scholarly journals Tools for interpreting Christ's saving mysteries in scripture: Aquinas on reduplicative propositions in christology

2020 ◽  
Vol 73 (4) ◽  
pp. 285-294
Author(s):  
J. David Moser
Keyword(s):  
Thomas Aquinas ◽  
Single Subject ◽  
Human Being ◽  
States Of Affairs ◽  
Adverbial Modifiers

AbstractThis article examines how Thomas Aquinas used reduplicative propositions (e.g. ‘Christ suffers insofar as he is a human being’) to explicate Christ's saving mysteries, or events that Christ did and suffered that produced states of affairs only God can do. Following scripture's focus on Christ as one acting subject, Aquinas argued that we should use the adverbial modifiers ‘authoritatively as God and instrumentally as a human being’ to speak well of Christ's saving mysteries as actions of a single subject. This approach is theologically beneficial because it avoids the pitfalls of thinking of Christ's natures as agents.

The Human Person in Contemporary Philosophy

Philosophy ◽  
1950 ◽  
Vol 25 (92) ◽  
pp. 3-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frederick C. Copleston
Keyword(s):  
Human Person ◽  
Thomas Aquinas ◽  
Sixth Century ◽  
Human Being ◽  
Contemporary Philosophy ◽  
Individual Substance ◽  
Rational Nature

I. In the early part of the sixth century a.d. Boethius defined the person as “an individual substance of rational nature” (rationalis naturae individua substantia). This definition, which became classical and was adopted by, for example, St. Thomas Aquinas, obviously implies that every human being is a person, since every human being is (to employ the philosophical terms of Boethius) an individual substance of rational nature. If one cannot be more or less of a human being, so far as “substance” is concerned, one cannot be more or less of a person. One may act as a human person ought not to act or in a way unbefitting a human person; one may even lose the normal use of one's reason; but one does not in this way become depersonalized, in the sense of ceasing to be a person. According to St. Thomas, a disembodied soul is not, strictly speaking, a person, since a disembodied soul is no longer a complete human substance; but every complete human substance is always and necessarily a person.

Christ as Infinite and Finite: Rowan Williams’ Christ the Heart of Creation

Pro Ecclesia ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 106385122095443
Author(s):  
Katherine Sonderegger
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Thomas Aquinas ◽  
Single Subject ◽  
Early Essay ◽  
Maximus The Confessor

In this splendid volume, Rowan Williams offers a modern Christology re-presenting and interpreting the Cyrillian theology as expressed in the councils of Constantinople II and III. A “single Subject” Christology is built up from Scriptural, Patristic, and Scholastic sources, drawing heavily on Maximus the Confessor, Thomas Aquinas, and Nicholas Cusanus. The conceptual framework for the whole is provided by Austin Farrer, especially in his early essay, Infinite and Finite, and in his later Bampton Lectures, The Glass of Vision. Whether a Christology adhering closely to axioms of incommensurability and non-competition between Creator and creature can undergird a fully Chalcedonian Christology is the demanding query posed at the heart of Christ the Heart of Creation.

scholarly journals Survivalism, Corruptionism, and Mereology

2012 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
David S. Oderberg
Keyword(s):  
Basic Principle ◽  
Thomas Aquinas ◽  
Human Being

Corruptionism is the view that following physical death, the human being ceases to exist (until resurrection) but their soul persists in the afterlife. Survivalism holds that both the human being and their soul persist in the afterlife, as distinct entities, with the soul constituting the human. Each position has its defenders, most of whom appeal both to metaphysical considerations and to the authority of St Thomas Aquinas. Corruptionists claim that survivalism violates a basic principle of any plausible mereology, while survivalists tend to reject the principle, though without as much detail as one would like. In this paper I examine both the key exegetical issues and the mereological question, arguing (i) that Aquinas cannot be shown to have supported the principle in question, and (ii) that the principle should be rejected on independent grounds. If correct, some key planks in support of survivalism are established, with others to await further examination.

Why Thinking in Faith? A Reappraisal of Edith Stein’s View of Reason

2010 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 401-412
Author(s):  
Tereza-Brindusa Palade
Keyword(s):  
Human Life ◽  
Thomas Aquinas ◽  
Natural Light ◽  
Human Being ◽  
Natural Philosopher ◽  
Edith Stein ◽  
Eternal Truth ◽  
Philosophical Inquiry ◽  
Faith And Reason ◽  
Fides Et Ratio

This paper intends to question the conventional wisdom that philosophy should limit its endeavours to the horizon of modern transcendentalism, thus rejecting the presuppositions of faith. By reappraising Edith Stein's views of faith and reason, which are also shared by the magisterial document of John Paul II, Fides et ratio, an argument for the possibility of “thinking in faith” is put forward. But why would it be important nowadays to engage in rational research in philosophy in a quest for truth which also draws its inspiration from faith? First of all, as I shall argue, because the two great modern transcendental projects, namely the Kantian and the Husserlian one, which were both in tune with Spinoza's project to liberate philosophical reason from theology, have failed. Secondly, because “faith” (fides) is not based on “irrational sentiments,” but is “intellectual understanding,” as Edith Stein argues. Third, because the natural light of the created intellect is, as was shown by St. Thomas Aquinas, a participated likeness of the supernatural light of the uncreated divine intellect. Therefore, even the natural philosopher gets their own light from the eternal Truth of faith. Finally, by following another Thomistic stance, one may argue that the end of human life is an intelligible one: the contemplation of God. In order to attain this end, the human being should endeavour to attain as much as is possible, in an intelligible way, the thing desired. Even if the philosophical inquiry has its own limits, it may however sustain such progress towards the end of human life.

Catholic Hylomorphism, Disembodied Consciousness, and Temporary Bodies

2017 ◽  
Vol 91 ◽  
pp. 171-183
Author(s):  
Michael Potts ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Catholic Church ◽  
Intermediate State ◽  
Thomas Aquinas ◽  
Human Being ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Alternative Position ◽  
The Mind ◽  
The Brain ◽  
The Catholic Church

This paper considers the possibility of a disembodied conscious soul, arguing that a great deal of current research converges in a direction that denies the possibility of a bodiless consciousness for human beings. Contemporary attacks on Cartesianism also serve as attacks on the view of some hylomorphist Catholics, such as Thomas Aquinas, that there can be a disembodied consciousness between death and resurrection, a view that violates the Catechism of the Catholic Church. However, there may be a way out for the Catholic hylomorphist which was suggested by Dante—the possibility of a temporary body. The first section of the paper will summarize the contemporary attack against both the Cartesian soul and physicalist systems that reduce the mind to the brain. The alternative position proposed is that the human being is a psychosomatic unity at the level of the organism as a whole, and that both mind-body and brain-body dualism should be avoided. Such a position, I will argue, supports the notion that a disembodied soul, including a disembodied consciousness, is not possible for human beings. Finally, I will discuss Dante’s views on temporary bodies and explore three ways of understanding a temporary body, any of which can preserve a conscious intermediate state between death and resurrection.

scholarly journals “Parvus error in principio magnus est in fine”: Thomas Aquinas’s Reinterpretation of the Understanding of Being and Essence as the Basis for the Discovery of the First Cause as Ipsum Esse

2019 ◽  
Vol 67 (4) ◽  
pp. 27-51
Author(s):  
Andrzej Maryniarczyk
Keyword(s):  
A Priori ◽  
Thomas Aquinas ◽  
Human Being ◽  
Proper Understanding ◽  
The World ◽  
Ultimate Cause ◽  
The Absolute ◽  
First Cause

In this article, the author notes that Thomas Aquinas, in his brief work entitled De Ente et Essentia, proved that at the base of understanding the world, the human being, and God in particular, there is our understanding of being and its essence. When we make a small mistake at the beginning (parvus error in principio) in our understanding of being and its essence, it will turn to be a big one in the end (magnus in fine). And what is “at the end” of our knowledge is the discovery of the First and Ultimate Cause of all things, known as: Ipsum Esse, God, the Absolute, The Most Perfect Substance, on whom everything depends, and who depends not on anything else. These present inquiries about the proper understanding of being and its essence are aimed at formulating proof of the necessity of existence of a Being that is the First Cause, and which, existing as Ipsum Esse, is the source and reason of existence of all beings. Without these inquiries, the proof itself would be incomprehensible, and more importantly it would be a purely a priori one (i.e., ontological). Furthermore, without the existential conception of being, which Thomas first formulated, one could not discover the First Cause which, as Ipsum Esse, is the source of the existence of every being. This issue seems to have escaped the attention of the author of the book Aquinas’s Way to God. The Proof in “De Ente et Essentia.”

John Paul II in the Light of Thomas Aquinas

2017 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-51
Author(s):  
Mary Christine Ugobi-Onyemere ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Human Dignity ◽  
Human Person ◽  
Thomas Aquinas ◽  
Social Rights ◽  
Human Being ◽  
John Paul Ii ◽  
Human Worth

In the quest to understand the meaning of existence, the human being is torn between many choices, exposed to individualism of all forms, especially atheistic perspectives. John Paul II’s personalism in the light of Thomas Aquinas’ personalistic notion of mercy suggests an alternative of meaningful living, co-existence, and holistic transcendence. John Paul’s search for the basis on which individual and social rights may grow and enhance human dignity demonstrate the ontological human worth. Following Aquinas’ model, John Paul shows that human dignity takes precedence over all options and needs preservation. Similarly, Aquinas’ classification of the human person as “rational subsistent” portrays this dignity in “effective mercy” that allows one to thrive in all kinds of existential vicissitudes. This essay explores John Paul’s personalist notion of mercy reflecting Aquinas’ model in the contemporary milieu in view of holistic existence.

Thomas Aquinas and Adolf Reinach on States of Affairs

2012 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-77
Author(s):  
Christopher S. Morrissey ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Thomas Aquinas ◽  
States Of Affairs
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