Thomas Aquinas, Theologian

Thomas F. O’Meara

Description

In Thomas Aquinas, Theologian Thomas O'Meara considers Aquinas the theologian and his influence, past and present. O'Meara focuses on Aquinas as teacher and preacher, and theology as the subject of his thought and most of his writings. Studying the Summa Theologiae as well as providing an overview of six centures of interpretation, O'Meara shows how few have understood the structure and intent of Aquinas' theology.

Sujets

• Religion
• Christianisme
• Denominations
• Christian Theology
• Religious
• medieval
• Philosophie et théologie
• Catholicism
• Summa Theologiae
• General officer
• Denomination
• Christianity
• General
• Somme théologique

Informations

• Publié par: University of Notre Dame Press
• Date de parution: 15 février 1997
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780268172534
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 15 Mo

Extrait

THOMAS F O'MEARA, O.P Thomas Aquinas Theologian
---+---THOMAS AQUINAS
THEOLOGIAN

--+-Thomas Franklin O'Meara, O.P.
University of Notre Dame Press
Notre Dame and London Copyright © 1997 by
University of Notre Dame
Notre Dame, Indiana 46556
www.undpress.nd.edu
All Rights Reserved
Manufactured in the United States of America
Reprinted in 2014, 2015
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
O’Meara, Thomas F., 1935–
Thomas Aquinas theologian / Thomas F. O’Meara.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical reference and index.
ISBN 0-268-01898-7 (cl. : alk. paper)13: 978-0-268-04201-1 (pbk.)
ISBN 10: 0-268-04201-2 (pbk.)
1. Thomas, Aquinas, Saint, 1225?–1274. I. Title.
230' .2' 092—dc20 96-26438
CIP
∞ This book is printed on acid-free paper.For
My Dominican Brothers
in the Province of St. Albert the Great (U.S.A.)
----+----CONTENTS

----+---Preface ix
Introduction xi
I. A Guide to Thomas Aquinas xi
II. How to Study a Great Thinker xvi
III. A Theologian and His Age xix
1. THE LIFE AND CAREER OF THOMAS AQUINAS 1
I. A Time of Change 1
IL Friar Thomas of Aquino 5
III. Universities, Studia, and Albert the Great 8
IV. Teacher and Writer 16
V The Idea for a Masterpiece 22
VI. Personality and Genius 32
VIL The Theologian 38
2. PATTERNS IN THE SUMMA THEOLOGIAE 41
L A Composer of Summae 44
IL Medieval Culture and the Summa theologiae 45
III. A Textbook for Dominicans 51
IV. Structures in the Summa theologiae 53
V. A Biblical Theolog 68
VI. Some Principles in Thomas Aquinas' Theology 72
VL Patterns 82
3. A THEOLOGICAL WORLD 87
I. The Unknown but Present God 90
II. God's Life in the Trinity 95
III. The Choice for Beings 97
vii viii The Life and Career of Thomas Aquinas
IV. A Special Life on Earth 108
V Human Life amid God's Spirit 119
VI. God's Word Incarnate in Jesus 127
VIL The Continuing Incarnation 136
VIII. The End as Beginning 148
4. TRADITIONS, SCHOOLS, AND STUDENTS 152
I. A Perduring Influence 153
II. First Medieval Attention 157
III. Disciples of Aquinas in the Fourteenth and Fifteenth
Centuries 158
IV The "Second Thomism" of the Counter-Reformation and the
Baroque 160
V The "Third Thomism" from 1860 to 1960 167
VI. The Diversity of Thomisms in the Twentieth Century 1 73
VII. Neo-Thomism in the United States 192
VIII.Aquinas, Theology, and Vatican II 195
IX. Beyond Vatican II 198
5. THOMAS AQUINAS TODAY 201
I. Theology and Culture 201
IL "Grace Drawing Creation Forward" 241
Conclusion 244
Notes 255
Bibliography 290
I. The Writings of Thomas Aquinas 290
II. Indices of Thomas Aquinas' Writings 292
III. Studies on Aquinas 292
IV. Surveys of the History of Thomism 294
Index 297 PREFACE

+--I want to thank Lawrence Cunningham, Robert Krieg, and James
Langford who read parts of this manuscript; and to remember Walter
Principe who encouraged this project and read the opening chapters.
Fr. A. M. Carre, O.P., preacher at the Cathedral of Notre Dame and
member of the French Academy, wrote some years ago a book to
which he gave the title Ces Maitres que Dieu m'a donnes, "These
Teachers God Gave Me." This book led me to recall that in three ways
providence drew me into the circle of Thomas Aquinas: through
membership in the Dominican Order, through the variety of my edu­
cation, and through the times in which I have lived. Thus various
teachers have introduced me to Aquinas. Some were my teachers in
the provincial Dominican studium in the American Midwest, while
others in Europe, a few as teachers in Munich and others as advisers
at the Ecumenical Council Vatican I, led me by their lectures and
books to broader paths and showed how theologians and theolog
could renew the church and the world. To these teachers and to my
brother Dominicans in my province (and in the Province of Nigeria)
this book is dedicated.
While I have wanted only to present and explain the theological
patterns, themes, and insights of a medieval theologian, my examples
are sometimes contemporary; they are, however, intended to illus­
trate Aquinas' own ideas and not to imply that he knew about galax­
ies or viruses. These pages have attempted two difficult tasks, to pre­
sent the thougt of a genius and to do so in a somewhat vivid,
contemporary exposition. And so I must ask in advance the reader's
indulgence because in both directions I have had meager success.
ix INTRODUCTION

----+---A man for every hour.
Francisco de Sylvestris, O.P. (+ 1525l
There are about a half dozen outstanding Christian thinkers in
Western civilization: Thomas Aquinas is one of them. Twice since
the Renaissance and the Reformation the Catholic Church has
revived his theology and has presented Thomism as an outstanding
interpretation of Christian faith. His way of seeing the world and his
vitality in explaining the gospel of Jesus Christ have influenced
scholars, mystics, politicians, and artists fr well over half a millen­
nium. This book is a guide to his theolog, to its world, and to its
influence.
I. A Guide to Thomas Aquinas
These chapters introduce Thomas Aquinas in the vocation and pro­
fession he chose for himself: theologian. He was first and always a
theologian: in the university and in the Dominican studium, in the
pulpit and in his room writing. Whether commenting on Scripture or
assembling opinions from past philosophers and theologians to flesh
out his original, systematic conception of Christianity, he wrote to
help the Christian message address sympathetically new problems
and thought-forms. European scholarship in this centur has reem­
phasized Aquinas as theologian, clarifing the relationship of philos­
ophy to theolog in his thought. The work of scholars as diverse as
M.-D. Chenu and Etienne Gilson, Bernard Lonergan and Jean-Pierre
Torrell have expanded greatly our understanding of the approach and
depth of his theolog.
Often the approach to Thomas Aquinas during the neo-Thomist
1 revival from 1850 to 1960 was to describe a philosophy. During that
xi xii Introduction
time far more books treated his philosophy than his theology. Central
theological areas like the missions of the Trinity, the New Law, or the
headship of Christ were neglected, while in the books on Thomist phi­
losophy a concluding section of "theology" dealt not with the God of
revelation but with the Cause of metaphysics. A search through a
library catalogue or a perusal of a bibliogaphy of articles on Aquinas
written prior to Vatican I yields more material on the metaphysics of
an unmoved mover or the abstract description of philosophical virtues
than on salvation by Jesus or the role of a sacrament.
A number of introductions to Thomas Aquinas were written
between 1920 and 1960, for instance, by A. D. Sertillanges, G. K.
2 Chesterton, or Gerald Van. Some were biographies of a saint; some
were introductions to a philosopher. Some have fine insights, and oth­
ers, passing beyond the legendary and the edifying, describe the
achievement of a controversial and courageous life. A few illumine the
thought of the Christian theologian. Decades ago, I read these literate
biographies id introductions (often several times) as an escape from
neo-Thomist tomes holding only definitions and divisions, for they did
bring color and insight into the career and thought of Aquinas. This
book finds an initial inspiration in their pages.
At the same time, other scholars were at work on a deeper
understanding of Aquinas, historical and theological. The historical
study of the Middle Ages is a gift of this century, and it has enhanced
the understanding of scholastic philosophy and theology enor­
mously. Great spirits from Martin Grabmann to Etienne Gilson
described the colorful worlds of the thirteenth century and also pre­
sented various theologies from that age. The prominent theologians
of Vatican II like Yves Congar, Edward Schillebeeckx, and Karl
Rahner were often particularly insightful in their views on Aquinas.
If there is a rich literature in French, Italian, Spanish, and German,
among Americans there appeared in 1974 James Athanasius
Weisheipl's Friar Thomas d'Aquino, an internationally recognized
3 presentation of the life and works of Aquinas. That anniversary year
of 1974 witnessed a flood of volumes and articles on Aquinas, while
in the decades since important studies continue to appear, for
instance, the articles of Walter Principe or Servais Pinckaers, and the
books of Otto Pesch and Torrell. The following pages claim little
originality but they do come from an apprenticeship with scholars
from several generations. Introduction xiii
Althoug it intends to introduce Aquinas in the light of scholarship
from the past decades, this book, nonetheless, must be more than a
chronology and a bibliography. Thomas Aquinas' theology mirrors
the creative directions of his personality and his age: his originality
gave life to several traditions in Western Christianity. His theology
deftly employed the cultural and scientific (what we would call philo­
sophical) forms and insights available to him. Themes like divine
wisdom, gaced humanity, and continuing incarnation have served as
catalysts for the theologies and organizations of Catholicism far after
the thirteenth century.
It must be said here at the beginning that this brief study has not
been written by a medievalist nor by a researcher into texts or
chronologies from the time of Charlemagne or Innocent III. The
author's qualifications fr offering an exploration of this theologian
are only personal and practical: seven years of studying (almost exclu­
sively) Thomas Aquinas in a Dominican studium prior to 1964 and
twenty-five years of teaching his theology at various educational lev­
els and in different cultures.
These pages have not been written by an apologete for yet
another neo-scholastic revival but by a working teacher and theolo­
gian. A good way to understand Aquinas is to teach his theology,
because teachers learn old ideas anew through the