An Anglican Appreciation for Aquinas
On January 28th, the Church commemorates St. Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274). Thomas was a Dominican friar, priest, philosopher, and above all, a theologian. He is best known for his massive work, the Summa Theologiae, which summarizes the main tenets of the Christian faith. My own efforts to study Aquinas’ works have helped me to be a better thinker, theologian, and worshiper. Hopefully, by the end of this article, you, too, will desire to learn with the Angelic Doctor.
Thinking & Arguing Like Thomas Aquinas
During my time at Talbot School of Theology, I took a class called Aretaic Institution, which focused on moral theology and the virtues. Our class text was the Prima Secundae, the First Part of the Second Part of the Summa Theologiae. I cannot recall if this was my first time reading Thomas, but it was certainly my first time studying the Summa. As I began to read, I found myself first impressed by the organization, second reeling from the depth of thought, and third mesmerized by the way Thomas organized his thoughts.
Sponsored
Thomas begins with a question, such as, “whether it belongs to man to act for an end” (he does, as he demonstrates in ST 1-2.1.1), but then immediately proceeds to objections. Rather than answer the question and then respond to possible objections, Thomas begins with the objections to his answer. The reader is then forced to consider what Thomas’ answer might be, given the objections. Not only this, but Thomas tends to steel man these objections, not straw man them. In other words, he doesn’t set up easy objections to knock down, but even the objections with little merit, he tries to strengthen as much as possible. This shows both charity toward his would-be interlocutors and a desire to answer each question robustly.
Sometimes the reader might find himself agreeing with the objection and wondering how Thomas will dismantle the argument (though, to the relief of this reader, Thomas will sometimes say that a given objection is partially right, which I think counts for some credit). After surveying the objections, Thomas gives his rebuttal and his answer to the question. Last, he replies directly to each objection.
Learning to Think with Clarity and Charity
What is so helpful about this way of writing, thinking, and arguing? It trains us to think with clarity and charity (for a fun and more accessible example, see Rhys Laverty’s 2020 review of the contemporary worship song “Above All” in the style of Aquinas). When we consider objections to our arguments, we clarify our own thinking. This also trains us to hear our opponents well, listening not to respond but to understand, and even striving to strengthen their arguments while we converse.
This endears us to our interlocutors because it demonstrates that we not only hear them but also understand their argumentation, which is evidence of charity (Aquinas borrows from Aristotle one of the best expressions of what love is, willing the good of the other, in ST 1-2.26.4). We are willing the good of the other, not just in our response to their thinking, but because we have meditated upon it and indeed anticipated it.
A Synthesis of Patristic Thought
The Anglican tradition has always valued Patristic thought. Indeed, Anglicans often reference Lancelot Andrewes’ adage,
One canon reduced to writing by God himself, two testaments, three creeds, four general councils, five centuries, and the series of Fathers in that period —the centuries, that is, before Constantine, and two after, determine the boundary of our faith.
However, we would do well to resist any sense of there being a golden age in Church history. That said, we also recognize that a certain purity exists among the Patristic authors, forged in the fires of persecution, heresy, and conciliarism. If one cannot countenance reading through the Apostolic, Ante-Nicene, Nicene, and Post-Nicene Fathers, might there be a theologian who can surface a synthesis of Patristic thought?
Aquinas and Patristic Exegesis
Throughout the Summa, his commentaries on Scripture, and other writings, Thomas regularly summarizes the thought of figures like John Chrysostom, Gregory of Nyssa, Hilary of Poitiers, Augustine of Hippo, Jerome, and John of Damascus. From Aquinas’ vantage point in the 13th century, he is able to reflect on theological questions through a synthesis of the hundreds of years of Patristic exegesis. Additionally, Aquinas does not view retrieval as an optional way to do theology, but simply as how the Church does theology. In the same way that we might look to the Federalist Papers to understand the Constitution of the United States, Aquinas sees the need for us to understand the Councils and Creeds of the Church as their promulgators and defenders understood them. This teaches us to be catholic, that is, to hold to
the whole faith [we have] received from the Lord, in continuity with the whole Church, in all times and places.
ACNA, To Be a Christian: An Anglican Catechism, Q. 98.
This does not mean that we may not sometimes come to different conclusions than those who have finished the race before us (indeed, Thomas himself will sometimes disagree with the Fathers), but it does mean that we ought to learn from those who handed down the faith to us, often at the cost of their very lives. Thomas shows us how to honor their legacy, how to see them engage with one another across the centuries, and, in some way, how to participate in that reality we confess: a communion of saints who not merely spoke in the past but continue to speak to us and for us now.
Nothing But You, Lord
One of the great tragedies of history is that Thomas never finished the Summa. Two events reveal his reasoning. First, Thomas is said to have received a vision of Jesus. In this encounter, Jesus said, “You have spoken well of me, Thomas. What would you have as your reward?” To which Thomas replied, “Non nisi Te, Domine,” that is, “Nothing but You, Lord.” Second, according to Thomas’ biographer, while he was working his way through the Tertia Pars, Thomas received a revelation. When urged by others to finish the Summa, Thomas replied that he could not, because what he had seen made all that he had written seem like straw.
In the end, Thomas set aside private ambition and noble urging to articulate truths about who God is for the personal knowledge of Jesus. He exemplifies for those of us who tend to have noses in books and minds lost in the ethereal realms that all knowledge, all pursuit of truth, finds its end in the Wisdom and Truth of God, Jesus Christ. This pursuit, in the end, is not of things known, but one known, and indeed, one who desires for us to fully know him even as we are fully known.
Where to Begin
If by some strange miracle I’ve encouraged you to give Thomas a try, you might be wondering where to start. For something more accessible, you might peruse his commentaries on Scripture, which are grounded in a familiar text and will show how Thomas tends to think through questions the text raises for us (and perhaps some you didn’t think were raised at all!). If, on the other hand, you desire more meaty theological work, nothing beats the Summa. For example, I return to his Prima Pars in preparation for every Trinity Sunday to rehearse the mature articulations of divine simplicity, relations of origin, and other details of theology proper. One might also take a look at his Compendium Theologiae, which functions as a briefer Summa in somewhat more accessible language.
If you’re considering picking up his work in a physical format, I cannot recommend the volumes produced by the Aquinas Institute enough; they also provide a searchable online version of many of his works at aquinas.cc. Regardless, hopefully you can, with Thomas, pray for hearts that are steadfast in their devotion to and longing for the Lord:
Give me, O Lord, a steadfast heart, which no unworthy thought can drag down; an unconquered heart, which no tribulation can wear out; an upright heart, which no unworthy purpose can tempt aside. Bestow upon me understanding to know you, diligence to seek you, wisdom to find you, and faithfulness that finally may embrace you. Amen.
Collect 94, by Thomas Aquinas, 2019 Book of Common Prayer, pg. 674
Image: Detail of St. Thomas Aquinas by Carlo Crivelli (15th Century), courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
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