Thomas’s Authority for Identifying Charity as Friendship: Aristotle or John 15?

Abstract

The Thomist 62 (1998): 581-601 THOMAS'S AUTHORITY FOR IDENTIFYING CHARITY AS FRIENDSHIP: ARISTOTLE OR JOHN 15? ANTHONY W. KEATY St. John's Seminary Brighton, Massachusetts IN HIS INTRODUCTORY question in the Summa Theologiae on the nature and extent of sacred doctrine, Thomas states that the canonical Scriptures function as the primary authority for sacred doctrine (STh I, q. 1, a. 8). Indeed, unlike the principles derived from philosophers and from the Doctors of the Church which yield probable conclusions only, arguments based upon sacred Scripture result in incontrovertible conclusions (ibid., ad 2). However, it is not always evident how, if at all, in the questions and articles of the Summa Theologiae Scripture does indeed function as Thomas's chief authority.1 A case in point is Thomas's description of charity in terms of friendship (STh 11-11, q. 23, a. 1). Two recent interpreters have emphasized in their reading ofThomas the influence ofAristotle's treatment of friendship, leaving unclear the influence of such scriptural references as John 15:15; 1 Corinthians 1:9; Philippians 3:20; and Revelation 22:3-4.2 1 Relatively few studies have been done on Thomas's use of Scripture in the Summa Theologiae. For such studies see Rosaire Bellemare, "La Somme de Thfologie et la lectura de la Bible," Eglise et Theologie 5 (1974): 257-70; W. G. Valkenberg, "Did not our Hearts Burn?" Place and Function ofHoly Scripture in the Theology ofSt. Thomas Aquinas (Utrecht: Thomas Institut, 1990); idem, "The Function of Holy Scripture in Aquinas' Theology of the Resurrection of Christ," in Storia del Tomismo (fonti e riflessi): Atti del IX Congresso Tomistico Internazionale VI (Citta del Vaticano: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1992); Marc Aillet, Lire la Bible avec St. Thomas: La passage de la littera ares dans la Somme Theologique (Fribourg: Fribourg S. Ed. Universitaires, 1993). 2 See L. Gregory Jones, "The Theological Transformation of Aristotelian Friendship in the Thought of St. Thomas Aquinas," New Scholasticism 61 (1987): 373-99; Paul Wadell, Friends ofGod: Virtues and Gifts in Aquinas (New York: Peter Lang, 1991). 581 582 ANTHONYW. KEATY This paper analyzes the first two articles of STh II-II, q. 23, which is the first question in Thomas's treatise on charity.3 Concerning the first article I hope to show that in calling charity friendship it is Scripture, especially John 15:15, rather than Aristotle that governs Thomas's interpretation of charity. Concerning the second article I hope to show how Thomas uses Scripture, again John 15:15, as his first premiss in a particular argument concerning the created nature of charity. This paper seeks to make two contributions. First and more narrowly, I hope to bring to light in a more adequate way the significance of Thomas's calling Christian charity friendship. Second, and more generally, by examining how Thomas uses Scripture in a specific instance, I hope to illustrate a way of reading the questions and articles of the Summa Theologiae that allows Scripture to function as Thomas's principal authority. As a parenthetical remark, in limiting the following analysis of STh II-II, q. 23, aa. 1and2 to the role played by John 15:15, I do not intend to deny the importance of the other Scripture passages cited by Thomas in these two articles; the limitation is necessary due to the constraints of space. I. THOMAS'S AUTHORITIES IN STHII-II, Q. 23, A. 1 A) Aristotle as Thomas's Authoritative Source? In Thomas's identification of charity as friendship, L. Gregory Jones finds an ambiguous reliance by Thomas on Aristotle. "[W]hile it can be justly said that Thomas 'baptizes' Aristotle's account of friendship, it must also be admitted that Thomas's indebtedness to Aristotle's 'Unmoved Mover' constrains his account of the moral possibility and significance of friendship with God."4 By identifying charity as friendship with God (STh II-II, q. 23, a. 1), Thomas, according to Jones, indicates that "the telos of the 3 The eight articles of STh 11-11, q. 23 are divided into an identification of the genus to which charity belongs, namely virtue, and into an identification of the specific difference of charity with respect...