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Benedictus Deus
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Benedictus Deus is Pope Benedict XII's own 1336 apostolic constitution, settling as Catholic doctrine that the souls of the blessed dead behold the divine essence immediately after death and full purification, without waiting for the general resurrection and the Last Judgment. Its strength is that it is the primary papal document itself, ending a real live theological dispute of the previous decade, when Benedict's predecessor John XXII had preached from the papal pulpit that the blessed do not attain the beatific vision until after the Last Judgment, a position that caused open controversy and that Benedict XII's own bull explicitly closes. Its limit is that a doctrinal constitution states the settled teaching rather than the theological argument that produced it, so a claim about why the earlier controversy arose, or about how it was resolved within the Church's own process, needs a historical account of the John XXII dispute alongside the text of the bull that ended it.
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Benedictus Deus is Pope Benedict XII's own 1336 apostolic constitution, treated at the top tier as the actual primary magisterial text for what it settled as Catholic doctrine. NotesPope Benedict XII's own 1336 constitution Benedictus Deus, settling that the souls of the blessed behold the divine essence immediately after death and full purification, without waiting for the Last Judgment; the doctrinal decree itself, confirmed against the bull's own text, not a scholarly account of the controversy with Pope John XXII that it settled.
Custodian
Custodian SourceYes
Custodian BodyPope Benedict XII
Custodian BasisA papal constitution defining a doctrine of the Catholic Church. Authoritative for what the Church defined.
Citation
AuthorPope Benedict XII
Publication Year1336
Source Typeprimary-text
Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
This source names Benedict of Nursia directly: "Benedictus Deus is Pope Benedict XII's own 1336 apostolic constitution, settling as Catholic doctrine that the souls of the blessed dead behold the divine essence immediately after death and full..."
This source names John XXII directly: "decade, when Benedict's predecessor John XXII had preached from the papal pulpit that the blessed do not attain the beatific vision until after the Last Judgment, a position that caused open..."
Claims Backed By This Source (20 claims)
This source backs 20 claims across the atlas. As facts: 16 well-attested. As cited relationships: 3 holds. Plus 1 entities citing it as a general reference with no single fact or relationship attached.
Disposition By Topic
- Sources, 11 claims: 9 well-attested, 2 holds.
- Doctrines, 7 claims: 5 well-attested, 1 holds, 1 general references.
- Articles, 2 claims: 2 well-attested.
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