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177 Pages·2016·10.1 MB·English
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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 How to cite: DE-SPAIN, BENJAMIN,ROSS (2016) Hope for the Doctrine of the Divine Ideas: A Study on the Habit of Thinking Theologically in the Summa Theologiae of Thomas Aquinas, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/11530/ Use policy Thefull-textmaybeusedand/orreproduced,andgiventothirdpartiesinanyformatormedium,withoutpriorpermissionor charge,forpersonalresearchorstudy,educational,ornot-for-pro(cid:28)tpurposesprovidedthat: • afullbibliographicreferenceismadetotheoriginalsource • alinkismadetothemetadatarecordinDurhamE-Theses • thefull-textisnotchangedinanyway Thefull-textmustnotbesoldinanyformatormediumwithouttheformalpermissionofthecopyrightholders. PleaseconsultthefullDurhamE-Thesespolicyforfurtherdetails. AcademicSupportO(cid:30)ce,DurhamUniversity,UniversityO(cid:30)ce,OldElvet,DurhamDH13HP e-mail: [email protected]: +4401913346107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk 2 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

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Thinking Theologically in the Summa Theologiae of Thomas Aquinas, 27 (Louvain: Peeters, 1993), 213–17; Rega Wood, “Distinct Ideas and 17 Gilles Emery, O.P., The Trinitarian Theology of Saint Thomas Aquinas, trans.
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