The Act of Faith According to St. Thomas: A Study in Theological Methodology

Abstract

THE THOMIST A SPECULATIVE QUARTERLY REVIEW OF THEOLOGY AND PHILOSOPHY EDITORS: THE DOMINICAN FATHERS OF THE PROVINCE OF ST. JOSEPH Publishers: The Thomist Press, Washington 17, D. C. VoL. XXIX JULY, 1965 No.3 THE ACT OF FAITH ACCORDING TO ST. THOMAS: A STUDY IN THEOLOGICAL METHODOLOGY EOKING THROUGH the works of Thomas Aquinas in their historical order, a reader quickly senses an increasing profundity in the saint's thinking. This maturing process one would naturally expect. But in what precisely does such maturity consist, when apparently the same conclusions are reached in both the early and the late works? Critical studies of Thomistic texts are, at least implicitly, efforts to answer this question. And one point continually emerges from a comparative analysis of texts: though Thomas' doctrine remains essentially constant, his way of approaching a problem changes from one work to another. Thus, in cases where Aquinas seems to reach the same conclusions and even to formulate them in essentially the same words, it is worthwhile examining carefully the arguments he uses. For it is possible that a different type of reasoning will change the ,sense or import of the conclusion. 239 240 TAD W. GUZIE The three Thomistic treatises on faith are instances of texts that contain essentially the same doctrine. The Commentary on the 8entences (1254-56), the De Veritate (125659 ), and the Summa Theologiae (II-II, 1271-72) show Aquinas making very few changes in his conclusions regarding the act of faith. But ·even a cursory glance at the internal arrangement of the three treatises reveals a striking change in approach. The structure of the Commentary on the Sentences 1 is of course largely dictated by Peter Lombard's treatise. Thus, taking up the problem of faith, Thomas first handles everything that touches ·the nature of faith as an act and as a virtue. His second question discusses the relation of faith to charity. He finally approaches the object of faith, finishing with an analysis of the principal articles of faith and some questions concerning the explanation of these truths to the faithful. 1 In III Sent., dist. 23-25. Distinctio 23 [q. 1 De virtutibus in generale] q. 2 De fide Utrum convenienter Apostolus definit fidem De actu fidei (3 aa.) De subiecto fidei (3) Utrum fides sit virtus (2) Utrum fides sit prior aliis virtutibus q. 3 De formatione fidei per caritatem (9 aa.) Distinctio 24 a. 1 Quid sit obiectum fidei (3) a. 2 Qualiter se habeat obiectum fidei ad nostram cognitionem (3) a. 3 De merito et laude fidei (3) Distinctio 25 q. 1 De definitione articulorum De articulo secundum se (3) Utrum convenienter articuli distinguantur in symbolo q. 2. De explicatione fidei De necessitate explicationis (4) Quantum ad quae oportet esse fidem explicitam (4) T.EDll AOT OF FAITH AOOORDING TO ST. THOMAS 241 In the De Veritate,2 there is ·a slight shift among the first questions. Quid sit credere now precedes quid sit fides, and an sit virtus comes before quid sit subiectum eius. The new order is more logical: the simple act before the habit, and the an est before the quid est. For the rest, the De Veritate is quite parallel to the Sentences. There are three questions on the relationship between faith and charity. Then, in Article 8, the problem of the object of faith is raised; and the last four ·articles take up various problems similar to those discussed in the last articles of the Sentences. Taken as a whole, the De Veritate is characterized by less of the intricate organization of questions that is found in Sentences; principal problems are highlighted, and many details are confined to the answers to the objections. But the 'OVer-all structure remains unchanged, and faith as a virtue still provides the basic point of reference for the treatise. A sharp contrast is at once noticed in the Summa.8 Thomas begins now with the object of faith, which was among the last of the questions discussed in the earlier works. In the course of ten articles, he treats everything • De Veritate, q. 14. Art. 1 Quid sit credere 2 Quid sit fides S Utrum fides sit virtus 4...