Thomas Aquinas' Exposition of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit

230 Pages·2012·1.42 MB·English

THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA

Thomas Aquinas’ Exposition of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit:
Developments in His Thought and Rival Interpretations

A DISSERTATION

Submitted to the Faculty of the

School of Theology and Religious Studies

Of The Catholic University of America

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

For the Degree

Doctor of Sacred Theology

By

James W. Stroud

Washington, DC

2012

!
Thomas Aquinas’ Exposition of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit:
Developments in His Thought and Rival Interpretations

James W. Stroud, S.T.D.

Director: William C. Mattison III, Ph.D.

Despite the renewed interest in the moral theology of St. Thomas since the time of Leo
XIII, little attention has been paid to the topic of the gifts of the Holy Spirit among moral
theologians, which is puzzling considering St. Thomas viewed the gifts as necessary for
the moral life. Among the few scholars who discuss the gifts of the Holy Spirit, a
considerable disagreement has emerged regarding how to understand St. Thomas’
doctrine of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The purpose of this dissertation is to elucidate an
account of St. Thomas’ doctrine of the gifts of the Holy Spirit through an examination of
the development of his doctrine of the gifts within his writings as a way to decide
between the differing accounts.
First, this study surveys the historical development of the gifts of the Holy Spirit to show
the scriptural foundations of the gifts, an emerging understanding of the role of the Holy
Spirit in the writings of the Church Fathers, and the efforts of systematizing the virtues
and gifts in the writings of the Scholastic authors prior to St. Thomas. Second, this study
presents the two differing accounts for understanding St. Thomas’ doctrine of the gifts of
the Holy Spirit with attention to the specific areas of disagreement between these rival
accounts. Third, this study examines the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas concerning the
!
gifts of the Holy Spirit. This close textual study reveals how St. Thomas, for most of his
work, consistently held one view of the gifts, but in his later work, wrote a different
account of the gifts. Fourth, this dissertation concludes by focusing on the areas of
development in St. Thomas’ doctrine of the gifts with specific attention on the use of the
term instinctus and by adjudicating the areas of disagreement between the rival accounts.

!
This dissertation by James W. Stroud fulfills the dissertation requirement for the doctoral
degree in moral theology/ethics approved by William C. Mattison III, Ph.D., as Director
and by Angela McKay Knobel, Ph.D., and Rev. Brian V. Johnstone, C.SS.R., S.T.D. as
Readers.

William C. Mattison III, Ph.D., Director

Angela McKay Knobel, Ph.D., Reader

Rev. Brian V. Johnstone, C.SS.R., S.T.D., Reader

ii"
To Katherine, my wife
iii"
For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a
spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When
we cry, “Abba! Father!” it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are
children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ….

—St. Paul, Letter to the Romans

iv"
CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION 1

Chapter 1. HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE GIFTS OF THE HOLY
SPIRIT PRIOR TO ST.THOMAS AQUINAS 7
Part I. Foundations in Sacred Scripture 9
Part II. The Church Fathers 21
Part II, A. Early Church Fathers 22
Part II, B. Augustine and Gregory the Great 30
Part II, C. The Term “Gift” 39
Part III. Scholastic Thought prior to St. Thomas 41
Part III, A. The Gifts Precede the Virtues 43
Part III, B. The Gifts Are Identical to the Virtues 47
Part III, C. The Gifts are Subsequent to the Virtues. 49
Part III, C, i. Position 1 50
Part III, C, ii. Position 2 61
Part III, D. Conclusion 64
Part IV. Conclusion 66

Chapter 2. RIVAL INTERPRETATIONS OF ST. THOMAS' DOCTRINE OF
THE GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT 69
Part I. The Standard Two Modes Account 72
Part II. The Rival Two Modes Account 93
Part III. Conclusion 108

Chapter 3. ST. THOMAS AQUINAS’ DOCTRINE OF THE GIFTS OF THE
HOLY SPIRIT 112
Part I. Expositio super Isaiam ad litteram 114
Part II. Scriptum super Sententiis 122
Part III. Super Epistolam B. Pauli ad Galatas lectura 139
Part IV. Summa theologiae 142
Part IV, A. The Virtues 144
Part IV, B. The Nature of the Gifts 150
Part IV, C. The Necessity of the Gifts and the
Perfection of Human Reason 158
Part IV, D. The Gifts and their Relation to the
Virtues and the Human Faculties 166
Part V. Conclusion 170

v"
Chapter 4. THE DEVELOPMENT OF ST. THOMAS’ DOCTRINE OF THE GIFTS OF
THE HOLY SPIRIT 172
Part I. Instinctus and the Gifts of the Holy Spirit 173
Part II. Five Further Developments of St. Thomas’ Doctrine of
The Gifts 187
Part III. Evaluation of the Disputed Areas between the Rival
Accounts 197
Part III, A. The Two Modes 198
Part III, B. The Rule/Measure of the Infused Virtues 201
Part III, C. The Insufficiency of the Infused Virtues 204
Part III, D. Occasional or Constant Operation of the Gifts 208
Part IV: Conclusion 211

BIBLIOGRAPHY 213
vi"
! ! !
Introduction

St. Thomas Aquinas, in the Summa Theologiae, Prima-secundae, question sixty-
eight, takes up the question of the meaning of the gifts of the Holy Spirit and of the gifts’
relationship to the infused virtues (cardinal and theological) in human action. In recent
theological scholarship, the nature of the gifts of the Holy Spirit and their relationship to
the infused virtues in the moral life have been taken seriously by only a few scholars,
which is a significant omission especially in light of St. Thomas’ own position on these
gifts as being necessary for salvation.1 Among those who explore the role of the gifts of
the Holy Spirit, a considerable disagreement exists concerning how St. Thomas explains
the nature and role of the gifts and their relationship to the infused virtues.
There are two differing schools of thought concerning the role of the gifts vis-à-
vis the infused virtues. In the first, which is labeled here the Standard Two Modes
account given its clear dominance within Thomist circles, the authors argue for two
modes of action in man toward his supernatural end: one human and one above/beyond
the human. In the human mode, the human person with the infused virtues acts without
the gifts of the Holy Spirit toward his supernatural end. In the above/beyond the human
mode (supra humanum modum), the human person with gifts of the Holy Spirit acts
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
1 Thomas Aquinas, Summa theologiae I-II, q. 68, a. 2. All English citations of the
Summa theologiae are taken from Thomas Aquinas, Summa theologica 5 vol, trans. by
the Fathers of the English Dominican Province (New York: Benzinger Press, 1948)
unless otherwise noted. All Latin citations are taken from Thomas Aquinas, Summa
theologiae, in Opera Omnia iussa edita leonis xiii p.m. Vol. 4-12 (Rome: Typographia
polyglotta, 1888-1906).The eminent historian Odon Lottin dismissed the necessity of the
gifts in his work Morale Fondamentale, in the Théologie Morale serie 1, ed. Ph. Delhaye,
J.C. Didier, and P. Anciaux (Tournai: Desclée & Cie, 1954), 431.!
1
! ! 2
toward his supernatural end. The major proponents of the Standard Two Modes account
are Cajetan and John of St. Thomas, Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, and Romanus
Cessario.
In the second, which I label the Rival Two Modes account, the authors argue that
there are two modes of human action, like the Standard Two Modes account, but
describes these two modes differently. For the Rival Two Modes account, the first mode
consists of the human person with the acquired virtues acting toward his connatural end.
The second mode entails the human person with the infused virtues and gifts acting
toward his supernatural end. Thus, the infused virtues do not operate without the gifts of
the Holy Spirit. Recent proponents of this school are Servais Pinckaers and Angela
McKay (now Knobel).
Both of the above accounts employ similar language concerning the infused
virtues and gifts, and both argue that they are faithfully following St. Thomas’ position
regarding the infused virtues and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The differences in these two
accounts can be traced, in part, to how these scholars approach St. Thomas’ doctrine of
the gifts of the Holy Spirit in his earlier work the Scriptum super Sententiis and its use in
developingSt. Thomas’ understanding of the gifts of the Holy Spirit in the Summa
!
theologiae. Cajetan in his commentary on the Summa theologiae q. 68, a. 1 explicitly
refers to Thomas’ earlier doctrine of the gifts found in the Scriptum. John of St. Thomas
uses this text in his treatise on the gifts of the Holy Spirit in the Cursus Theologicus.
Garrigou-Lagrange and Cessario both explicitly refer to John of St. Thomas and follow
his treatise on the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Pinckaers and McKay, on the other hand, do
not read the Summa with a prior commitment to Thomas’ claims in the Scriptum but