To the Image of the Trinity: A study in the Development of Aquinas' Teaching

271 Pages·1990·37.88 MB·English

by  D. Juvenal Merriell

STUDIES AND TEXTS 96
TO THE IMAGE
OF THE TRINITY
A Study in the Development
of Aquinas' Teaching
BY
D. JUVENAL MERRIELL
PONTIFICAL INSTITUTE OF MEDIAEVAL STUDIES
D. Juvenal Merriell
To THE IMAGE OF THE TRINITY
A STUDY IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF AQUINAS' TEACHING
One of the most thought-provoking ideas that the Bible presents is the notion
that man has been created in the image of God. Since the age of the Fathers
of the Church, in particular since Augustine, Catholic theologians have seen
the image of God as an image of the Trinity. St. Thomas Aquinas inherited
and developed this tradition in his own teaching.
Augustine's De Trinitate is the foundation on which Thomas built.
Augustine himself conceived of the image of the Trinity as the mind's acts
of remembering, knowing, and loving God, but at the end of that work he
emphasized the analogy between the formation of the inner word and of love
in the mind on the one hand and the eternal processions of the Word and
the Holy Spirit in God on the other. By examining in depth the principal
passages on the image in the Scriptum super Sententiis, the De veritate, and
the Summa theologiae we find that the development of Thomas' position is
largely based on the appropriation of Augustine's conception of the image
in terms of the two processions. Although Thomas does not explicitly apply
this notion of the image to the spiritual life, it is clear that the image of the
Trinity as he conceives it is the foundation in man's nature that makes him
capable of being raised to participate in the eternal life of the Trinity.
Acknowledgment
This book has been published with the help of a grant
from the Canadian Federation for the Humanities, using
funds provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities
Research Council of Canada.
CANADIAN CATALOGUING IN PUBLICATION DATA
Merriell, D. Juvenal (Donald Juvenal), 1952-
To the image of the Trinity
(Studies and texts, ISSN 0082-5328 ; 96)
Bibliography: p.
Includes index.
ISBN 0-88844-096-0
1. Thomas, Aquinas, Saint, 12257-1274 - Views on the Trinity. 2. Thomas,
Aquinas, Saint, 12257-1274 - Views on the image of God. 3. Trinity.
4. Image of God. I. Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies. II. Title.
III. Series: Studies and texts (Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies); 96.
BT110.M47 1990 231'.044 C89-093980-2
© 1990 by
Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies
59 Queen's Park Crescent East
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PRINTED BY UNTVERSA, WETTEREN, BELGIUM
Contents
Preface vii
Abbreviations ix
1 St. Thomas and the Image of the Trinity 1
2 St. Augustine's De Trinitate 13
PART ONE
3 Thomas' First Exposition: The Scriptum super Sententiis 39
A. Definition of imago 41
B. The Structure of Book 1, Distinction 3 51
C. The Four Static Characteristics of the Image 57
D. The Fifth Characteristic: Actual Imitation 69
E. Grace and the Indwelling of the Trinity 80
PART Two
4 The Development of St. Thomas' Doctrine in De veritate,
question 10 95
A. Augustine and Aristotle 98
B. Levels of Perfection: The Ontology of the Image 110
C. Ascent to God: Analogy and Conformation 132
D. From the Scriptum to the De veritate 148
PART THREE
5 Thomas' Doctrine of the Image in the Summa theologiae 153
A. Imago Dei'm the Plan of the Prima pars 158
B. Ontological Foundations of the imago Dei in la, question 93 170
C. The Imago Dei as a Representation of the Trinity 190
D. The Image of the Trinity and the Indwelling of the Trinity . 226
Vi CONTENTS
6 Conclusion 237
Bibliography 247
Index Locorum 255
General Index 259
Preface
Theological anthropology in one form or another has been popular among
theologians and historians of theology in recent years. Consequently, it is
only fair that I should give the reader some idea of the content and method
of this study from the beginning. Its main concern is St. Thomas Aquinas'
teaching about the image of the Trinity in man. Aquinas' thought on this
subject developed over the years, and so it is necessary to examine carefully
the passages in which he deals with the subject at length. To enter into his
thought necessarily means to follow it step by step: this is a painstaking and
tedious task, but essential to full and proper understanding. This study, then,
is in the nature of a commentary, although it is not rigidly tied to the order
of the texts under consideration.
The relevance of the subject can be viewed from two angles: in relation to
the thought of St. Thomas himself, and to modern theology and contempo-
rary concerns. The concept of the image of God is profoundly interconnected
with the Christian doctrine of God and with the Christian view of man. It
is not surprising to find the concept appear unexpectedly in various sections
of Thomas' Summa theologiae. Before all these ramifications of the notion
of image of God can be properly explored, however, it is necessary to come
to grips with the principal passages in which Thomas examines the notion
in detail. For reasons of length I have confined this study to the concept itself
of the image of God and more particularly to its most significant aspect: the
image as image of the Trinity. Much of Thomas' theology is pre-supposed in
his exposition of the image of the Trinity. I cannot here reproduce his
doctrine of the Trinity or his psychology of man, although both are funda-
mental to his teaching about the image of the Trinity. The image of God is
a complex notion because it is a relational concept and is connected with
most of the rest of theology. For this reason it has great relevance for many
topics of discussion today. It is, I believe, worth consulting St. Thomas on
most points, and so this study is devoted to determining what he actually
taught about the image of God. The implications of his teaching are not hard
to draw, but first we should be sure of what he says. I restrict myself to this
latter objective.
If previous scholarship on the subject is not discussed at length here, it is
not because I have had no use for it. All that I have read in the secondary
Viii PREFACE
literature, however, is inadequate in one way or another for the purpose of
this study. None of the earlier works grapples sufficiently with the texts
themselves. This study is directed to Thomas' text itself, although the insights
of other scholars are acknowledged and weighed.
My interest in the Christian interpretation of the imago Dei grew from a
course in patristic theology given some years ago by Fr. John Egan of Regis
College, Toronto, and especially from a course on the Holy Spirit in the
writings of Thomas Aquinas taught by Fr. Walter Principe of the Pontifical
Institute of Mediaeval Studies, Toronto. Fr. Principe kindly undertook the
direction of my doctoral dissertation, entitled "The Image of the Trinity hi
Man According to St. Thomas Aquinas". I am indebted to him for his careful
reading and criticism of my thesis, which I defended in 1984. This book is
that thesis revised. I have excised some sections that were not central to the
argument, and have re-written and revised others. The bibliography is altered
by a few items, but, as far as I could find, there have been no noteworthy
additions to Thomistic studies on this topic. In substance, therefore, there are
no major differences between thesis and book.
For the material production of my thesis and its new form, I would like
to thank the staff of Fax Facilities for Writers, Toronto, especially Kate
Hamilton and Ann Phelps. Finally, I wish to acknowledge the assistance and
support given by my religious community, the Oratory of St. Philip Neri in
Toronto.
Abbreviations
NOTE: This list is not complete. Abbreviations for works of St. Thomas that are cited
only a few times are not given and should be clear from the text. Abbreviations for
the divisions of scholastic works are standard, with the possible exception of "qa."
for quaestiuncula.
I have used existing English translations where possible, but have modified them
where necessary. All unacknowledged translations are my own.
Beaurecueil M.-J. de Beaurecueil, "L'homme image de Dieu selon saint
Thomas d'Aquin," Etudes et recherches 8 (1952): 45-82; 9
(1955): 37-96. Cited as [1] or [2] followed by page: e.g.,
Beaurecueil [1]:77.
CCL Corpus Christianorum: Series Latina. Turnhout: Brepols,
1953- .
Cont. gent. S. Thomae Aquinatis Liber de Veritate Catholicae Fidei contra
errores Infidelium sen "Summa contra Gentiles", vols. 2-3, ed.
Ceslaus Pera et al. Turin: Marietta, 1961. Cited by book,
chapter, and Marietti paragraph: Cont. gent. 4.26. no. 3627;
Marietti, p. 298.
CSEL Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum. Ed. Acade-
mia Litterarum Vindobonensis. Vienna, 1866- .
De pot. De potentia, in S. Thomae Aquinatis Quaestiones Disputatae,
vol. 2, ed. P. Bazzi et al. Turin: Marietti, 1965.
De Trin. S. Aurelii Augustini de Trinitate libri XV, ed. W. J. Mountain,
2 vols., CCL 50-50A. Turnhout: Brepols, 1968. Cited by book,
chapter, and section: De Trin. 15.15.25; CCL 50A:499.
De ver. S. Thomae de Aquino, Quaestiones disputatae de veritate, in
vol. 22. Opera omnia iussu Leonis xiii P.M., Rome: Editori de
San Tommaso, 1970-1976. Translations are based on Thomas
Aquinas, Truth, vol. 2, trans. James V. McGlynn. Chicago:
Henry Regnery, 1953.
DS Dictionnaire de theologie catholique. Ed. A. Vacant, E. Mange-
not, and E. Amann. Paris: Letouzey et Ane, 1902-1950.
Leon. Leonine edition: S. Thomae de Aquino opera omnia iussu
Leonis xm P.M. edita, cura et studio Fratrum Praedicatorum.
Rome, 1882- .
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x h
NPNF A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the
Christian Church, 2 series, ed. Philip Schaff cum al. New
York, 1890ff; rpt. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1956- .
Unless specified, all references are to vol. 3 of the 1st ser. for
Augustine, On the Trinity, trans. Arthur West Haddan and rev.
William G. T. Shedd.
PG Patrologiae Cursus Completus. Series Graeca, ed. J. P. Migne.
Paris, 1857-1866. Cited by volume, column and, where
necessary, by section: PG 65:413a.
PL Patrologiae Cursus Completus. Series Latino, ed. J. P. Migne.
Paris, 1844-1864. Cited as for PG.
Sent. Commentary on the Sentences of Peter Lombard. Unless
otherwise specified, all references are to S. Thomae Aquinatis
Scriptum super libros Sententiarum Magistri Petri Lombardi,
4 vols., ed. Pierre Mandonnet and Maria Fabianus Moos.
Paris: P. Lethielleux, 1929-1947. Cited by book (volume
number is same): 1 Sent, d.3, q.4, a.4, sol.; p. 120.
Sullivan John Edward Sullivan, The Image of God: The Doctrine of St.
Augustine and its Influence. Dubuque, Iowa: Priory Press,
1963.
Sum. theol. 5". Thomae de Aquino Summa Theologiae, 5 vols., cura et
studio Instituti Studiorum Mediaevalium Ottaviensis. Ottawa:
Studium Generale O.P. 1941-1945. Usually cited simply by
part, without title: 3a, q.4, a.l, ad 2m; Ottawa, p. 2448.