Theology, of which there was a considerable number, not only
before Alexander of Hales [thirteenth century] but also before
and at the time of Peter Lombard, may be traced back directly or
indirectly to Paris.[32]

In this mass of theological writings one book stands out as the
contribution which for three centuries most influenced university
instruction in theology. This is the "Sentences" _(Sententiae)_ of Peter
Lombard (c. 1100-1160), in four books. The subjects discussed in this
work are similar to those treated by Abelard in the _Sic et Non_ (see
p. 20). In not a few instances it adopts the form of presentation used
in that book, i.e., the citation of authorities on both sides of the
case. Like the _Decretum_ of Gratian, it is an illustration of the
widespread influence of the _Sic et Non._

A great number of commentaries were written upon this book. A manuscript
note in one of the copies in the Harvard library states that four
hundred and sixty such commentaries are known; but I have been unable to
verify the statement.

In theory, the Bible was studied in the Faculties of Theology in
addition to the "Sentences"; but in the thirteenth century and later it
seems to have occupied, in practice, a minor share of the student's
attention. To this effect is the criticism of Roger Bacon in 1292:

Although the principal study of the theologian ought to be in the
text of Scripture, as I have proved in the former part of this
work, yet in the last fifty years theologians have been
principally occupied with questions [for debate] as all know, in
tractates and summae,--horse-loads, composed by many,--and not at