Swillington.
_Peter Lombard._--Mr. Hallam, in his _Literature of Europe_ (vol. i. p.
128.), says, on the authority of Meiners (vol. iii. p. 11.):
"Peter Lombard, in his _Liber Sententiarum_, the systematic basis of
scholastic theology, introduces _many_ Greek words, and explains them
rightly."
Having, however, examined this work for the purpose of ascertaining Peter
Lombard's knowledge of Greek, I must, out of regard to strict truth, deny
the statement of Meiners; for only one Greek word in Greek letters is to be
found in the _Liber Sententiarum_, and that is [Greek: metanoia]: and so
far frown Peter explaining this word rightly, he says, 'Poenitentia dicitur
a puniendo" (lib. IV. dist. xiv.); an etymological notion which caused
Luther to think wrongly of the nature of repentance, till he learnt the
meaning of the Greek word, which he received with joy as the solution of
one of his greatest difficulties in Romanism. I do not consider the
introduction of such Latinized church words as _ecclesia_, _episcopus_,
_presbyter_, or even _homoousius_, as evincing any knowledge of Greek on
the part of Peter Lombard, wherein he appears to have been lamentably
deficient, as the great teacher and authority for centuries in Christian
dogmatics. Your correspondents will greatly oblige me by showing anything
to the contrary of my charge against Peter Lombard of being ignorant of
Greek.