Aquinas on Nature and Grace ed. by A. W. Fairweather

Abstract

~78 BOOK REVIEWS work, though certainly of genuine merit in many respects, too often betrays the lack of solid theological foundation to fulfill the purpose. St. Meinrad Archabbey St. Meinrad, Ind. KIERAN CoNLEY, 0. S. B. Aquinas on Nature and Grace. Edited by A. W. FAIRWEATHER. Philadelphia : Westminster Press, 1954. Pp. 386 with indexes. $5.00. This book constitutes Volume XI in the Protestant-sponsored Library of Christian Classics. In all, the series embraces twenty-six volumes, and these, according to the General Editors' Preface, are designed to present " a selection of the most indispensable Christian treatises written prior to the end of the sixteenth century." The first thirteen volumes deal with the writings of the Fathers, Doctors, and the Scholastics, with St. Augustine given, numerically at least, the preference. The last thirteen volumes, with the sole exception of a section given over to Erasmus, deal with the works of the Reformers, especially Luther and Calvin. In the present volume, the Edi.tor, the Reverend A. M. Fairweather, of Edinburgh University, contributes an interesting Introduction, and then sets himself to the selection and translation of those parts of the Summa Theologiae which for him illustrate the distinction between the orders of reason and revelation or " nature and grace." From the Prima Pars of the Summa the Editor chooses the first four Questions, dealing with the nature of theology, the mind's ability to prove the existence of God and His attributes; and Questions ~0-~3, dealing with the prefatory elements to and the nature of Predestination. From the Prima Secundae he singles out Question 8~, on original sin, its essence, causes and effects. :From the Secunda Secundae he selects Questions l-7, on Faith; Questions 17-~l, on Hope, together with those sections of special interest to the Reformers, the Gift of Fear, and the vices opposed to Hope, Despair and Presumption. The virtue of Charity is considered rather summarily in Questions ~3 and ~7. The volume contains an excellent Bibliography, together with a complete Index to the Biblical citations and authors quoted by St. Thomas in the sections here included. For the most part, the translation is well done. Mr. Fairweather has tried to render St. Thomas in crisp, simple style. The result reads much better than the current stilted English translation in use by Catholic scholars. The Scriptural quotations however are from the King James version. Footnotes, where needed, explain possible misconceptions for nonThomists in the text. BOOK REVIEWS 279 The brief Introduction is divided in terms of the passages chosen, explaining St. Thomas's thought in sympathetic fashion. Nevertheless, the Editor continues to propagate some erroneous notions, which, because of the amplitude of their allegations, can be hardly more than briefly answered in the limits of this review. And these are in a sense traditional difficulties. First, the intellectual cleavage between St. Augustine and St. Thomas is declared to be fundamental and unbridgeable. Augustine from this point of view never lost the Manichean notion of cosmic evil, which affects all nature and especially human nature. For him, man indeed possesses the power of reason, but because of the Fall it is incapable of activity in the face of the weakness of the sinful will. Reason, even though in contact with the evidence of the physical, external world, can tell us nothing of the existence and nature of God. The only way to achieve this awareness is through the " inward way " of spiritual, religious experience, and grace is the necessary condition. " Reliance on the ontological argument to divine existence automatically follows." This argument through religious experience depends on knowledge of divine entities entirely unrelated to sense experience. Now it is true that St. Augustine did say some of these things, but they must be read in the context of his entire thought. He was a courageous thinker, striving to draw from his convictions their deepest content. As his mind grew, he modified many of his earlier positions, and even denied some, as is evident in his Retractationes. Philosophical speculation, far from being despised by Augustine, reached a new peak through his efforts, and, as he himself admits, much of his thought is tentative, more of an essay at...