - dating back to the Anankè (later on known as the Moira) of ancient Greece. This emphasis is all the more remarkable in the light of the powerful nominalistic movement which denied any universality outside the human mind, thus eliminating both the (universal) law for and the (universal) orderliness or creaturely reality. This nominalistic view reached its rationalistic conclusion in the thought of Immanuel Kant (18th century) who carried it through to its ultimate consequences - by elevating human understanding to become the apriori formal law-giver of nature. The other side of the rationalistic orientation of modern nominalism is found in the irrationalistic focus both of historicism (19th century) and postmodernism (20th century). The thought of Calvin does not fit into this humanistic tradition. In respect of human society he did show an understanding of what eventually became known as the principle of sphere-sovereignty (introduced by Groen van Prinsterer and Abraham Kuyper during the 19th century). Calvin substantially contributed to an enrichment of our Christian world and life view - carried through in more detail by the reformational philosophical tradition.

Met die oog daarop om Calvyn se posisie in die intellektuele erfenis van die Weste te bepaal word allereers aandag geskenk aan die Grieks-Middeleeuse agtergrond - met klem op die idee van 'n kosmiese (ontiese) wêreldorde (logos). Besondere aandag word gegee aan die ontwikkeling van die vroeë Griekse wysbegeerte wat via Plato en Aristoteles uitgeloop het op the Stoïsynse filosofie, Cicero en die middeleeuse erfenis wat sy hoogtepunt sou bereik in die denke van Thomas Aquinas. Aandag is ook gegee aan die denke van Augustinus. Die disintegrasie van die Middeleeue is bemiddel deur die laat-Skolastiese nominalisme (veral Ockham) wat veral op Luther 'n regstreekse invloed sou uitoefen. Calvyn het hom egter gedistansieer van die nominalistiese idee van die willekeur van God - soos wat dit vergestalt is in die siening van God se despotiese, absolute willekeur (aangedui as die potestas Dei absoluta). Daarom het Calvyn klem geplaas daarop dat God bo die wette wat vir skepsele gestel is, verhewe is. Hoewel God bo die skeppingswette verhewe is, is Hy egter nie willekeurig nie (Deus legibus solutus est, sed non exlex). 'n Vlugtige aanduiding is gegee van die relatiewe ongedifferensieerde samelewingsomstandighede waarin Calvyn homself bevind het - met verwysing na die leerstuk van verset (Beza en ander denkers). Nadat die deurwerking van die nominalisme verder toegelig is, met besondere verwysing na Kant se siening van die verstand as aprioriese formele wetgewer van die natuur en ook na die keersy-effek daarvan op die ontstaan van die historisme (19de eeu) en die postmodernisme (20ste eeu) is ten slotte gelet op die kontinuering van sommige on-Bybelse elemente in die denke van Calvyn, terwyl ook melding gemaak is van bepaalde positiewe insigte waarmee hy die Christelike lewensen wêreldbeskouing verryk het. In die besonder kan hier gedink word aan die eerste vertrekpunt van die leerstuk van soewereiniteit-in-eie-kring wat al eerder deur Van Prinsterer en Kuyper (19de eeu) onder woorde gebring is en wat in die 20ste eeu deur die reformatoriese wysbegeerte van Dooyeweerd verder uitgewerk is.