Saint Thomas Aquinas: Sacra Doctrina vs Sola Scriptura Part I
Matthew J Bellisario O.P.
Read Part II Here!
Matthew J Bellisario O.P.
Revision 2019
In
the Dominican spirit I have resurrected this article which I wrote almost 10
years ago as a refutation to several Protestant apologists who were claiming
that Saint Thomas Aquinas held to a type of Sola Scriptura similar to theirs.
In reading their arguments it was very apparent that they were guilty of quoting
Thomas out of context. Unfamiliar with his corpus of work and their historical setting they misinterpret many of the phrases and terms he used. I have gone
through and edited the original article for clarity. Although this article was
originally written as an apologetic work, I believe it will also be of benefit
to Catholics who want to know more about how Saint Thomas viewed Sacred
Scripture in relation to Sacred Tradition and the Church.
Introduction
Saint Thomas
Aquinas is one of the greatest Latin theologians the Church has ever produced.
There have been attempts by those outside the Church such as William Webster,
who I will address later, to brand him as some type of pre-Protestant
theologian, subscribing him to a form of “Scripture Alone” theology. "The
Scriptures held a place of supreme authority in the Church. In a quotation
previously referenced, Aquinas echoed the sentiments of Basil of Caesarea and
Augustine, stating that the teaching of the fathers was received as
authoritative only when it could be demonstrated that it was true to Scripture.
He taught that Scripture alone was the canonical standard of doctrine, and
therefore the foundation and source of truth for the faith of the Church: 'Only
canonical Scripture is the rule of faith'.”[1]
Although some
passages taken in isolation may at first glance appear to put him in such a
category, more extensive reading of Thomas’ material along with proper
interpretation will prove him to be much in line with traditional Catholic
theology as St. Augustine and St. Basil were, which subscribes to the
Scriptures as being God’s written Word, being of the same substance of His Oral
Word, as taught and proclaimed infallibly by Holy Catholic Church. The Catholic
Church teaches that the Church is not above God’s Word, but only serves it and
proclaims its proper interpretation. As we will see, Saint Thomas thought the
same. In fact, Saint Thomas did not view any of these elements as being
separate entities. In fact, they all fit together almost as the Holy Trinity
fit together in one divine substance. Just as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
cannot ever be separated, so the Eternal Word proclaimed in Scripture and
Tradition, as taught infallibly by the Holy Spirit through Christ’s only Church,
cannot be separated. Before we begin to examine Saint Thomas’ writings, we must
first understand Saint Thomas’ educational and historical background.
Saint Thomas'
Historical Background
Saint Thomas began
his formal studies at Montecassino in Italy. The education he received there
was a form of scholastic, classical curriculum that focused on the trivium and
the quadrivium. Saint Thomas was well versed in logic, rhetoric, grammar,
arithmetic, geometry, astronomy and music, which he continued to study when he
was later, sent to Naples, Italy. It was however in Paris and Cologne where he
received his formal theological education. It is here that we can find the roots
of his theological positions. Peter Lombard’s work titled the Sentences, was very
popular at the time. Saint Thomas studied Peter Lombard and was very familiar
with the scholar’s theological works. In fact, Saint Thomas composed a
commentary on his work titled ‘The Sentences’, which if left unabridged would
span a 6000-page volume work in today's average book format. Lombard’s was a
foundation from which Saint Thomas built upon, yet he was never afraid to
modify or change directions in his own theological work. Saint Thomas would
later use the works of Lombard to defend Catholic teaching for Pope Urban IV
against the errors of the Eastern Orthodox. Saint Thomas was also a formidable
Patristic scholar to which he frequently deferred to substantiate his Biblical
exegesis. Despite his appreciation and study of the Fathers, he was in many
ways an innovator in regards to Scriptural scholarship.
What many people
today, however, may not understand is the focus of studies among the universities
of his time. The theological focus of the medieval universities of Saint
Thomas’ time, were devoted primarily to Biblical studies. Saint Thomas, being a
professor twice in Paris, was no exception, and his theological work is in
large part focused on Biblical scholarship. Much of his work was not composed
as a complete defense of Catholic doctrine in a strict sense, it was developed
in a large part to examine and cultivate the literal sense of Scripture. We
must note that the word literal here is not synonymous with today's
fundamentalist definition. We will touch on that later in this work.
There are also a
few basic historical facts that we should remember when reading Saint Thomas.
Although Aristotelian philosophy had already influenced great theologians like
St. Albert, one of Thomas' teachers, we should remember that Saint Thomas was
one of the first Latin theologians of the middle ages to really expound upon
and integrate the sound aspects of Aristotelian philosophy with theology. It
influenced how he viewed Sacred Scripture, and it developed in him a profound
leaning towards the sufficiency of the literal sense of the Scriptures, which
almost seems contrary to many of the Church Fathers who came before him, who
tended to emphasize the spiritual senses over the literal. Although theologians
such as Saint Augustine wrote about understanding Scripture in the literal
sense (De Doctrina Christiana), none emphasized the sufficiency of the literal
sense as Saint Thomas. Catholic theologian Matthew Lamb writes, “St. Thomas'
unqualified adoption of the Aristotelian doctrine concerning the dependence of
the human mind on the imagination threw a new light on the importance of the
literal sense of Scripture.”[2]
This difference was largely due to the influence of Platonic philosophy on the
earlier theologians that came before Saint Thomas.
Saint Thomas developed his
theology primarily through his studies on St. Augustine. Saint Thomas leaned on
the literal sense of Scripture to combat heresies of the day such as the Cathar
heresy, who developed their heresies by rendering a false “spiritual” sense in
place of the literal. It was Saint Thomas’ position that the literal sense of
Scripture was the only sense on which strict theological arguments should be
based on in regard to Scripture itself. Hence we see him address this issue in
his Summa Theologiae, “Consequently Holy Scripture sets up no confusion since
all meanings are based on one, namely, the literal sense. From this alone can
arguments be drawn, and not, as St. Augustine mentions in his letter to Vincent
the Donatist, from whatever is said according to allegory. Nor is anything lost
from Sacred Scripture on this account, for nothing that is necessary to faith
is contained under the spiritual sense which is not openly conveyed by the
literal sense elsewhere.”[3]
Saint Thomas here clearly states his opinion as to how Scripture teaches
matters necessary to the faith. He proposes that when Scripture teaches
something necessary to the faith, it does so in the literal sense. This emphasis
on Scriptural interpretation was developed by Saint Thomas and it influenced
much of his work.
It must be
understood that Saint Thomas never separated the Scriptures from the Tradition
of the Church. He demonstrates his belief in the primacy of the Church of Rome,
which was founded upon Saint Peter. "This is as if He said: "They
shall make war against thee, but they shall not overcome thee." And thus
it is that only the Church of Peter was always firm in faith. On the contrary,
in other parts of the world there is either no faith at all or faith mixed with
many errors. The Church of Peter flourishes in faith and is free from error.
This, however, is not to be wondered at, for the Lord has said to Peter:
"But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not; and thou, being once
converted, confirm thy brethren."[4]
As stated earlier
Thomas used the writings of the Church Fathers to arrive at proper Biblical
interpretations of Scripture. It is a fact that Urban IV requested him to
compose a gloss on the four gospels, in which St. Thomas referred back to the
original Greek sources to compose. It is a topic of debate as to how well
versed St. Thomas was in Greek, but it is apparent that he at least possessed
some understanding of the language. It is also well known that he referred to
other Greek scholars of his day, to which he used their translations of the
Greek Father's original texts to compose much of his work. Most people are
familiar with his gloss often titled “the Catena Aurea.” In it, he cites 22
Latin Fathers and 57 Greek Fathers all of which were cited to support the
Church’s traditional interpretation of the Scriptures regarding proper
doctrinal teaching. Although Saint Thomas is often accused of being a Latin
minded theologian, the Eastern Church had a great influence on his writings.
It must be noted
that although much of Saint Thomas’ work was devoted to Scripture, he does
occasionally demonstrate the necessity to appeal to Tradition. Saint Thomas
does this when he defends the Catholic Church for Pope Urban IV against the
schismatic Church of the East. In his university setting, however, we rarely see
Saint Thomas engage in this type of apologetic. His university work falls in
line with the Biblical studies, which were the point of theological focus of
the time. Nevertheless, Saint Thomas often speaks of the Scriptures as being
the “rule of faith”, and when Saint Thomas speaks of the sufficiency of
Scripture as a rule of faith, it must be understood that he does not mean
Scripture alone, as a Protestant would much later define it. It means the Word
of God as expressed in the Written Word and the Oral Kerygma of the Church,
within the structure of the Church of Rome headed by the Roman Pontiff.
It appears that Thomas
uses these authorities almost interchangeable when referring to Sacra Doctrina.
James A. Weisheipl, O.P. of the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies
explains further, “This sola scriptura of which St. Thomas speaks is far
different from the sola scriptura (“only the Bible”) of the Reformers. This
battle cry was made famous by Luther, who insisted that what is not contained
in the Bible is not “of faith.” But Luther and Thomas (or any other medieval
theologian) meant two different things by the word Bible, or Sacred Scriptures.
For Luther and the Reformers the Bible was thought of as a finished, edited,
and (by then) printed collection, while Thomas and the medieval theologians
meant the Sacred Word together with the gloss of the Fathers, liturgy, and the
living Church.”[5] The
final point of Dr. Weishepl is very crucial to understanding these texts of
Saint Thomas. It must not be forgotten that St. Thomas did not divorce the living
Church, the tradition of the Church Fathers or the integration of the
Scriptures in liturgy from the Scriptures themselves as a rule of faith. That
living element is what is referred to as Sacred Tradition.
This puts Saint
Thomas in good company with modern Catholic theologians such as Pope Benedict
XVI. Pope Benedict XVI writes the following on Tradition, “Tradition is indeed
never a simple and anonymous handing on of teaching, but is linked to a person,
is a living word, that has its concrete reality in faith.”[6]
This living element, rooted firmly in faith and Tradition cannot be separated
from Thomas' view of Sacred Scripture. Such terms that are used today in modern
Protestant works such as “material sufficiency”, “formal sufficiency” and the
like, have no place in the thought of the Angelic Doctor. To force these types
of definitions upon his writings and thought is an anachronistic error of the
gravest proportion to which many Protestant apologists fall into today.
Aquinas’ Sacra
Doctrina
At the beginning
of the Summa Theologiae St. Thomas opens with how he views Sacred Doctrine, or
Sacra Doctrina. There is more than meets the eye when it comes to this term in
the mind of Saint Thomas. The term at face value appears to mean nothing more
than Sacred Doctrine. Protestants have tried to make this term synonymous with
Sacred Scripture, but this is not at all the author’s meaning of the term.
Sacra Doctrina was defined and understood to mean sacred instruction, most
often in the active sense, but not limited to the active sense. We also cannot
forget that sacred doctrine, was a doctrine that was preached or learned as
science. For Thomas, the science of Sacra Doctrina was not limited to Sacred
Scripture, but the receiving of God's entire revelation through His revealed
Word, as well as what was revealed in nature.
In the First Part
of the Summa Theologiae, Question 1, Article Two, Thomas offers us some
clarification. For Thomas, the doctrina was the foundation of everything he
would build the Summa upon. In his third reply to objection two, regarding
whether Sacra Doctrina is indeed a science he writes, “Individual facts are
treated of in sacred doctrine, not because it is concerned with them
principally, but they are introduced rather both as examples to be followed in
our lives (as in moral sciences) and in order to establish the authority of
those men through whom the divine revelation, on which this sacred scripture or
doctrine is based, has come down to us.”[7]
Here he reveals a few important facts. First, he reveals that Sacra Doctrina is
founded upon the authority of the apostles and that all doctrina and scripture
is handed on by this authority. It is this living foundation that all doctrina
rests upon, and it is this living foundation which the doctrina is handed on to
us including Sacra Scriptura. In other words, St. Thomas here in the opening of
his Summa is saying that all doctrina is built upon the foundation and
authority of the apostles, not Scripture alone. He clearly points out that all
doctrine falls under the authority of the apostles and he states that Scripture
is also founded upon that authority.
This foundation
that St. Thomas lays down is critical to understand if we are to make any sense
out of the rest of the Summa. It must be noted that if one does not understand
the opening articles of the Summa, one will never understand the rest of its
contents. St. Thomas, as with all the scholars of his time, do not repeat
themselves often, and if you miss important points as they are set up in the
progression of the Summa, you will not be able to grasp what the author intends
to communicate later, no matter how well you read English, or how great of a
Latin scholar you are. For Thomas, Scripture and Doctrina were part of the revealed Revelation of God which were given by Christ and the authority of the
apostles which St. Thomas clearly states has been handed down through the ages
by the Church.
We must note that
for Saint Thomas, there is no distinction between Scripture and doctrine per se.
For him, doctrina and scriptura were derivative of the same source of all divine
revelation, which is God.[8]
The distinction between forms of revelation did not need to be made in Thomas's
time as would later have to be done after the Protestant revolt. The Protesters
of the 16th century actively sought to separate Scripture from its unitive bond
with all divine revelation. None of this was a point of focus for Saint Thomas
in the theological works of his time. His works were written for the audience
of his time, not ours. This is often a mistake people make in reading into the
Fathers of the Church. They often mistake the ancient writers as writing for
the controversies of the modern-day, removed centuries from the writer’s time.
It is this mentality that has sought to apply the Protestant definition of Sola
Scriptura to the Angelic Doctor, and it is an erroneous one.
Read Part II Here!
[1]
William Webster, Holy Scripture: The
Ground and Pillar of Our Faith, volume 2, p 87-88
[2] Lamb,
Matthew L., trans. Commentary on St. Paul’s Epistle to the Ephesians. Aquinas
Scripture Commentaries
[3] Aquinas,
Summa Theologica, First Part, Q 1, A 10
[4] Catechism
of Thomas Aquinas, 9th article
[5] (James
A. Weisheipl, O.P. , Magi Books, Inc., Albany, N.Y. 1988
[6] Benedict
XVI, God's Word, Ignatius Press
[7] Aquinas,
Summa Theologica Part I, Q1, A2
[8] Baglow,
Christopher, Sacred Scripture and Sacred Doctrine in St. Thomas Aquinas. (Aquinas
on Doctrine T&T Clark)
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