Jean Pierre Torrell Aquinas's Summa Background, Structure, And Reception. PDF
Preview Jean Pierre Torrell Aquinas's Summa Background, Structure, And Reception.
Aeterni Patris and its Consequences ’ Summa Background,Structure, & Reception Y Jean-Pierre Torrell,O.P. ’ AQUINAS S Summa Background, Structure, & Reception Y Translated by Benedict M.Guevin,O.S.B. The Catholic University of America Press Washington,D.C. Copyright © The Catholic University of America Press All rights reserved The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standards for Information Science—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library materials,ansi z.–. ∞ Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Torrell,Jean-Pierre. [Somme de theologie de saint Thomas d’Aquin.English] Aquinas’s Summa :background,structure,and reception / Jean-Pierre Torrell ;translated by Benedict M.Guevin.— st ed. p.mcm. Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn 13:----(pbk.:alk.paper) isbn 10:---(pbk.:alk.paper) .Thomas,Aquinas,Saint,?–.Summa theologica.m .Theology,Doctrinal.m.Catholic Church—Doctrines.mI.Title. bx.tt .—dc Contents Y Foreword / ix I.The Author and His Work / Early Formative Years First Teaching Experience at Paris (–) Returnto Italy:Orvieto (–) Stay in Rome (–) Return to Paris (–) Naples:The Last Months and Death (–) II.The Summa: Structures and Content I / The First Part / “Sacra Doctrina” God God in His Work The Second Part / ACircular Plan The Second Volume Human Acts Lawand Grace III.The Summa: Structures and Content II / The Virtues and the Vices AMorality ofVirtues vi Contents Major Themes of This Second Stage / The Theological Virtues The Queen of the Cardinal Virtues The Connection of the Virtues Particular Situations The Third Part / AReview of the Structure of the Summa Christ / Reasons of Appropriateness The Humanity of Christ The “Mysteries”of Christ’s Life The Sacraments / ASanctifying Reality Body and Spirit The Uncompleted End / IV.The Literary and Doctrinal Milieu / LiteraryPanorama / “Lectura” Questions and Quodlibets Sentences Summas The Christian Sources / The Bible The Fathers Greeks,Jews,and Arabs/ Aristotle Medieval Neoplatonism The Stoics Avicenna Averroës Maimonides Contents vii V.The Summa through History / First Period (–)/ First Polemics The Beginnings of Thomism Second Period (–)/ The Advent of the Summa Cajetan Vitoria and the School of Salamanca John of St.Thomas The Jesuits and the Carmelites VI.The Summa in the Twentieth Century / Aeterni Patrisand Its Consequences / First Fruits Renewal Translations Vatican II and Its Immediate Aftermath Thomism and Medievalism The Current State of Affairs / Publications Three Institutions Conclusion / Annotated Bibliography / Index / Aeterni Patris and its Consequences Foreword Y T is such that it can over- shadow their authors and the rest of their writings as well.The Summa theologiae is probably the most striking example of this. It is well known that Saint Thomas Aquinas wrote the Summa theologiaeand that he lived in the Middle Ages. But fewreaders know what kind of man he was,the kind of life he led,or his other writings.The renown of the title of his major work is such that we may be surprised to learn that he wrote a second Summa, the Summa contra Gentiles, and that several other authors,Thomas’s nearest contemporaries,also wrote their own “Summas.” In order to understand the Summa theologiae better, one should certainly become familiar with its content. But it is of equal importance to situate it in its historical,literary,and doc- trinal settings.Only in doing this can we come to appreciate its originality.Thomas Aquinas was not like Melchisedek of the Bible—without ancestry. He had a history that was both per- sonal and intellectual.He drew from a number of other authors: writersinspired bythe Bible or by the ancient world;pagans and Christians;Greek,Jewish,and Arab philosophers;theologians of the Latin tradition that either preceded him or were contempo- raneous with him;as well as eminent theologians of the Greek and Eastern churches.Aquinas’s strong personality brought unity to all of these sources,as a great river unites its numerous tribu- ix x Foreword taries. Traces of these currents remain throughout his work, however,and it is important to know what they are. The enduring quality of an author’s thought is measured in part by its permanence over time and by its capacity not,as is sometimes said,to answer questions it never even asked,but to inspire solutions to problems for future generations because of the breadth of the great intuitions that govern it.Therein lies,no doubt,the major reason for the Summa’s lastingness and its en- during fruitfulness.The Summa is,of course,a work of its time, that is, of the Scholastic period, with its own tools and tech- niques.It is important to know how to handle and make use of them,which is not so easy at first.But once we gain a certain mastery,we come to discover the validity of the method and the richness of the content. Sylvester of Ferrara, an enthusiastic disciple of Aquinas’s, wrote of him that he was a man “for all hours.”Only the future will be able to tell us whether the Summa,nowmore than seven hundred years old,is a book “for all ages.”With,it must be ad- mitted, varying degrees of success, Aquinas’s disciples have strived to penetrate his thought and to bring it into dialogue with the problems of their own time.We can even marvel that his thought has been able to withstand generations of imitators. There are signs in our own day and age that show that Thomas’s thought is still alive. Aeterni Patris and its Consequences ’ Summa Background,Structure, & Reception Y
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