Interpretative Theory and Practice of St. Thomas Aquinas

Nova et vetera, 2020

In recent years a growing interest in Biblical exegesis of Aquinas has been observed. Finally, after a long period of silence on this theme, new texts have appeared which present the characteristics of the method of Aquinas’s exegesis and its content. The aim of this article is to go further and focus on the specific nature of Thomas’ “exegetic epistemology” and the status of its spiritual sense, the significance of which has been the subject of debate between Smalley and De Lubac. The characteristic aspect of this exegetic approach is to emphasize the role of contemplation in exegesis, not only as a theme, but also as a fundamental position of an exegete towards the inspired text.

Biblica et Patristica Thoruniensia, 2017

In contemporary Biblical hermeneutics, there is a confusion about what the literal and spiritual senses are. From this confusión, it follows that the interpreter does not know the sense to be reached and that there is a considerable distance between what the Bible meant when it was written and what it now means in the Church. St. Thomas has a clear doctrine about what is the literal sense and what the spiritual sense, which can clarify this confusion and avoid the negative consequences it has for exegesis. From this doctrine, there are two essential contributions that can serve this purpose: the literal sense is mainly the sense intended by the divine author, and the spiritual understanding is what allows the interpreter to reach the literal sense of the New Testament, the key that opens up the meaning of revelation and of Scripture. * The content of this article derives mainly from my doctoral thesis, defended at San Dámaso Ecclesiastical University (Madrid) and currently being prepared for publication: I.M. Manresa Lamarca, El hombre espiritual es el que entiende las cosas spiritual. Un criterio de hermenéutica bíblica a la luz de santo Tomás de Aquino (Madrid 2015).

Espiritu, 2016

Review article discussing the contents of the volume on Aquinas' interpretation on Scripture.

Thomas Latinus - Thomas Graecus. Thomas Aquinas and his Reception in Byzantium International Conference, 2017

Lecture given at the Thomas Latinus - Thomas Graecus. Thomas Aquinas and His Reception in Byzantium International Conference held at the Hellenic Library of Athens (Stavros Niarchos Cultural Center) in Dec. 15-16 2017, co-organized by The Hellenic Institute, Royal Holloway, University of London, and University of Patras (Greece)

Biblica et Patristica Thoruniensia, 2017

This article examines how St. Thomas Aquinas developed rich theological insights to be used ultimately in his preaching ministry as a thirteenth century magister in sacra pagina. His exegetical approach deploys a careful divisio textus to arrive at the literal meaning and doctrinal sense of the scriptural passage. The ambiguities of difficult passages are examined dialectically by short logical disputations that uncover the riches of the text. The fruits of these labors were then brought together in the master's university sermon for the conversion and perfection of souls. Thus, the three duties of the medieval master codified in the statutes of the University of Paris-namely, to teach, to dispute, and to preach-contextualize the task of the medieval theologian, rooting him in the revealed Word of God and requiring him to care for the souls of his students and colleagues in his preaching by announcing and explaining the sense and practical import of sacra doctrina. This article also examines the proximate historical source for these three duties as the practice of lectio divina was brought out of the monasteries and into the public sphere of the academies in the great cities of medieval Europe. There is much we could learn today from recovering this robustly ecclesial and pastoral way of pursuing biblical theology. Streszczenie. Artykuł analizuje, w jaki sposób bogaty dorobek teologiczny św. Tomasza z Akwinu jest wykorzystywany w jego praktyce kaznodziejskiej jako XIII-wiecznego "magister in sacra pagina". Jego egzegetyczne podejście wyraża się w ostrożnym "divisio textus", aby dotrzeć do dosłownego i doktrynalnego sensu danego tekstu biblijnego. Ambiwalentne interpretacje trudnych tekstów są dialektycznie analizowane za pomocą krótkich, logicznych dysput odkrywających bogactwo tekstu. Owoce tej pracy były niejako zbierane w kazaniu średniowiecznego mistrza ukierunkowanym na nawrócenie

The Journal of Religion, 1996

This essay enlists Thomas Aquinas to enrich a late twentieth-century retrieval of the literal reading of biblical narrative in the Christian tradition. It argues that the Summa theologiae can be read so that the sensus litteralis, far from promoting one predeterminate meaning for a text, promotes instead a certain ordered diversity of readings, and that the evaluation of readings belongs largely elsewhere than in hermeneutics. It opposes both those who seek such a single meaning and those who propose that anything goes. In short, it is the office of hermeneutics to promote an ordered diversity, of ethics to evaluate the results, and of providence to control the outcome. Or in other words, hermeneutics belongs to what Thomas calls craft, and right interpretation to grace, working both within the interpreter and without. If right interpretation involves grace (or, more personally, the Holy Spirit), then within the interpreter one may speak of virtue, and outside the interpreter one may speak of providence.

In this paper I compare the treatment of Scripture found in the ‘anagogical’ method of late 5th century writer Pseudo-Dionysius with the ‘architectural’ method of Aquinas’ four senses of Scripture using the literal sense as its foundation. I argue that, instead of rejecting the approach of Dionysius, Aquinas accommodates it within a wider synthesis within which it can be transformed.

2018

For many years, studies dedicated to Aquinas and his philosophy have concerned its potential for dialogue with postmodern thinking. In this new intellectual milieu, Aquinas " philosophy retains a certain vitality and he has been presented both as a supporter and opponent of cultivating theology in a postmodern context. This significant presence of Thomas in the writings of contemporary philosophers of Hermeneutics has been confirmed in the project of Oliver-Thomas Venard OP. The goal of this article is to conduct an analysis of the philosophical background of Aquinas " reading of the Bible, especially his theory of biblical senses (together with its reception in actual Hermeneutics). Following this analysis, we try to answer the question regarding the contribution of Thomism to contemporary thought. In this sense, Thomism is not a static entity, but a dynamic intellectual idea.

Copyright © 2013-15 Francisco J. Romero Carrasquillo. All rights reserved. Abstract: The believing practitioner of natural theology is keenly aware of how necessary it is to interpret Scripture (be that the Jewish or Christian Scriptures, the Qur’an, etc.) in a non-literal way in order to accommodate it to the findings of natural theology. For instance, the classical theistic attributes of divine simplicity, immutability, and eternity have forced philosophers like Averroes, Maimonides, and Aquinas to read in a non-literal way scriptural passages that apparently allude to God as having parts, as changing through time, and as being somehow in time. As a result, many classical theists, in particular Averroes and Maimonides, have developed theories of biblical interpretation that capitalize on an allegorical and inner meaning that is hidden to the uninitiated underneath the veil of Scripture’s literal sense, and that is meant to be discovered by the philosopher’s trained scientific mind. Moreover, in these theories the literal sense is shot through with falsehood, whereas only the inner or allegorical sense is presented as always true and harmonious with the findings of philosophy. Aquinas, however, diverges from this approach: although he acknowledges the presence of a spiritual sense distinct from the literal, he claims that the scientific study of Scripture (sacra doctrina) hinges not on the spiritual but on the literal sense of Scripture, and that all theological arguments must always proceed from this literal sense. Moreover, nothing false can ever underlie the literal sense, no matter how bizarre the text may be. Thus, whereas it is relatively easy to see how Averroes and Maimonides’ views on the interpretation of Scripture are coherent with their philosophical thought, in the case of Aquinas this is not so easy to explain. This paper examines and compares the views of these three thinkers on the interpretation of Scripture and inquires whether Aquinas successfully develops a theory of biblical interpretation that is in harmony with his natural theology and other philosophical views.