St. Thomas Aquinas on Sacred Scripture and Holiness

Saint Thomas Aquinas's Biblical Exegesis:Hebrews 2:9 as a Case Study Jörgen Vijgen "Biblical Thomism," a term coined by the American theologian Matthew Levering, constitutes, together with the emphasis on the patristic sources of Saint Thomas and the renewed discovery of the commentatorial tradition of Thomism, one of the most vibrant features of contemporary Thomism. Its dynamic is rooted in its twofold aim.1 Historically, biblical Thomism aims at uncovering the methods and sources of Saint Thomas's the principal task as magister in sacra pagina, which consisted in reading and commenting on the Holy Scriptures. This approach should not be limited to his biblical commentaries or the scriptural references in his systematical works but can also include a reconstruction of the central ideas of Saint Thomas's commentary on a book of the Bible for which we do not have a commentary, as has been demonstrated recently by Serge-Thomas Bonino in his book St. Thomas Aquinas: Reader of the Song of Songs.2 In doing so, biblical Thomism further aims at contributing to overcoming the typically modern gap between exegesis and speculative theology or to contribute to what Joseph Ratzinger in his famous 1988 lecture "Biblical Interpretation in Conflict" has called the "Method C" within biblical exegesis, that is to say, a perspective on Scripture which takes advantage of the strengths of "Method A" (the patristic-medieval exegetical approach) and "Method B" (The historical-critical [End Page 269] approach), while being cognizant of the shortcomings of both.3 In this contribution I would like to draw attention to his Super Epistolam ad Hebraeos, his commentary on the Letter to the Hebrews, which still remains somewhat overlooked, by way of an analysis of Saint Thomas's reflections on Hebrews 2:9. For in these reflections he offers the contemporary reader an overview of his exegetical methods and as such his analysis can function as a case study for his biblical exegesis and an introduction to the way he reads the Scriptures. First, however, I present Saint Thomas's arguments for why one should not separate the three features mentioned above. Next, I briefly introduce his Super Epistolam ad Hebraeos before offering in the final part a detailed analysis of Hebrews 2:9. Distinguish to Unite Although for practical purposes a division of labor is often necessary, it would be contrary to both the mind of Saint Thomas, as well as his explicit teaching, were one to separate these three features (the Scriptures, Church Fathers, and the commentators) so that his thought becomes detached from the tradition that formed his work and subsequently brought his work to us. Rather, due to the role of the Holy Spirit in history, there exists for Saint Thomas a profound unity between the reading of Scripture and its transmission and interpretation throughout the ages. Saint Thomas argues, often with reference to Ambrosiaster's phrase Omne verum, a quocumque dicatur, a Spiritu Sancto est ("All truth, by whomever it is spoken, is from the Holy Spirit"), in favor of God's causal action with regard to the formal, efficient and exemplary role of the Holy Spirit in the constitution and recognition of any truth whatsoever.4 In particular regarding the truth of Scripture, Saint Thomas emphatically rejects an absolute separation between the inspired nature of the Scriptures and their subsequent interpretation. On the contrary, as he explains in one of his quodlibetal questions, the interpretation is itself a gift of the Holy Spirit so that at any given time in history the Holy Spirit is both the author and the interpreter of the Scriptures in so far as the "spiritual man" (1 Cor 2: 15) possesses the Holy Spirit and judges accordingly.5 The sed contra of [End Page 270] the same article expresses this even more clearly: To the contrary: It belongs to one and the same person to do something for the sake of a goal and to lead to that goal. But the goal of the Scriptures, which stems from the Holy Spirit, is the erudition of man. This erudition of man from the Scriptures, however, cannot exist unless by way of the expositions of the saints...

To commemorate the jubilee of the death and canonization of St. Thomas Aquinas, the Santo Tomás Institute of Balmesiana organized the 10th Symposium of Thomistic Studies, St. Thomas Aquinas, Master of the Sacred Page. The event took place at the Abat Oliba CEU University in Barcelona from May 10th to 12th, 2024. Other institutions, in particular, the Association pour le Centenaire Thomas d’Aquin (ACTA) from Toulouse, contributed greatly to the organization of the symposium. This event aimed to explore St. Thomas’ use of Sacred Scripture in his role as a biblical scholar. This is one of the aspects of the doctrine of Aquinas that has recently gained prominence, as there has been a renewed appreciation for the central role that Sacred Scripture played in the theology of the Angelic Doctor, frequently referred to as “biblical Thomism”. The purpose of the symposium was not only historical but also doctrinal, aiming to shed light on contemporary biblical hermeneutics and exegesis. The symposium was structured around the three core activities of the medieval scholar: legere, disputare, and praedicare, with the intention to understand the place of Sacred Scripture in each of these. It began with several introductory issues that addressed Aquinas' biblical hermeneutics and its foundations, with enriching contributions from professors Martínez, Amado, Loiseau, and Manresa. Next, the symposium delved into Aquinas' biblical exegesis, focusing on his commentaries on St. John, St. Paul, and a book of the Old Testament, with insightful presentations by Professors Giambrone, Roszak, and Ossandón. The following sessions were dedicated to the examination of how St. Thomas utilized disputare in his construction of a theological system. Professors Margelidon, Aroztegi, and Prieto offered valuable reflections on grace, the sacraments, and divine knowledge. Finally, the symposium turned to Aquinas' praedicare and his use of Scripture in preaching, with illuminating presentations by professors Smith, Vijgen, and Perrin. Thomas Olivier Venard concluded the symposium by discussing the contemporary relevance of Aquinas' biblical hermeneutics. We are pleased to offer the reader a substantial number of these enriching contributions in both this and the next issue of Bíblica et Patristica. We are grateful to the Editorial Board for their willingness to publish the texts and, in this way, familiarise the readers with the fruitful discussions we experienced in Barcelona in May.

Reviewed by: Master Thomas Aquinas and the Fullness of Life by John F. Boyle Paul Gondreau Master Thomas Aquinas and the Fullness of Life. By John F. Boyle. South Bend, Ind.: St. Augustine's Press, 2014. Pp. xv + 85. $14.00 (cloth). ISBN: 978-1-58731-493-3. This short, pocket-size book is a publication of the annual Aquinas Lecture that the author delivered at the University of Dallas in 2013. As noted in the acknowledgments, he presents "the connecting tissues that unify [his] seemingly disparate scholarly work on St. Thomas Aquinas" (xii). In point of fact, given that this scholarly work has spanned the author's entire professional career, this book, I would suggest, offers not only consideration of "connecting tissues" of academic labor but also the ruminations of the author's life-long conversations—even friendship—with "Master Thomas." What the author gives the reader, in other words, are his mature reflections "on Master Thomas precisely as a master, as a teacher" (xv). To this end, the author fittingly enough presents to us a master of both philosophical and theological wisdom. The wise man, the author notes in an opening section entitled "Master Thomas," sees things in relation to their causes and thereby orders them according to their ends. This upshot is clear: "this drive to order things … characterizes Thomas's teaching" (13). The "connecting tissues" of the author's research that he chooses to substantiate this, and to which the core of the book is dedicated, are Aquinas's position on life (specifically, its natural degrees and its moral and supernatural aspects) and his biblical exegesis. We turn, then, to the degrees of natural life. Here the author cites the classic Aristotelian-Thomistic view that what defines life is the ability for self-movement. Generically speaking, we find three distinct types of things that move themselves: plants, "which move themselves in a very limited way" (20); animals, which "move themselves … according to the instrumentality of bodily organs and parts" and which "apprehend the forms of other things" through the senses (21); and man, who moves himself like animals do but whose self-movement, as expressive of his intellectual nature, is also "immediately consequent upon an end not simply given in nature" (23-24). The author then explains that the source and first cause of life is of course God, "whose nature is [his] very act of understanding" and who "is [his] own end," as he is "always in act" (26). In this way, life reaches "its ultimate perfection in God" (28). Moving to consideration of the moral life, that is, of the "good life" for the human being, the author notes how the definition of life—the ability for self-movement—still holds, since the moral life concerns the way the human being moves himself in the way intended by his nature as through certain "habits," thereby acquiring "a kind of second nature" (30). The foundational principle here is that we are ordered to the good as to our proper end and perfection: "the good perceived draws us to itself; it is part of our self-movement, a part of our living, that we move ourselves to the good" (34). And since God, who [End Page 140] has revealed himself as a Trinity of persons, is himself the First Good, the human being's ultimate end and perfection is properly supernatural, not simply natural. This leads the author to conclude the section on life with consideration of the supernatural life. Here he places the focus on two supernatural virtues: faith and charity. As regards the former, "a habit that makes the intellect assent to things that appear not" (41) and which "is not a mere feeling … [nor] a mere confidence" … [but a] knowing [of] the truth" (43), the author stresses how Aquinas's teaching on the supernatural virtue of faith "reminds us with his exquisite clarity that man knows and assents to the truth [both natural and revealed] with only one power, the intellect. The life of the mind is one and unified" (44). Also key to Aquinas's presentation of faith is the fact that "with faith, man begins eternal life here on...

This dissertation is a comparative study of Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) and Joseph Ratzinger’s (b.1927) theology of the way God reveals, or divine Revelation. The Dissertation’s Question and Outline Early in his theological formation Ratzinger was disenchanted by the Neo-Scholastic presentation he received of Thomas’s theology from his seminary professors in Freising. Upon discovering philosophical Personalism, he subsequently acquired an Augustinian, Bonaventurian, and even neo-Platonic tendency. Despite this, he claims never to have rejected Aquinas or his doctrine. With his early work in Fundamental Theology, laying important foundations for his theological career, and the contentions over interpreting Aquinas between the twentieth-century’s Ressourcement and Neo-Thomistic theologians, along with Ratzinger’s influence on Dei verbum’s composition, an opening arises for a comparative study of his Revelation theology with Aquinas’s. Thus the dissertation seeks to answer whether or not Ratzinger’s Revelation theology is congruent with Aquinas’s, and if so, does it advance from Aquinas’s principles (although definitely unintendedly). The study therefore presents and compares their understand of: (1) Revelation’s essential purpose; (2) its essential act; and (3) how it is received. Presenting the evidence substantiating these claims, the dissertation takes a threefold approach. It outlines important background details, and identifies its key question, its methodological approach and sets its objectives (Section 1.). It presents the evidence of Aquinas and Ratzinger’s positions (Sections 2. to 4.), and finally compares them (Section 5.). The Dissertation’s Contention and Summary of its Argument This dissertation contends that the foundation of their differences lies in Aquinas’s Aristotelian intellectualism as a university professor, and Ratzinger’s philosophical Personalism, which he employed for pastoral reasons. Regarding Revelation’s purpose, Aquinas understands it as ultimately given for our salvation (i.e., the attainment of the beatific vision); while Ratzinger understands it as bringing about the loving dialogical communion between persons, climaxing in Christ himself. From his intellectualism, Aquinas understands the essential revelatory act as consisting in the divine illumination of the Prophet’s judgment (and Christ’s beatific vision) within an Aristotelian lineal history; whereas Ratzinger understands it as consisting in a Christological dialogue, unfolding in a circular or spiral Christocentric history. Regarding their understanding of Revelation’s reception, Aquinas posits that it essentially consists in the intellectual acceptance of the revealed sacra doctrina through divine faith; whereas Ratzinger posits that it consists in a personal encounter and one’s entrance into what he terms, the ‘Christ-Event,’ by entering the life, worship and faith of the Church (and especially through her liturgy). The dissertation contends that Ratzinger’s Revelation theology is congruent with Aquinas’s principles, since they fundamentally agree that the revelatory act is a divine ‘speech-act.’ (Although Thomas does not employ this exact term I believe it can be argued that it adequately describes his understanding). It also contends that Ratzinger advances Aquinas’s understanding by positing that Revelation is not just a ‘speech-act’ stuck in the past but has a perennial connotation as it is an ongoing dialogical ‘speech-act’ unfolding throughout history. Ratzinger does this by essentially incorporating history into his theology, as derived from his study of Bonaventure. Ratzinger also advances beyond Thomas’s understanding by affirming that for Revelation to be had it must be received, and that the proper receiving subject is not the individual believer but the believing community of the whole Church (this is ‘Revelation’s proper dialogue partner’). Here they differ in their respective understanding of the Church’s role. Whereas Ratzinger incorporates the Church into Revelation’s essential act, Aquinas understands it more as a guarantor of Revelation’s message. Regarding Revelation’s reception through faith, Aquinas understands it as an intellectual assent to the realities revealed; whereas Ratzinger understands it as consisting in a personal encounter whereby the believer enters into the divine dialogue of love by entering the Church’s life, teaching, worship, and especially her faith, as manifest in and through her liturgy. The Contribution made by this Comparative Study Undertaking this study, I offer a contribution to the ‘reconciliatory dialogue’ currently occurring between ‘intellectual descendants’ of the twentieth-century’s Catholic Ressourcement Movement and Neo-Scholastic Thomism. I contribute to our understanding of Aquinas’s positions concerning the way God reveals, and further our understanding of Revelation theology. The dissertation is not a historical study of Ratzinger and Aquinas, but a constructive study in systematic theology.

St. Thomas Aquinas is primarily a theologian. He writes of Sacred Scripture not only as a theologian, but because he is a theologian. As a master of theology his essential textbook was the Bible. From earlier theologians St. Thomas received an understanding of theology, which he shared with his contemporaries and which he in turn was to deepen and strengthen: Sacred Scripture provides the auctoritas of theology. It gives rise to theology, enables and governs it. M-D Chenu has emphasized and demonstrated St. Thomas’ fundamental reliance on the Bible as the foundation of his theological work.St. Thomas says that ‘the truth of faith is contained in Sacred Scripture.’ He understood that a cursory reading of the text would not reveal this truth very clearly, because it is in Scripture, but ‘diffusely, in diverse ways and sometimes darkly.’ Thomas provides an insight into his own approach to exegesis when he continues: ‘the result is that to draw out the truth of faith from Scripture requires a prolonged study and practice.’ Here we see Thomas the theologian approaching the sacred books in order to draw out carefully from them what faith teaches through them.St. Thomas served the Church as a ‘Master of the Sacred Scriptures’ (Magister in Sacra Pagina) and, therefore, as J. Mahoney states, the systematic works of Aquinas do not constitute his truly magisterial activity. Mahoney notes the valuable work of H. Denifle who, in his discussion of the text-books of the medieval professors of theology, shows the Bible to be the basic text-book and indicates that ‘the theologian of that day knew no book so well as the Bible.’

Books reviewed in this article: Christ in Christian Tradition. Volume Two, Part Two: The Church of Constantinople in the Sixrh Centuty. By Aloys Grillmeier. Christ in Christian Tradition, Volume Two, Part Four: The Church of Alexandria with Nubia and Ethiopia after 451. By Aloys Grillmeier. The Darkness of God: Negativity in Christian Mysticism. By Denys Turner. Hail Mary? The Struggle for Ultimate Womanhood in Catholicism. By Maurice Hamington. Christian Doctrine in the Light of Michael Polanyi's Theory of Personal Knowledge (Toronto Studies in Theology, no 66). By Joan Crewdson. Nonfoundationalism (Guides to Theological Inquiry). By John E. Thiel. Sacramenta: Bibliographia Internationalis. Compiled by Maksimilijan Žitnik. Critical Perspectives on Christian Education. Edited by Jeff Astley and Leslie Francis. After All: Religion Without Alienation. By Don Cupitt. The Last Philosophy. By Don Cupitt. The Christian God. By Richard Swinburne. Die Religionswissenschaft und das Christentum: Eine historische Untersuchung über das Verhältnis von Religionswissenschaft und Theologie (Studies in the History of Religions 61). By Sigurd Hjelde. John Duns Scotus: Contingency and Freedom, Lectura I, 39. Edited by A. Vos Jaczn, H. Veldhuis, A. H. Looman‐Graaskamp, E. Dekker and N. W. den Bok. Aquinas: Selected Philosophical Writings. Edited by T. McDermott. St Thomas Aquinas: Teacher of Truth. By Francis Selman. Aquinas' Five Arguments in the ‘Summa Theologiae’ la, 2, 3. By Lubor Velecky. Almighty God: A Study of the Doctrine of Divine Omnipotence, By Gijsbert Van Den Brink. God. Passibility and Corporeality. By Marcel Sarot. An Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion (Introducing Philosophy 1). By B. R. Tilghman. Ancient Greek Philosophy: Its Development and Relevance to Our Time. By Robert C. Trundle, Jr. Taking Life Seriously: A Study of the Argument of the ‘Nicomachean Ethics’. By Francis Sparshott. Feminist Interpretations of Plato (Re‐Reading the Canon). Edited by Nancy Tuana. In Spite of Plato: A Feminist Rewriting of Ancient Philosophy. By Adriana Cavarero. The War Lover: A Study of Plato's ‘Republic’. By Leon Harold Craig. Plotinus. By Lloyd P. Gerson. Al‐Farabi and His School, by Ian Richard Netton. The Age of German Idealism (Routledge History of Philosophy 6). Edited by Robert C. Solomon and Kathleen M. Higgins. ‘Fear and Trembling’ and ‘Repetition’ Edited by Robert L. Perkins. The Fear, the Trembling, and the Fire: Kierkegaard and Hasidic Masters on the Binding of Isaac. By Jerome I. Gellman. Kierkegaard and Modern Continental Philosophy. By Michael Weston. ‘The Letter on Apologetics’ and ‘History and Dogma’. By Maurice Blondel, texts presented and translated by Alexander Dru and Illtyd Trethowan. Being and My Being: Gabriel Marcel's Metaphysics of Incarnation. By Joseph Konickal. GenEthics: Technological Intervention in Human Reproduction as a Philosophical Problem. By Kurt Bayertz. Clinical Bioethics: Theory and Practice in Medical‐Ethical Decision Making. By James F. Drane. Ecotheology: Voices from South and North. Edited by David G. Hallman. Ecology, Policy and Politics: Human Well‐being and the Natural World (Environmental Philosophies). By John O'Neill. Emotion and Spirit: Questioning the Claims of Psychoanalysis and Religion. By Neville Symington. The Psychology of Religious Knowing. By Fraser Watts and Mark Williams. Counseling and Psychotherapy of Religious Clients: A Developmental Approach. By Vicky Genia. The Puzzle of Ethics. By Peter Vardy and Paul Grosch. Power and Christian Ethics. James P. Mackey. Knightly Piety and the Lay Response to the First Crusade: The Limousin and Gascony c.970‐c.1130. By Marcus Bull. The Envy of Angels: Cathedral Schools and Social Ideals in Medieval Europe, 950–1200. By C. Stephen Jaeger. Religion and Society in Russia: The Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries. By Paul Bushkovitch. Confession and Community in Seventeenth‐Century France. Catholic and Protestant Coexistence in Aquitaine. By Gregory Hanlon. The Devil's Dominion: Magic and Religion in Early New England. By Richard Godbeer. ‘No Religion Higher than Truth’: A History of the Theosophical Movement in Russia. By Maria Carlson. The Jesuit Myth. Conspiracy Theory and Politics in Nineteenth‐Century France. By Geoffrey Cubitt. Critics on Trial: An Introduction to the Catholic Modernist Crisis. By Marvin R. O'Connell. Religion and Democracy in Latin America. Edited by William H. Swatos. A Tale of Two Missions. By Michael Goulder. Studying John: Approaches to the Fourth Gospel. By John Ashton. The Epistle of Barnabas: Outlook and Background (Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 2/64). By James Carleton Paget.

BOOK REVIEWS 618 works (pp. 134-35) Augustine's emphasis is that these " greater works " consist quite simply of the faith through which sinners are made righteous, so that the preaching of Christ by believers accomplishes more than what Christ accomplished through his direct words and actions, though all of this is to be understood not as lack but as generosity on Christ's part (Tr. 7U-3). Augustine's hermeneutical procedure is worth analyzing. It may be, of course, that the Fourth Gospel itself contains all of these qualifications upon its promises. But one cannot help but notice Augustine's abundant use of passages from the Pauline epistles to reinforce the aspects of tentativeness and struggle in the Christian life and thus forestall a spirit of triumphalism. He is not functioning purely as a historical or literary commentator concerned with the text of the Fourth Gospel alone. His interpretation comes out of a situation of conflict-many conflicts!-in his own day, and it is executed by dealing with the New Testament as a whole, not supposing, however, that it is a perfectly homogeneous whole, but recognizing the diversity of voices with which it speaks and letting one part " correct " or at least clarify what might seem to be implied in another part. This is, of course, the usual procedure of the early centuries, when the New Testament canon still retained its pluralistic character. It may be worth closer examination in our own day, when we are confronted with a newly reinforced awareness of the diversity within the Scriptures and when questions concerning the meaning of the canon and the nature of the hermeneutical process have gained new urgency. Vanderbilt University Nashville, Tennessee EuGENE TESELLE Pattern for a Christian according to St. Thomas Aquinas. By A. I. MENNESSIER, 0. P. Translated by Nicholas Halligan, 0. P. New York: Alba House, 1975. Pp. ~9l5. $4.95. Pattern For A Christian is a marvelous explanation of the meaning of religion as transformed by Christ through the New Convenant of Faith, Hope, and Love in him. At the same time the author is disclosing for the reader the Christian rather than the so-called Aristotelian St. Thomas Aquinas. In order to achieve his twofold objective, Father Mennessier simply turns to Aquinas's commentaries on the Bible and those sections of his theological writings which are more directly inspired by Sacred Scripture . In reality, the author is convinced that St. Thomas is Christian in his use of Aristotle, for he used the writings of the Stagirite with his eyes fixed on Christ rather than on Greek thought. 614 BOOK REVIEWS Another corrective that Father Mennessier supplies is for those who limit themselves to one tract from the Summa and presume they have the total doctrine of Aquinas on the subject. By so doing, the author feels, they miss and at times distort the authentic teaching of the Angelic Doctor. One example from the book is the doctrine on grace. (cf. chapter 4) However, the main interest of this book is an adequate explanation of religion in all its aspects as taught by St. Thomas in the Summa and as elaborated upon in his commentaries on the Bible as' well as expressed in his preaching. The methodology of the book is ideal for attaining the purpose of the author. He sets up the doctrine, updated for our times, and explains it. Then he selects texts from St. Thomas as a continuation of his own thought. Father Mennessier introduces most of the texts with observations that focus the attention of the reader on the precise thrust of the text which comments , as it were, on the author's presentation. The result is a profound reenforcement of the central theme of the book, namely, how Christian religion is an embodiment of Faith, Hope, and Love. Without much explicit reference to the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy from Vatican II, the book, nonetheless, is extremely helpful in disclosing the theology involved in the new liturgy. Pere Chenu has written the Introduction and must have done so with great satisfaction. Father Mennessier has captured the message of Chenu's classic Toward Understanding St. Thomas and put the doctrine...

Reviewed by: Reading Sacred Scripture with Thomas Aquinas: Hermeneutical Tools, Theological Questions and New Perspectives ed. by Piotr Roszak and Jörgen Vijgen David Whidden Reading Sacred Scripture with Thomas Aquinas: Hermeneutical Tools, Theological Questions and New Perspectives edited by Piotr Roszak and Jörgen Vijgen (Turnhout: Brepols, 2015), xvi + 601 pp. One of the curiosities of Thomistic scholarship is that Aquinas's primary role as a Dominican master was to lecture on Scripture, yet until recently there has been relatively little attention paid to his engagement with Scripture. Scholarship on Aquinas's biblical commentaries has been neglected relative to the size of its presence in his corpus. A positive contribution to redressing this imbalance is in this recent text edited by Piotr Roszak and Jörgen Vijgen, who provide us with a collection of essays that investigate Aquinas's use of Scripture. Including the introductory essay, in twenty essays from international scholars we are presented with a variety of ways of understanding the role of Scripture in Aquinas's theology, the tools he used, how he thought about Scripture, and how his use of Scripture illuminates a variety of theological and philosophical questions. As with any other good collection of essays, the editors provide a thematic guide and summary of the work in their introduction, beginning by reiterating Étienne Gilson's claim that Aquinas's "entire theology … is a commentary on the Bible" (vii), and making their own argument that "the thought of Aquinas undoubtedly operates within a biblical horizon" (viii), a claim that is further strengthened by the variety of ways the other nineteen essays reinforce the primacy of Scripture in Aquinas's thought. The contribution of this book, however, is not just to describe the primacy of Scripture in Aquinas's thought, but to take into account his hermeneutical [End Page 331] perspective as we understand it now while pointing to future research directions. Likewise, the essays do not just look backward historically, but also provide fruitful links to contemporary issues. After the introduction, the next eleven essays are organized around the theme of hermeneutical tools. In these essays the authors attempt to provide an understanding of the Aquinas's basic exegetical approach, both in his theology of Scripture and in the variety of exegetical tools and methods he used. Several themes emerge out of these essays. One theme that is taken up is that of the multiple senses of Scripture and how Aquinas deploys them. On one hand Gilbert Dahan (50–52) argues that, while Aquinas speaks of the four senses of Scripture inherited from Stephen Langton, he also engages with the threefold sense of Scripture from Hugh of St. Victor. But, contrary to Aquinas's description in Summa theologiae I, q. 1, a. 10, Dahan argues that the four senses of Scripture are not really functional in Aquinas's exegesis (52) and that "the backbone of his hermeneutical system" is engaging with the texts through narrative, parabolic, and poetic modes (58). On the other hand, Elisabeth Reinhardt, in an essay describing how Aquinas's inaugural lectures programmatically shape his future exegesis, shows how the four senses of Scripture are operative in his exegesis of the Book of Romans (80–82). Likewise, Roszak shows how Aquinas's use of scriptural citations tends to have a more spiritual sense when used in his commentary on the Psalms (135–37), and Jeremy Holmes shows how Aquinas reads the Old Testament primarily through the spiritual sense, a reading based on a participation metaphysics that allows Aquinas to preserve the theological value of the Old Testament through a Christological reading of those texts. These essays helpfully point to a possible difference between Aquinas's theory of the senses of Scripture and how he actually deploys that theory in his actual exegetical practice, a difference that deserves further study. A second theme that emerges from these essays is the Christological shape of Aquinas's exegesis. Contrary to modern forms of exegesis, Aquinas sees Christ as the "center and summit of Sacred scripture and ultimately the reason for its unity" (Reinhardt, 88), so much so that, as Dahan points out, it is Christ who "gives the text its truth" (70). For...

Reviewed by: Dark Passages of the Bible: Engaging Scripture with Benedict XVI and Thomas Aquinas by Matthew J. Ramage Christopher T. Baglow Dark Passages of the Bible: Engaging Scripture with Benedict XVI and Thomas Aquinas by Matthew J. Ramage (Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 2013), vii + 303 pp. Fifty years ago, the German Jesuit and exegete Norbert Lohfink bemoaned the rumor that the fathers of the Second Vatican Council were considering removing the cursing psalms from the breviary, asking if such a move “might not be throwing the baby out with the bath water.” His fear was confirmed when Psalms 58, 83 and 109 were omitted from the psalter cycle because of “a certain psychological difficulty.”1 Despite the specification of the doctrine of inerrancy as pertaining to truth “for the sake of our salvation” in Dei Verbum §11, as well as the doctrinal commitment of Dei Verbum §12 to the necessity of a holistic reading of the biblical text in the light of Sacred Tradition, this pastoral decision regarding the Divine Office seems to indicate a lack of magisterial confidence that a proper interpretation of these psalms could be readily put into practice among those praying the official prayer of the Church. [End Page 707] This gap between conciliar teaching and application has become a hallmark of post-Vatican II biblical interpretation, which has been marked, on the whole, by a radical instability in which the use of modern methods of analysis and the hermeneutic of faith are rarely integrated. Current attempts at interpretation often swing wildly from one to the other, from historical-critical homilies that never seem to reach the point of preaching to strained attempts to domesticate the Bible by reference to one or more controlling concepts that promise to “unlock” it as a perspicuous sourcebook for faith and morals. In this confusion, the really difficult, even demoralizing, passages in the Bible are very often simply overlooked, so much so that Benedict XVI felt it necessary, in his apostolic exhortation Verbum Domini, to encourage scholars and pastors to avoid neglecting these “dark passages” and even “to help all the faithful” to understand them “in the light of the mystery of Christ” (§42). In response to this call, Matthew J. Ramage undertakes an encounter with the “dark passages” of the Bible and does so with candor, depth, and profound attention to the Catholic tradition of reading Sacred Scripture. His work, the published version of his doctoral dissertation, comprises a thorough synthesis of historical-critical exegesis and dogmatic interpretation that greatly respects and draws upon both approaches, bringing them into a fruitful synthesis that he applies, with great benefit, to some of the most unsettling passages of Sacred Scripture. Ramage introduces his work by expressing his goal: “to elucidate a theology of Scripture” that remains true to Catholic doctrine, but at the same time, contains an “inductive dimension” in which theory is confronted by reality in the historical-critical analysis of “the most difficult texts of Scripture” (3). To this end, he endeavors to wed the perspective of “Method A” exegesis—the patristic and medieval approach that emphasizes the unity and harmony of Sacred Scripture—with the practice of “Method B” exegesis—the unsparing scientific approach of the modern historian that seeks not to unite texts, but to distinguish them as products of unique human authors writing in specific historical and cultural situations. The product of this union is “Method C exegesis,” which Ramage hopes can synthesize such perspectives by relating unique texts through attention to development in light of the Catholic Faith, understood as the mature fruit of this development, never compromising, but carefully nuancing the doctrines of inspiration and inerrancy. These doctrines serve the Method C exegete not as rigid confines that commit the exegete to obscurantism, [End Page 708] nor as a substitute for encountering the Bible as a historian. Instead, they comprise the modus vivendi that enables the Christian exegete to have the courage and confidence to be unsparingly historical, to deal honestly with imperfect and even demoralizing passages as representing not themselves, but as one stage of a movement toward Christ. In the words of Benedict XVI, quoted by Ramage...

This article intends to demonstrate that St. Thomas affirmed that Sacred Scripture, understood in analogy with Sacra Doctrina, —that is, as the act by which God teaches us through Sacred Scripture— consists more in the infusion of the grace of the Holy Spirit than rather than the text itself. After establishing that Aquinas conceptualized it in this manner, we provide insights into the implications of principle principle for the biblical hermeneutics of St. Thomas Aquinas.

During the first half of the twentieth century, Thomas Aquinas’ On Prophecy was used. After the Second Vatican Council, this model was abandoned. Even when authors turned to St Thomas, they treated him in a residual way. Instead, a reflection on inspiration has been developed in relation to the charisms. This reflection, for all its merits, still does not give a complete answer to the questions of the truth and inerrancy of Sacred Scripture. A more attentive study of the texts of St Thomas will show the compatibility of his study with the new proposals which, moreover, can offer a better solution to the question of the truth of Sacred Scripture.

Towards the end of the past century, the divine gift of biblical inspiration begun to be considered as an aspect of the gift of prophecy, which St. Thomas explains in the questions 171-174 of the secunda secundae of the Summa Theologiae, as well as in other texts. Hence, the nature of the gift of biblical inspiration was understood as a case of prophecy in which God gives to the hagiographer the lumen divinum ad iudicandum, as speculative judgment; but at the same time that this lumen is not accompanied by the infusion of the species on the part of God. Biblical inspiration was then considered as revelatio late dicta. A few decades ago, serious objections came up opposing this form of explaining the divine gift of inspiration above all with arguments based on a clearer distinction between revelation and inspiration. The eminently practical character of biblical inspiration oriented towards writing is accentuated. This notion of inspiration is considered foreign to the formulation of the problem made by St. Thomas on the subject of prophetic gift. The essence of the gift of inspiration is placed not in the speculative judgment, which distinguishes the divine gift of revelation, but rather in the practical judgment which deliberates on the convenience of writing and the manner of doing it. In this context, it is highly significant that the Const. Dei Verbum of the II Vatican Council makes rejerence, in note 5 of paragraph 11, to a text of St. Thomas in which he studies the gift of prophecy: De Veritate q. 12, a. 2 c. In the last moments of the composition of Dei Verbum, this quotation of St. Thomas is inserted in order to clarify the correct meaning of biblical truth, one of the most discussecl topics of the mentioned conciliar Constitution. The truth, quam Deus nostrae salutis causa Litteris Sacris consignari voluit, understood (according to the orientation of note 5) under the light of Thomistic doctrine, supposes that the gift of inspiration involves on the part of the hagiographer an act of the speculative judgment. All the affirmations of the Sacred Scripture have been placed in script for our salvation. But at the same time, these are all true in themselves because they correspond to reality. They are salvific truths (salutares) that always maintain their true and salvific character. The very close relation between both concepts -truth and salvation- should not lead to a loss of the proper meaning of the former. This supposes that the gift of divine inspiration of the Holy Scripture includes an act of speculative judgment, in the manner of prophetic gift, as well as an act of practical judgment, which is also considered, in an analogous manner in the thomistic doctrine of the divine gift of prophecy.

We present how the theory of reasoning developed by Tadeusz Czeżowski, a Polish logician and a member of the Lvov-Warsaw School (LWS) can be applied to the mediaeval texts which interpret the Bible, which we collectively call as Biblical exegesis (BE). In the first part of the paper, we characterise Czeżowski's theory of reasoning with some modifications based on remarks of Kazimierz Ajdukiewicz. On these grounds, we discuss the nature of reasoning and its different types, as well as the problem of textual representation of reasoning. In the second part, we describe the analytical nature of some BE at the end of twelfth century and in the thirteenth century by referring to the examples of Stephen Langton, Robert Grosseteste, Bonaventure, Albert the Great and Thomas Aquinas. We argue that they represented an analytical approach in BE, characterised by advanced use of logic and specific methods, including reasoning reconstruction and logical analysis. In the third part, we present selected examples to show how Czeżowski's framework helps in identifying various types of reasoning. We indicate some universal problems with the textual representation of reasoning found in the BE of the authors in question. Lastly, we point out how Czeżowski's framework enables the understanding of phenomena such as ‘Special Biblical Inference’. Thanks to this experiment, we can see how a framework as advanced as that offered by LWS representatives can be put to the test using mediaeval Biblical commentaries, yielding interesting results.

Despite growing interest in Thomas Aquinas' biblical exegesis in general, and in his reading of Romans in particular, little attention has been given to the way Thomas actually uses scripture to do theology in his most enduring and influential work: the Summa theologiae. This article makes a preliminary attempt to remedy this neglect by exploring the role played by Romans 1:19-20 in the Summa. Given the deep connection of both Romans 1 and Aquinas to the perennial debates about natural theology, we might expect Thomas’ engagement with those verses to be concerned chiefly and resolutely with the questions animating these debates. But this is not at all the case. Far from being limited to arguments for philosophical knowledge of God, the Summa's more than twenty citations of Romans 1, I argue, re-present the whole drama of Christianity in microcosm. Even according to the letter, Paul's words have many senses for Thomas. The goal of this article is to draw out these many senses and demonstrate the creative interplay of scripture and theology in Thomas’ Summa.

In 1546, an important initiative in the field of Bible commentary and, insofar as we can use this word in a 16th century context, biblical exegesis, was taken in Louvain. As such, Baius is mainly known for his radically Augustinian doctrine of grace and salvation, which eventually earned him a papal condemnation in 1567. A contemporary of Hessels and Baius was Cornelius Jansenius, titled 'of Ghent' (†1576). After Baius' death, the royal chair of Sacred Scriptures was entrusted to Thomas Stapleton (1535-1598). To illustrate Stapleton's approach, this chapter considers how he treats the fall of Adam and its consequences for mankind in his Antidota to the Epistle of Paul to the Romans. All descendants of Adam are born burdened with guilt, as a consequence of Adam's sin, since all humanity share the same human nature.Keywords: Adam; Augustinian; Bible commentary; Cornelius Jansenius; Louvain; Paul; Romans; Sacred Scriptures; Thomas Stapleton