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Question

Peace, father,

what is Thomism and why does the Holy Ecclesia refer to this kind of exegesis and not to other previous ones?

I thank you from the depths of my heart for your answers and posts, already left on the site ‘amici domenicani‘, fulfilling as ever.

Martin

The Priest’s answer

Dear Martin,

1. The word Thomism derives from the Latin (and English) Thomas.

We are referring to St. Thomas Aquinas who was born in 1225 and died 49 years later in 1274.

He entered the Dominican Order around the age of 19, when he was a student at the University of Naples where he had the opportunity to follow the teachings by one of his great brothers, St. Albert the Great.

Standing on the shoulders of that giant, St. Thomas managed to implement an organic vision of theology. Above all, he did it by a work which summarizes his philosophical and theological knowledge, prepared specifically for students: it is the Summa Theologiae.

Someone defined it as a large cathedral with three naves: it starts about God and guides man in his return to God.

2. First, Thomism stands for the doctrine by St. Thomas, and his thought which is admirable for its clarity, depth, and certainty.

Far from verbosity and introversion, St. Thomas’ style is brief, lucid, and convincing.

His statements are luminous and ever seem to open newer paths for reflection.

3. During the Council of Trent, when the Church gave the answer to Luther’s mistakes, two ambos were placed in the presbytery, on one was the Holy Scripture and on the other the Summa Theologiae by St. Thomas.

While defining the doctrine, at the most intricate points, the recurring voice was always the same: let us go and see what St. Thomas says. And the answer was there.

Why the Summa Theologiae by St. Thomas?

Because it is well founded on Sacred Scripture and on the doctrine of the Fathers of the Church, both Eastern and Western, presented in synthesis, it is organically and systematically deepened by a light of refined and sharpened reason, particularly assisted by Aristotle’s thought.

4. In the 19th century, when facing the rationalist climate according to which everything ought to be explained exclusively by reason, the magisterium of the Church represented  St. Thomas’ doctrine, which managed to splendidly reconcile the information by reason with those from faith, since faith and reason emanate from the same source: God.

Faith and reason have their own principles. They cannot disagree with one another if their information is accurately processed. Therefore, rather than excluding each other, they refer to each other.

In St. Thomas’ works we find one of the most complete expressions of the dictions, although not by him, fides quaerens intellectum (faith seeks the reasonableness of what it believes in) and intellectus quaerens fidem (reason knocks at the doors of faith to have those further answers which it cannot reach on its own).

5. In the 20th century, the magisterium of the Church referred several times to the doctrine by St. Thomas.

That occurred also under the pontificate of Pius XI in Studiorum ducem, published in 1923 for the 600th anniversary of the canonization of St. Thomas.

In this encyclical the Pope recalls how St. Thomas demonstrated that [tr.] “although the things of faith are arcane and obscure, yet the reasons that lead man to faith are clear and manifest, since «For he would not believe unless […] he saw that they ought to be believed» (Summa Theologiae, II-II, I, 4, r.2). 

Therefore, just as one day it was said to Egyptians, in their extreme need to live, “Go to Joseph” so that they could have plenty of wheat from him to nourish their bodies, now, to all those hungry for truth, We say: “Go to Thomas” to have from him, who has such abundance, the pasture of sound doctrine and the nourishment of their souls for eternal life.

Such food is ready and within everyone’s reach, and that was attested with the sanctity of the oath when the moment came to inscribe Thomas in the catalog of Saints: [tr.] «Many religious and secular masters flourished in the luminous and open school of this Doctor due to his succinct way, easy, and clear… and even lay people, and men of little intelligence, wish to have his writings».”

6. On the 700th anniversary of the death of Saint Thomas, in a letter addressed to the Master General of the Dominican Order, St. Pope Paul VI wrote: [tr.] “Vatican Council II indeed recommended Saint Thomas to Catholic schools twice. In fact, speaking of priestly formation, it affirmed: «in order that they may illumine the mysteries of salvation as completely as possible, the students should learn to penetrate them more deeply with the help of speculation, under the guidance of St. Thomas» (Optatam totius,16).

While exhorting schools of a higher level to grasp more clearly how faith and reason meet in the one truth, in the Declaration on Christian education the same Ecumenical Council immediately states for this purpose «that an ever deeper understanding in these fields may be obtained and that, as questions that are new and current are raised and investigations carefully made according to the example of the doctors of the Church and especially of St. Thomas Aquinas» (Gravissimum educationis, 10).
So, for the first time an Ecumenical Council recommended a theologian, and this is St. Thomas. As for Us, it is enough to recall, among other things, what We once said: “Those entrusted with the task of teaching” […] shall listen with reverence to the voice of the Doctors of the Church, among whom St. Thomas stays eminently; the strength of the genius of the Angelic Doctor, his sincere love of truth, his wisdom in investigating the highest Truths, in illustrating and linking them in profound coherence, all them are so great that his doctrine is a most effective instrument, not only to secure the foundations of the Faith, but also to usefully and surely draw from them the fruits of healthy progress (Speech to the Superiors, Professors and Students of the Pontifical Gregorian University, 12.3.1964)“.

7. Thomism also refers to the various ways, along the centuries, to elaborate his thought.

We cannot forget the great Dominican theologians of the XVI century: Tommaso De Vio, known as Gaetano or Caietano, Francesco Silvestri also known as Ferrarese, Francisco De Vitoria, Domingo Soto, Melchior Cano, Domingo Bañez…, preceded a century earlier by Giovanni Capreolo.

Starting with Leo XIII’s Aeterni Patris (1879), the so-called Neo-Scholasticism developed in the philosophical and theological spheres.

For theologians, the most prestigious Dominican figures were those of Thomas Zigliara, Réginald Garrigou Lagrange, and Santiago Ramirez.

The theological courses were held using Summa Theologiae by St. Thomas as their basic text, commenting on various articles of its, one after the other, deepening and developing them.

A new phase was inaugurated which could be defined as Thomist-inspired at the time of the Vatican Council II. No longer the various articles are commented on, but the various treatises on dogmatic theology, moral theology, spiritual theology, and even philosophy itself, are elaborated in the light of the great principles expounded in the doctrine by St. Thomas.

These principles give solidity to the various argumentations and, right because by St. Thomas, they are a sure guarantee.

8. Paul VI writes in his letter Lumen Ecclesiae: “The prestige accorded to your doctrine, far from suppressing emulation in research, rather stimulates and guides it with certainty.

Moreover, the Church wanted to prefer the doctrine of St. Thomas, proclaiming as its own – not intending to affirm that it is not licit to adhere to another school, having the right of citizenship in the Church – and favoring it because of its centuries-old experience.

Still today, Angelico and the study of his doctrine are, by law, the basis of the theological formation of those who are called to the function of confirming and comforting their brethren in the faith” (LE, 23).

9. It is still valid today what John XXII said to the cardinals during the canonization of Saint Thomas which took place in Avignon on July 18th, 1323: [tr.] “He enlightened the Church of God more than any other Doctor; and, one obtains greater profit studying his books for just one year than one following the teachings of others along the whole life.”

Hoping this applies to you and to many other visitors of ours, I bless you.

Father Angelo