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Which Church Fathers Most Influenced St. Thomas Aquinas?
Feb 10, 2018 19:33:13   #
Doc110 Loc: York PA
 
02/08/2018 Which Church Fathers Most Influenced St. Thomas Aquinas? (Part 1)

The Summa Theologica is one of our best windows into the world of the Church Fathers Summa Theologiae www.newadvent.org/summa/

Stephen Beale
http://www.ncregister.com/blog/sbeale/which-church-fathers-most-influenced-st.-thomas-aquinas

It is tempting to overstate the differences between St. Thomas Aquinas and the Church Fathers.

Aquinas is indelibly associated with Aristotle.

The Fathers, on the other hand, especially St. Augustine, are thought of as Neoplatonists.

(This too is overstated, but that’s another story.)

Aquinas produced a systematic theology whose stiffness and rationalism can seem a world away from the brilliant streams of consciousness that poured out from the pens of the Fathers.

And in the eyes of many Protestants, Aquinas is more Catholic than the Fathers.

But anyone who has spent real time with the writings of Aquinas knows how deeply indebted he is to the Fathers.

This is readily apparent in his most famous work, the Summa Theologica.

Summa Theologiae
www.newadvent.org/summa/

Because the doctor of Catholic truth ought not only to teach the proficient, but also to instruct beginners (according to the Apostle:

1. Doctor. (Latin docere, to teach)
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05072b.htm
2. Truth
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15073a.htm
3. Apocryphal Acts of St. Paul
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11567b.htm

As unto little ones in Christ, I gave you milk to drink, not meat—1 Corinthians 3:1-2), we purpose in this book to treat of whatever belongs to the Christian religion,

2. Jesus Christ. Origin of the Name of Jesus. The Holy Name of Jesus, Early Historical Documents Concerning Jesus Christ, Chronology of the Life of Christ, The Character of Jesus Christ, The Mystery of the Incarnation, The Resurrection of Jesus Christ, Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, And Christology
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08374c.htm

3. 1 And when I preached to you, I had to approach you as men with natural, not with spiritual thoughts. You were little children in Christ’s nursery, 2 and I gave you milk, not meat; you were not strong enough for it. You are not strong enough for it even now; nature still lives in you. 3 Do not these rivalries, these dissensions among you shew that nature is still alive, that you are guided by human standards?
1 Corinthians 3:1-2

4. Christianity
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03712a.htm

In such a way as may tend to the instruction of beginners. We have considered that students in this doctrine have not seldom been hampered by what they have found written by other authors.

Partly on account of the multiplication of useless questions, articles, and arguments, partly also because those things that are needful for them to know are not taught according to the order of the subject matter.

But according as the plan of the book might require, or the occasion of the argument offer, partly, too, because frequent repetition brought weariness and confusion to the minds of readers.

Endeavouring to avoid these and other like faults, we shall try, by God's help, to set forth whatever is included in this sacred doctrine as briefly and clearly as the matter itself may allow.

1. God, Etymology of the Word "God", Existence of God, Nature and Attributes of God, Relation of God to the Universe, The Blessed Trinity.
www.newadvent.org/cathen/06608a.htm
2. Christian Doctrine. Taken in the sense of "the act of teaching" and "the knowledge imparted by teaching", this term is synonymous with Catechesis and Catechism. Didaskalia, didache, in the Vulgate, doctrina,
www.newadvent.org/cathen/05075b.htm

Read the Summa Theologiae, and one begins to realize that Aquinas is in constant dialogue with the Fathers, organizing, explaining, and sometimes charitably correcting them.

Prima Pars. www.newadvent.org/summa/1.htm
Sacred Doctrine. The One God. The Blessed Trinity. Creation. The Angels. The Six Days. Man. The Government of Creatures.

Prima Secund/-e Partis. www.newadvent.org/summa/2.htm
Man's Last End. Human Acts. Passions. Habits. Vice and Sin. Law. Grace.

Secunda Secund/-e Partis. www.newadvent.org/summa/3.htm
Faith. Hope. Charity. Prudence. Justice. Fortitude. Temperance. Acts Which Pertain to Certain Men.

Tertia Pars. www.newadvent.org/summa/4.htm
The Incarnation. The Life of Christ. Sacraments. Baptism. Confirmation. The Holy Eucharist. Penance.

Supplementum Terti/-e Partis. www.newadvent.org/summa/5.htm
Penance (continued). Extreme Unction. Holy Orders. Matrimony. The Resurrection. Appendices.

(End Part 1)

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Feb 10, 2018 19:35:01   #
Doc110 Loc: York PA
 
02/08/2018 Which Church Fathers Most Influenced St. Thomas Aquinas? (Part 2)

The Summa Theologica is one of our best windows into the world of the Church Fathers Summa Theologiae www.newadvent.org/summa/

Stephen Beale
http://www.ncregister.com/blog/sbeale/which-church-fathers-most-influenced-st.-thomas-aquinas

A search through a PDF of the whole text reveals just how enmeshed Aquinas’ thought is with theirs.

Aquinas cites Augustine the most of all at 3,156 times. That’s even more than Aristotle, who garners a total of 2,095 mentions—including references by name and by title, as ‘the philosopher.’

Not counting the supplement, the Summa has a total of 521 questions, meaning that Aquinas turns to Augustine as an authoritative guide on average six times for each question.

Hardly any topic is broached that does not in some way bear the influence of Augustine.

Today, Augustine looms as large as ever for us.

We owe our understanding of the doctrines of the Trinity, grace, and original sin to him.

Augustine’s account of personal conversion, in The Confessions, his understanding of the role of the church in history, in The City of God, and his commitment to the authority and inerrancy of Scripture have left a lasting impression on Western Christianity.

1. The Confessions
http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/1101.htm
2. The City of God
http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/1201.htm

Aquinas both reflects and reinforces Augustine’s enduring authority.

But Aquinas’ engagement with the Fathers extends well beyond Augustine.

Here are the Fathers he cites most often after him.

Each number represents number of times cited by name in the Summa: 
1 Gregory the Great — 761     
2 Dionysius —607
3 Jerome —377
4 Damascene —367
5 John Chrysostom —309
6 Ambrose —284     
7 Isidore —162     
8 Origen —84
9 Basil —56
10 Gregory of Nyssa —53
11 Athanasius —45
12 Cyril —28

The list is both expected and surprising.

It makes sense that St. Gregory the Great, as a Latin Father, would figure prominently in the Summa.

The same goes for St. Ambrose, the teacher of Augustine, and St. Jerome, the translator of the Vulgate.

It is impressive to see the Greek Fathers well-represented, particularly St. Basil the Great, and St. Gregory of Nyssa.

But then there are the surprises.

Dionysius, better known today as Pseudo-Dionysius, is not a Church Father well-known even to many Catholics who read up on their theology.

But he is nonetheless an immensely important writer in the patristic era.

His work on The Celestial Hierarchy is both a formal theology of the angels and also an extraordinarily rich devotional work.

The Celestial Hierarchy. Dionysius the Areopagite
http://www.esoteric.msu.edu/VolumeII/CelestialHierarchy.html

The Divine Names is a classic work of apophatic theology.

Dionysius the Areopagite, Works (1897) pp.1-127. The Divine Names.
www.tertullian.org/fathers/areopagite_03_divine_names.htm

Aquinas draws upon Dionysius in his treatment of biblical metaphors and typology, the infinity and ineffability of God, and the nature of the good, among others.

Another surprise is the Damascene, or St. John of Damascus.

This is another Church Father who is not as familiar to us today.

St. John lived from 676 to as late as 787 and is known as the ‘last of the Greek Fathers.’

One of his most significant works is the Fountain of Wisdom, which The Catholic Encyclopedia describes as “the first attempt at a summa theologica that has come down to us.”

St. John Damascene
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08459b.htm

The third part of this treatise is better known to us today as The Exposition of the Orthodox Faith.

An Exposition of the Orthodox Faith. From Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers.
www.newadvent.org/fathers/3304.htm

As with Dionysius, Aquinas mines St. John’s writings for insights on what we can and cannot know about God, the divine attributes, and the three persons of the Trinity and a range of other topics, encompassing the Eucharist, death, and the general resurrection.

Probably the least known on the list is St. Isidore of Seville, a Father who lived in present-day Spain, from 560 to 636.

St. Isidore of Seville
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08186a.htm

His works include the Etymologies, which is often described as a sort of encyclopedia of not only theology but also a survey of natural knowledge, including math, astronomy, and medicine.

The Etymologies of Isidore of Seville
https://sfponline.org/Uploads/2002/st%20isidore%20in%20english.pdf

He also produced a book of sentences—a series of questions or propositions about theology, a style that was to become quite popular in the Middle Ages.

Isidore of Seville Sententiae, Quod Deus summus et incommutabilis sit (“That God is the highest and immutable” “What is the highest good (summum bonum)?”
https://calvinistinternational.com/2016/01/15/isidore-sententiae-1-1-1/

Aquinas pulls in a wide variety of citations from Isidore—everything from the nature of angels and demons and the sacraments to facts from astronomy and biology.


Today, perhaps more so than before Vatican II, we read and study the Fathers directly—and we should.

But even here Aquinas has a lot to teach us about how to read the Fathers.

And through Aquinas we may even meet Fathers who we otherwise would have overlooked.

Rather than obscuring them, Aquinas amplifies the importance of the Fathers for us today.

And the Summa is one of our best windows into their world. 

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