John Lutterell went to Avignon in 1323 where he hoped to advance his career at the papal court. He carried with him a booklet of 56 errors taken from a commentary on the Sentences of Peter Lombard by William of Ockham. Lutterell presented this to Pope John XXII. Lutterell may have been given the task of compiling a report on Ockham's views.[3] Even though he was a Doctor of Theology, he demonstrated a poor understanding of Ockham's ideas. As a result, the papal commission appointed to examine Ockham was forced to revise the list of 56 errors prior to beginning its own inquiry.[4]
Lutterell believed that a reality (God's essence) can have rational differences (ideas). Opposing Ockham, he argued that these ideas cannot be created things. Instead these ideas are eternal and immutable, but creatures are not.[5]
Ockham was questioned by Lutterell and five other theologians. They found difficulties with the young friar's ideas. He was not condemned formally but was forced to remain in Avignon under a type of house arrest.[6]
Lutterell appears in the story “Thus We Frustrate Charlemagne” by R.A. Lafferty, in which a cabal of scientists manipulating time cause a catastrophe by killing him before he reaches Avignon.
