The Trinitarian christology of St Thomas Aquinas

280 Pages·2017·1.36 MB·English

by  Legge

THE TRINITARIAN CHRISTOLOGY
OF ST THOMAS AQUINAS

The Trinitarian
Christology of
St Thomas Aquinas
DOMINIC LEGGE, O.P.
1
3
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NihilObstat Imprimatur
Rev.ThomasJosephWhite,O.P. MostRev.BarryC.Knestout
CensorDeputatus AuxiliaryBishopofWashington
ArchdioceseofWashington
March16,2016
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Foreword
DominicLegge’sbookneedsnorecommendationbeyonditself:allits
readers will be able to confirm the high value of this research, the
conclusions of which are solidly based on a rigorous reading of the
texts of Thomas Aquinas. This work demonstrates the essentially
Trinitarian structure of the Christology of St Thomas. It is the first
monographthattreatsthisinacomprehensiveway,anditconstitutes
henceforththereferenceworkonthesubject.
“Aquinas’sChristologyisintrinsicallyTrinitarian.”Thekeytothis
affirmation resides in the recognition that the Trinitarian missions,
discussed in the first two chapters, are the point of departure for
St Thomas’s Christology. The incarnation, life, and work of Christ
are presented in those chapters as the “visible mission” of the Son.
Combinedwiththis,LeggeshowsconvincinglythattheSon’svisible
mission is inseparable from the visible mission of the Holy Spirit,
andthatthesevisiblemissionsareorderedtothe“invisiblemissions,”
that is, to the gift, at once interior and ecclesial, of salvation. To be
evenmoreprecise,thekeytothisbook’sargumentisthat“amission
includes the eternal procession, with the addition of a temporal
effect.”1 The mission of a divine person “is not essentially different
from the eternal procession, but only adds a reference to a temporal
effect.”2 This approach to reading Christology in light of Aquinas’s
theologyofthedivinemissionsbringsnumerousconsequencesinits
wake; I would like to note four that, in my view, merit special
attention.
First, in CHAPTER4, the doctrine of the missions allows one to
appreciate what, in the incarnation, pertains properly and distinctly
to the person of the Son: the incarnation is a union in the “personal
being” (esse personale) of the Son. This accounts for the personal
identity of Christ as the incarnate Son. To consider Christ “in him-
self,”inhispersonalbeing,isalwaystoconsiderhiminhisrelations
to the Father and to the Holy Spirit. Based on this, because each
divinepersonactsinaproperanddistinctmodethatcorrespondsto
1 SThI,q.43,a.2ad3. 2 ISent.d.16,q.1,a.1.
vi Foreword
hismodeofexisting,LeggeisabletouncovernotonlyChrist’s“filial
mode of being,” but also his “filial mode of acting.” This mode of
actingisalsoitselfrelational:ChristactsfromtheFatherandleadsto
the Father. From one end to the other, and even unto the salvific
effectsofChrist’swork,ThomasAquinasoffersa filialChristology.
Simultaneously, the Christology of Thomas Aquinas is a genuine
SpiritChristology.ThecentraltexthereisSThIII,q.7,a.13,studied
inCHAPTER5.Inbecomingincarnate,theSon(withtheFather)sends
“thewholeSpirit”tothehumanitythatheassumesintheunityofhis
person.ThefullnessofgraceandknowledgeinChrist(aneffectofthe
invisiblemissionoftheHolySpirit)flowsfromthehypostaticunion
(thevisiblemissionoftheSon).Thispermitsonetoseewhy,accord-
ingtoStThomas,thefullnessofChrist’shumanknowledge,studied
inCHAPTER6,issometimesattributedtotheSonhimself(byreasonof
the hypostatic union) and sometimes is more precisely attributed to
the Holy Spirit (by reason of the mission of the Holy Spirit made to
Christattheinstantofhisconception):theSonsendshisownSpirit
tothehumanitythatheassumes.Inthisway,ThomasAquinasshows
that Christ as man is at the same time, under different but
intrinsically linked aspects, the beneficiary and the giver of the Holy
Spirit(CHAPTERS7and8).Theaspectofgiving,whichisexplainedby
theinstrumentalefficiencyofChrist’shumanity,findsitsfoundation
inTrinitariandoctrine.Inhisvisiblemission(seeCHAPTER3),theSon
issentas“theAuthorofsalvation”(sanctificationisAuctor),thatis,as
the principle of and giver of the Holy Spirit, while the Holy Spirit is
sent as “the Gift of sanctification” (sanctificationis Donum), the one
whoaccomplishesoursanctificationinteriorly.Christunitesbelievers
totheFatherbypouringoutuponthemtheSpiritwithwhichhisown
humanity is filled. This presence of the Holy Spirit at the heart of
ChristologyisafruitofThomasAquinas’sunderstandingofthedeep
significanceofTrinitariancommunion.
Second, a Christology centered on the divine missions presents
thegreatadvantageofreunitingtheactionsofChristwithhisteach-
ing. St Thomas presents the visible missions of the Holy Spirit (at
Christ’sbaptism,athistransfiguration,atPentecost)astheoverflow
of Christ’s fullness of grace “by way of teaching” and “by way of
operation.” The teachingof Christ isan integral part of Christology.
This approach joins Christology and Ecclesiology under the sign of
the Holy Spirit, in the relation that Christ has with his Father. It
avoids isolating the incarnation, the passion, and the resurrection,
Foreword vii
instead considering the whole of Christ’s life as a work of revelation
and of salvation. And in the perspective of the divine missions, the
intrinsic link between revelation and salvation that one finds at the
heart of Christology is illuminated. This is because, on Aquinas’s
account, the visible missions manifest the eternal processions of the
persons(revelationoftheTrinity)andtheyalsomanifesttheinvisible
missions (the interior gift of salvation that is accomplished through
thesendingoftheSonandtheSpiritintothesoulsofthejust).
Third, St Thomas’s Trinitarian Christology accounts for the rela-
tionthatbelievershavewitheachdivineperson.Ifoneconsidersthe
effectsofthedivinemissionsundertheir“intentional”aspect—thatis,
in their dynamism toward the objects to which they lead us (the
divine persons as known and loved)—one sees that the gifts of
elevating grace (wisdom and charity) flowing from Christ’s saving
work refer us to the three persons inasmuch as these persons are
distinctfromeachotherandareapprehendedintheirpropersingu-
larity: the first as Father, the second as only-begotten Son, and the
thirdastheHolySpiritwhocomesforthfromtheFatherandtheSon.
Christ and the Holy Spirit lead us to the Father by giving us a
participation in the very relations that they have with the Father.
StThomas’sChristology,intrinsicallyTrinitarianasitis,isthusmuch
morepersonalistthanisgenerallythought.
Finally, Aquinas’s TrinitarianChristology invites us to restore the
gifts of the Holy Spirit, so often neglected today, to their rightful
importance. On this score, CHAPTER7 offers an original contribution
ofthefirstimportance.Thehypostaticunionconstitutesthehuman-
ity of Christ as an instrument of the divinity, but it remains for the
HolySpirittoperfectthathumanitytomakeitasuitableandworthy
instrument of the divinity. The gifts of the Holy Spirit do not only
implyahabitual“instinct”tofollowtheSpirit’spromptings,butalso
theactualmotionoftheHolySpiritinthesoul.InChristology,then,
along with St Thomas’s account of the connection between the
hypostatic union and Christ’s fullness of grace (STh III, q. 7, a. 13),
onecanmeditateuponaparalleltruthfoundinAquinas’scommen-
taryonHebrews9:14abouthowtheHolySpiritmovesChrist: “The
cause why Christ shed his blood...was the Holy Spirit, by whose
motionandinstinct—namely,bycharityforGodandforneighbor—
hedidthis.”
Dominic Legge’s book brings freshness and new life to our under-
standingoftheChristologyofThomasAquinas,becauseitsuccessfully
viii Foreword
restorestoitsprimacytheTrinitarianapproachthatguidesthetheology
ofthe Dominicanmaster.Thispermitsthe readertoavoidthe snares
offalseoppositions(e.g.incarnationvs.paschalmystery,theocentrism
vs. Christocentrism, Christomonism vs. pneumatology, ontology vs.
salvificaction,andsoon),andtobettergrasp,asLeggewritesinhis
conclusion, that “the Trinitarian shape of our salvation is derived
from the Trinitarian shape of the mystery of the incarnation.”
GillesEmery,O.P.
OrdinaryProfessorofDogmaticTheology
UniversityofFribourg(Switzerland)
PalmSunday,2016
Acknowledgments
IoweagreatdebtofgratitudetoFr.GillesEmery,O.P.,Professorof
Theology at the University of Fribourg. His encouragement of my
research stretches back to 2007 when, as a student at the Pontifical
Faculty of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., my
interest in this subject had just been kindled. His scholarship has
givenimpetustothepresentproject,andhisaidandadvicehavebeen
invaluable.Icannotthankhimenough.
Thanks are due to many others. My brethren in the Dominican
Province of St Joseph have made this work possible in more
ways than I can name, beginning with their acceptance of me as
one of their own, in virtue of which I have had the opportunity to
study St Thomas as a Dominican since my entry into the Order of
Preachers.Likewise,thebrethrenoftheAlbertinum,theinternational
DominicanprioryinFribourgwherethisbookwaswritten,havebeen
aconstantsupport.Mytimetherewasrichanddeeplyformative.
Two Dominican contemplative nuns—Sister Maria of the Angels,
O.P. (of the Monastery of Our Lady of Grace in North Guilford,
Connecticut), and Sister Mary Dominic of the Holy Spirit, O.P. (of
the Monastery of Our Lady of the Rosary in Buffalo, New York)—
readtheentiremanuscriptandgavemeinvaluablehelpineditingand
correcting it, both as to its form and its substance. In addition, their
prayers,theprayersoftheothernunsinNorthGuilfordandBuffalo,
andmanyothers(ImustmentionespeciallySr.MariaDominicofthe
Incarnate Word, O.P. of Queen of Peace Monastery; the Dominican
nunsofLinden,Virginia;ofParay-le-Monial,France;andofSummit,
NewJersey; SistersMarisStella,O.C.D,andMaryBenedicta,O.C.D,
of the Carmelite Monastery of Flemington, New Jersey; and the
Carmelite nuns of Denmark, Wisconsin) have been an inestimable
aid over the years of my research. Finally, I would like to thank my
parents,whoseloveandsupporthasbeenafirmfoundationfromthe
firstmomentofthisprojectuntilthelast.