Grammar of the Ineffable

Limits of Language in some Collections of Sentences attributed to the “School of Laon”

Abstract

During the first half of the twelfth century, the arts of trivium (dialectics, rhetoric, and grammar) frequently intersected with the teaching of sacra pagina (a discipline encompassing commentary on the Holy Scriptures and discussions of dogmatic-doctrinal issues inherent in the Bible). Their integration primarily aimed to comprehend divine mysteries through human reason. However, in certain collections of sentences, attributed by scholars to the so-called “School of Laon”, grammar and dialectics are called into question to emphasize the limits of human language when applied to God and Trinity. This paper examines passages from Sententiae divinae paginae, Sententiae Atrebatenses and Deus principium et finis totius creaturae intending to demonstrate how, in these collections, grammar attests to divine ineffability rather than its knowability.