Hope for the Doctrine of the Divine Ideas

177 Pages·2016·10.1 MB·English

Durham E-Theses
Hope for the Doctrine of the Divine Ideas: A Study on
the Habit of Thinking Theologically in the Summa
Theologiae of Thomas Aquinas
DE-SPAIN, BENJAMIN,ROSS
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Hope for the Doctrine of the Divine Ideas
A Study on the Habit of Thinking Theologically in the Summa
Theologiae of Thomas Aquinas

By

Benjamin R. DeSpain

Submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy

at the

University of Durham
Department of Theology and Religion

2015
i
Abstract
This thesis offers a reconstructive reading of Thomas’s doctrine of the divine ideas, and its
contribution to his pedagogical efforts in the Summa Theologiae to train its readers in the habit of
thinking theologically. I argue that through a series of primary and peripheral gestures, Thomas
appropriates the doctrine of the divine ideas to help guide his readers from the confession of
faith to the understanding of humanity’s creational and soteriological dependence on God.
Accordingly, Thomas’s multilevel integration of the divine ideas into the Summa typifies the
convergence of faith and reason that defines the nature of theological discourse in his exposition
of sacra doctrina. More specifically, this integration reflects Thomas’s understanding of the
theological task as the contemplative process of discerning the fittingness (convenientia) of God’s
actions revealed in the mysteries of faith. Following the pedagogical structure of the Summa, then,
Thomas uses the doctrine of the divine ideas to help discern the mysteries of creation and
salvation. Corresponding to this pedagogical repurposing of the divine ideas, Thomas’s
intimations and subtle references to the divine ideas throughout the Summa are designed to direct
the reader’s attention to the goal of theological inquiry, which is the contemplative vision of God.
He does this by utilizing the divine ideas both to prepare his readers for his theological
exposition on God’s creational activity and providential oversight of all that exists and
supplement their understanding of these issues. Thomas’s theological appropriation of the divine
ideas is, therefore, grounded in the unity of his exposition on the trinitarian life of God, which
demonstrates that his integration and elevation of the doctrine is rooted in his understanding of
theological inquiry as a pedagogical response to God’s self-disclosure in scripture. This process
of appropriating and elevating the doctrine of the divine ideas into dialogue with the mysteries of
faith culminates when Thomas extends the grammar of the divine ideas into his theological
reflections on Christ’s salvific work and humanity’s response.
ii
Statement of Copyright
The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation of it should be published in any
format, including electronic, without the author’s prior written consent. All information derived
from this thesis must be acknowledged appropriately.
iii
Declaration
This work has been submitted to the University of Durham in accordance with the regulations
for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. It is my own work, and no part of it has been previously
submitted to the University of Durham or in any other university for a degree.
iv
Contents

Abstract ................................................................................................................................................................................. i
Statement of Copyright ...................................................................................................................................................... ii
Declaration .......................................................................................................................................................................... iii
Contents .............................................................................................................................................................................. iv
Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................................................................ vi
Abbreviations ..................................................................................................................................................................... vii

Chapter One – Introduction: Making a Case for Rereading Thomas’s Doctrine of the
Divine Ideas ....................................................................................................................................................... 1
1.1 Problematic Methodologies: Interpreting Thomas’s Doctrine of the Divine Ideas ........... 1
1.2 An Argument for the Fitting Gestures of the Divine Ideas in the Summa Theologiae .......... 5
1.3 Notes on Method, Audience, and Scope ......................................................................................... 8
1.4 Outline ...................................................................................................................................................... 15

Chapter Two – The Habit of Thinking Theologically: Faith seeking Understanding in
the Summa Theologiae ............................................................................................................................................ 18
2.1 There and Back Again: from Pedagogy to Reception ................................................................ 20
2.1.1 Setting up the Pedagogical Parameters: The Pattern of Theological Discourse ............. 21
2.1.2 The Trinitarian Basis for Thomas’s Pedagogical Paradigm ............................................... 23
2.1.3 Rupture in the Reception of Thomas’s Summa Theologiae ................................................... 25
2.2 The First Question, the Oldest Question . . . A Note on the Summa’s Audience ............ 25
2.3 Knowing the Unknown God through Faith ................................................................................. 28
2.3.1 The Apophatic Turn in Thomist Studies and the Question of Real Knowledge ........... 28
2.3.2 The Character of Knowledge in Sacra Doctrina .................................................................... 30
2.3.3 The Knowledge of Faith in Sacra Doctrina ............................................................................ 32
2.4 Hold Tight and Pretends it’s a Plan: The Structure of the Summa ...................................... 34
2.5 Conclusion: Thomas Aquinas as Teacher of the Divine Ideas ................................................ 38

Chapter Three – A Case for the Theological Validity of the Divine Ideas ....................................... 40
3.1 The Theological Intelligibility of the Divine Ideas ..................................................................... 42
3.1.1 Prelude: A Summary of Summa Theologiae 1a.15 ................................................................... 44
3.1.2 Peering Beneath the Surface of Things: Thomas’s Silence in ST 1a.15 ........................... 49
3.2 Revisiting Josef Pieper’s Hidden Key ............................................................................................. 53
3.2.1 A Discussion on Pieper’s Hermeneutical Precepts ............................................................. 54
3.2.2 Filling the Void: Situating Thomas’s Doctrine of the Divine Ideas ................................. 57
3.3 Divine Difference in Creational Imitation .................................................................................... 60
3.3.1 Creation’s Twofold Sense of Truer Existence ..................................................................... 61
3.3.2 Aquinas’s Eschatological Exemplarism: Creatura in Deo est creatrix essentia ...................... 64

Chapter Four – The Grounds for a Trinitarian Rereading of the Divine Ideas ............................. 69
4.1 An Excursus on Thomas’s Formal and Applied Grammars for the Divine Ideas ........... 71
4.2 The Logic of Theological Fittingness ............................................................................................. 75
4.3 Stick to the Plan: The Unity of the Summa’s Treatise on God ................................................ 79
4.4 The Fittingness of Speaking about the Trinitarian Processions as Rationes ......................... 84
4.5 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................... 91

Chapter Five – Peripheral Preface: A Metaphysical Prefix to Thomas’s Doctrine of the
Divine Ideas ................................................................................................................................................................... 92
5.1 Worlds Apart: The Curious Practice of Bifurcating Theology and Philosophy ................ 94
5.1.1 Sweeping away Theological Tradition in favor of a Thomist Philosophy ....................... 95
5.1.2 Exchanging a Philosophy of the Many for a Theology of the One ................................. 99
v
5.1.3 Leaving Theology Behind ..................................................................................................... 100
5.2 Overture to the Intelligibility of God ............................................................................................ 102
5.2.1 Reading between the Lines: The Fourth Way on a Plurality of Extrinsic Exemplars . 107
5.2.2 The Fifth Way: An Overlooked Allusion to the Divine Ideas? ...................................... 111
5.3 Theological Appropriation of the Divine Ideas in the Doctrine of
Divine Providence .............................................................................................................................. 114

Chapter Six – The Theological Metaphysics of Hope (and Spiritual Despair) ........................... 120
6.1 Supernatural Complement to a Natural Capacity: Some Background Notes ................... 123
6.2 Eschatological Fulfillment: Humanity’s Happy Ending .......................................................... 126
6.3 Motus Spei: Incedens Deo et Divinae Ideae Sui Ipsius ........................................................... 130
6.4 Spiritual Despair: Denying One’s True Meaning ...................................................................... 134
6.5 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................. 136

Chapter Seven – Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 138
7.1 Ressourcement’s Double-Edged Sword ............................................................................... 140
7.2 The End is Silence: A Final Plea for Reclaiming the Doctrine of the Divine Ideas ....... 143

Bibliography ..................................................................................................................................................................... 145
vi
Acknowledgements

On the road to completing this project, I have been fortunate enough to receive guidance and
support from many wise and kind people, and I owe a great debt of gratitude to them all. I must
first thank my supervisor, Chris Insole, who, after graciously agreeing to oversee this project, has
continued to offer indispensable insight and feedback on my work. Many thanks are also due to
Mark McIntosh, who both inspired this study and offered me unerring support during his time at
Durham University. I have also benefitted greatly from other members of the Theology and
Religion faculty here at Durham University, including, in particular, Lewis Ayres, Douglas Davies,
and Paul Murray. Moreover, the monotony of doctoral work was joyfully interrupted many times
by my officemates in No. 37 North Bailey. A special thanks is also owed to Brett Bebber, who
has always offered the best comradeship one could ask for in this world of intellectual inquiry.
Finally, I would like to thank my parents, Mark and Barbara DeSpain, for their love and
unending support, my children, Nevin, Sydney, and Will, who remind me everyday to laugh, and
my wife, Jo, whose love and support carried this project to completion.

Ben DeSpain
Durham, 26 September, 2015
vii

Abbreviations

I. Works by Thomas Aquinas

BDH Expositio libri Boetii De hebdomadibus
BDT Super Boetium De Trinitate
Compend. Theol. Compendium Theologiae seu brevis compilation theologiae ad fratrem Raynaldum
DDN Super librum Dionysii De divinis nominibus
De ente De ente et essentia
De pot. Quaestiones disputatae De potentia
De spir. creat. Quaestiones disputatae De spiritualibus creaturis
De sub. sep. De substantiis separatis ad fratrem Raynaldum
De ver. Quaestiones Disputatae De veritate
Expos. Iob Expositio super Iob ad litteram
Expos. Isa. Expositio super Isaiam ad litteram
In Rom., etc. Expositio et Lectura super Epistolas Pauli Apostoli
Lect. Ioan. Lectura super Ioannem
Quod. Quaestiones de Quodlibet I-XII
SCG Summa contra Gentiles
SDC Super librum De causis
Sent. Scriptum super libros Sententiarum
Sent. de Anima Sententia libri De anima
Sent. Metaph. Sententia super Metaphysicam
Sent. Phys. Sententia super Physicam
SLE Sententia libri Ethicorum
ST Summa Theologiae
Sup. Ps. Postilla super Psalmos

II. Works by Ancient, Patristic, and Medieval Authors (arranged alphabetically by author)

Conf. Augustine, Confessionum libri XIII
De civ. dei Augustine, De civitate Dei
De Gen. ad litt. Augustine, De Genesi ad litteram libri XII
De div. quaest. Augustine, De diversis quaestionibus octoginta tribus
De Trin. Augustine, De Trinitate
De ver. rel. Augustine, De vera religione
Trac. in Io. Augustine, In Iohannis Evangelium tractatus
Monol. Anselm, Monologion
Meta. Aristotle, Metaphysica
Nic. Eth. Aristotle, Ethica Nicomachea
Po. An. Aristotle, Analytica Posteriora
Coll. in Hex Bonaventure, Collationes in Hexaemeron
Comm. in Evang. Bonaventure, Commentarius in Evangelium S. Ioannis
Inst. Cassian, De institutis coenobiorum et de octo principalium uitiorum remediis
Hom. in prol. Io. Eriugena, Homilia in prologum Sancti Evangelii secundum Ioannem
Periphy. Eriugena, Periphyseon
De prin. Origen, De Principiis