‘‘In ipso sunt idem esse, vivere et intelligere’’: notes on a case of textual bricolage

The article aims at ascertaining the provenance of the components of a textual bricolage found in Wyclif’s De scientia Dei. One of these conveys the doctrine - formulated by Victorinus and Augustine, and largely accepted by western medieval theologians - of the identity of divine being, life, and thought. Wyclif hints at it through the expression mentioned in the title of this article, whose wording depends upon a verse found in Alcuin’s hymn to the Trinity. Possibly unknown to Wyclif, Alcuin’s text is the source of the liturgical office for the Trinity composed by Stephen of Liège and reproducing Alcuin’s verse almost in the same wording. Adopted by many dioceses from the tenth century, Stephen’s office was approved by John XXII in 1334, and is probably Wyclif’s source. The appendix provides insights concerning Wyclif’s statement that philosophers agree with the teachings of theologians and the Church tradition on the doctrine at issue.