Editing William of Ockham (section)

== Theological thought ==

=== Church authority ===
William of Ockham denied [[papal infallibility]] and often went into conflict with the pope.<ref>{{Cite web |title=William of Ockham: Defending the Church, Condemning the Pope |url=https://philosophynow.org/issues/56/William_of_Ockham_Defending_the_Church_Condemning_the_Pope |access-date=2022-09-08 |website=PhilosophyNow.org}}</ref> As a result, some theologians have viewed him as a [[Proto-Protestantism|proto-Protestant]].<ref name="Ford 2016 p. 84">{{cite book |last=Ford |first=J.L. |title=The Divine Quest, East and West: A Comparative Study of Ultimate Realities |publisher=State University of New York Press |year=2016 |isbn=978-1-4384-6055-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Tk14CwAAQBAJ&pg=PA84 |access-date=2023-06-16 |page=84}}</ref> However, despite his conflicts with the papacy he did not renounce the [[Catholic Church|Roman Catholic Church]].<ref name="iep.utm.edu">{{Cite web |title=Ockham (Occam), William of {{!}} Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy |url=https://iep.utm.edu/ockham/ |access-date=2022-09-08}}</ref> Ockham also held that councils of the Church were fallible, he held that any individual could err on matters of faith, and councils being composed of multiple fallible individuals could err.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Canning |first=Joseph |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fpMdtNgggN8C&dq=William+of+Ockham+papal+power&pg=PA131 |title=Ideas of Power in the Late Middle Ages, 1296–1417 |year=2011 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-139-50495-9 |language=en}}</ref> He thus foreshadowed some elements of Luther's view of [[sola scriptura]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Thiel |first=John E. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IZ5CelJGUYEC&dq=William+of+Ockham+sola+scriptura&pg=PA18 |title=Senses of Tradition: Continuity and Development in Catholic Faith |date=2000 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-535031-9}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Heath |first=J. M. F. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LfunhfdzJskC&dq=William+of+Ockham+sola+scriptura&pg=PA22 |title=Paul's Visual Piety: The Metamorphosis of the Beholder |date=2013 |publisher=OUP Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-966414-6 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last1=McGregor |first1=Peter John |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zOFaEAAAQBAJ&dq=William+of+Ockham+protestant&pg=PT101 |title=Healing Fractures in Contemporary Theology |last2=Rowland |first2=Tracey |date=2022 |publisher=Wipf and Stock Publishers |isbn=978-1-7252-6610-0}}</ref>

=== Church and State ===
Ockham taught the [[separation of church and state]], believing that the pope and emperor should be separate.<ref name="iep.utm.edu"/>

Ockham adversed papal ''[[plenitudo potestatis]]'':<ref name="Marsilius of Padua" /> even the famous [[allegory]] of the [[Sun and Moon allegory|Sun-Pope/Moon-Emperor]] is contradicted by Our Lord, who, while admitting the greater/lower opposition (Occkham holds spiritual power and the Church's own functions in the highest esteem; in this sense, and only in this sense, does he consider them of greater importance), does not concede to the Curialists, defenders of the fullness of papal power, the argument that the Moon originated from the Sun.<ref name="Marsilius of Padua" />

According to Ockham, the Pope obtains his power from the Council and, therefore, from the whole of all believers. In the same way, the elected Emperor is depositary of a power whose origin lies in the people who are always the authentic sovereign. 
Occkham developed in canon law the theories that [[Marsilius of Padua]] had promoted in civil law<ref name="Marsilius of Padua">{{cite web|title=Marsilius of Padua and William of Ockham in Papal Plenitudo Potestatis|access-date=March 24, 2025|url=https://mta.cairnrepo.org/islandora/object/mta%3A29120/datastream/PDF/download/mta_29120.pdf|archive-date=24 March 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250324100412/https://mta.cairnrepo.org/islandora/object/mta%3A29120/datastream/PDF/download/mta_29120.pdf|url-status=bot: unknown}}</ref> (e.g. [[popular sovereignty]]).<ref>{{cite journal |format=PDF |via=Academia |url=https://www.academia.edu/3730416 |title=Natural liberty and transference of sovereignty in William |author =Manuel Mendez Alonzo |date=2013 |journal=Revista Española de Filosofía Medieval |number=20 |page=66 |access-date=March 24, 2025}} </ref>

=== Apostolic poverty ===
Ockham advocated for voluntary poverty.<ref>{{Cite magazine |title=The Right to Be Poor |issue=118 |url=https://philosophynow.org/issues/118/The_Right_to_Be_Poor |access-date=2022-09-08 |magazine=Philosophy Now}}</ref>

=== Soul ===
Ockham opposed Pope John XXII on the question of the Beatific Vision. John had proposed that the souls of Christians did not instantly get to enjoy the vision of God, rather such vision would be postponed until the last judgement.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=William of Ockham |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/William-of-Ockham |access-date=2022-09-09 |encyclopedia=Britannica |language=en}}</ref>

=== Voluntarism ===
William of Ockham was a theological [[Voluntarism (theology)|voluntarist]] who believed that if God had wanted to, he could have become incarnate as a donkey or an ox, or even as both a donkey and a man at the same time. He was criticized for this belief by his fellow theologians and philosophers.<ref name="grenz">{{cite book |author=[[Stanley Grenz|Stanley J. Grenz]] |title=The Named God and the Question of Being: A Trinitarian Theo-Ontology}}</ref>