The Redemptive Role of Christ’s Resurrection

Abstract

THE REDEMPTIVE ROLE OF CHRIST'S RESURRECTION The Development in St. Thomas' Teaching OF all the miracles of Our Blessed Lord the greatest is that of His own Resurrection from the dead. From the first preaching of the Apostles this has been appreciated. In every age the heralds 'and exponents of the Gospel have constantly appealed to the Resurrection of Jesus as to the supreme and 'Unshakeable motive of credibility for the message they brought. If Christ be not risen from the dead, they have cried with St. Paul, your faith is vain. It is to be noted, however, that for too many the meaning and power of the Resurrection stopped short with that. It was the mightiest proof of Christ's Divinity and Messianship. It was, moreover, for Jesus Himself the moment of triumph and glorification. But nothing more. Such a manner of proceeding on the part of many Christian authors is a cause of wonderment when one considers, for instance, what the Resurrection meant to the Apostles themselves . Did the words of Paul which these men so confidently cited mean just that and nothing more? Was he merely giving proof of the general credibility of his doctrine? Even a cursory reading of his words in their context will show that indeed he was not. And modem scriptural scholarship is throwing more and more light upon the cardinal role of the Resurrection in Pauline theology and in the doctrine of the New Testament as a whole. This being so, it is very significant that in, the history of Christian thought as regards this mystery, the doctrine of St. Thomas Aquinas should stand out in the clearest relief. For 54 THE REDEMPTIVE ROLE OF CHRIST'S RESURRECTION 55 Thomas this mystery meant far more than a motive of credibility , far more than a personal glorification of the Saviour. The Resurrection of Christ looms large in his theology as an integral part of God's plan for human redemption. It follows without saying that a study of his teaching on the Resurrection will be at once interesting and rewarding. When one thinks of St. Thomas Aquinas, one thinks immediately of his Summa Theologiae. This is, true enough, his masterpiece, a sublime work of synthesis that embodies the fruits of long years of theological thought. Yet Thomas wrote many theological works besides the Summa, and in most of them he gave some treatment to the mystery of Our Lord's Resurrection. To treat in an adequate fashion of St. Thomas' teaching on the Resurrection .and its redemptive role would thus involve a study of his doctrine as it appears in these other works as well. Now such a study as this will reveal a very important fact: that the teaching of Aquinas on this point was not something fixed and unchanging. Throughout his years of teaching and writing, St. Thomas' doctrine ever continued to progress and develop. It was expressed more clearly; supported more strongly, linked more closely to the rest of his teaching. In some respects it changed altogether. It is this progress and development that is to be proposed in this present article. A Soteriological Role From the time of his first work in theology, the Commentary on the Sentences, St. Thomas attributed to Christ's Resurrection a prominent role in our redemption. This is clear from even a hasty study of this work, in which he states that the Resurrection was necessary, not only from the point of view of Christ Himself, but also ex paTte nostTa, and that the Resurrection of Jesus is indeed the cause of our resurrection from the dead.1 1 Cf. In Ill Smt., dist. XXI, q. i, a. I; In IV Sent., dist. XLIII, a. i, qla. 1. 56 NICHOLAS CROTTY St. Thomas treated significantly of the redemptive role of the mystery in many of his works.2 A study of them shows that his doctrine on this point can be subsumed under four heads: (a) The essential role of the Resurrection in the genesis of faith and consequently in our justification. (b) its ea:empla'f1J and moTal ca'U80.lity with respect to our justification and our bodily resurrection from the...