Thomas Aquinas and John Owen on the beatific vision: A Reply to Suzanne McDonald

2016 ◽  
Vol 97 (1070) ◽  
pp. 432-446
Author(s):  
Simon Francis Gaine OP
Keyword(s):  
Thomas Aquinas ◽  
Beatific Vision ◽  
John Owen

scholarly journals Thomas Aquinas on the Beatific Vision: A Christological Deficit

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 129-147
Author(s):  
Hans Boersma
Keyword(s):  
Thomas Aquinas ◽  
Divine Essence ◽  
Beatific Vision ◽  
John Owen

This article argues Aquinas’s doctrine of the beatific vision suffers from a twofold christological deficit: (1) Aquinas rarely alludes to an eternally continuing link (whether as cause or as means) between Christ’s beatific vision and ours; and (2) for Aquinas the beatific vision is not theophanic, that is to say, for Aquinas, Christ is not the object of the beatific vision; instead, he maintains the divine essence constitutes the object.  Even if Aquinas were to have followed his “principle of the maximum” in the unfinished third part of the Summa and so had discussed Christ’s own beatific vision as the cause of the saints’ beatific vision, he would still have ended up with a christological deficit, inasmuch as Christ would still not be the means and the object of the saints’ beatific vision.  For a more christologically robust way forward, I draw on John Owen and several other Puritan theologians, who treat the beatific vision as the climactic theophany.

scholarly journals The Beatific Vision and the Heavenly Mediation of Christ

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 116-128
Author(s):  
Simon Francis Gaine
Keyword(s):  
Thomas Aquinas ◽  
John Calvin ◽  
Jonathan Edwards ◽  
Summa Theologiae ◽  
Beatific Vision ◽  
Recent Debate ◽  
Argument Proceeds ◽  
John Owen

This article argues that Thomas Aquinas is to be interpreted as holding that the beatific vision of the saints is causally dependent on the glorified humanity of Christ. It opposes the view that, for Aquinas, Christ’s humanity has causal significance only for those who are being brought to the beatific vision by grace, and not for those who have attained this vision, such that there is a Christological deficit in Aquinas’s eschatology. The argument proceeds somewhat in the manner of an article of Aquinas’s Summa Theologiae. Having briefly outlined the recent debate, especially the contribution of Hans Boersma, two objections are put against my position. A sed contra is formulated on the basis of quotations from the Summa. The responsio is based on Aquinas’s extensive use of a philosophical ‘principle of the maximum’ and its particular application by Aquinas to grace. After replies to the objections, based on the method and structure of the Summa, I locate Aquinas’s position in the debate on Christ’s heavenly mediation between that of John Calvin and that of John Owen and Jonathan Edwards.

Thomas Aquinas and Contemplation

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rik Van Nieuwenhove
Keyword(s):  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Thomas Aquinas ◽  
Central Importance ◽  
Marked Contrast ◽  
Faith And Reason ◽  
Beatific Vision ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
Theology And Philosophy ◽  
Key Questions

Contemplation, according to Thomas Aquinas, is the central goal of our life; yet a scholarly study on this topic has not appeared for over seventy years. This book fills that obvious gap. From an interdisciplinary perspective this study considers the epistemological and metaphysical foundations of the contemplative act; the nature of the active and contemplative lives in light of Aquinas’s Dominican calling; the role of faith, charity, and the gifts of the Holy Spirit in contemplation; and contemplation and the beatific vision. Key questions addressed are: What is contemplation? What is truth? How can we know God? How do faith and reason relate to one another? How does Aquinas envisage the relations between theology and philosophy? What role does charity play in contemplation? Throughout this book the author argues that Aquinas espouses a profoundly intellective notion of contemplation in the strictly speculative sense, which culminates in a non-discursive moment of insight (intuitus simplex). In marked contrast to his contemporaries Aquinas therefore rejects a sapiential or affective brand of theology. He also employs a broader notion of contemplation, which can be enjoyed by all Christians, in which the gifts of the Holy Spirit are of central importance. This book should appeal to all those who are interested in this key aspect of Aquinas’s thought. It provides a lucid account of central aspects of Aquinas’s metaphysics, epistemology, theology, and spirituality. It also offers new insights into the nature of the theological discipline as Aquinas sees it, and how theology relates to philosophy.

John Owen as proto-social trinitarian? Reinterpreting Owen and resisting a recent trend

2021 ◽  
Vol 74 (3) ◽  
pp. 222-234
Author(s):  
Ty Kieser
Keyword(s):  
Recent Literature ◽  
Recent Trend ◽  
Thomas Aquinas ◽  
Trinitarian Theology ◽  
John Owen

AbstractContrary to much of the recent literature on the trinitarian theology of John Owen, which often ascribes radical personal distinction to his account of triune relations and actions, this paper argues that Owen's account of distinct divine persons and trinitarian actions ought not to be contrasted with his theological forebears: Augustine, Thomas Aquinas and Calvin. Instead, his account of trinitarian ontology and operation is thoroughly consistent with (and dependent upon) the Augustinian principles that these interpreters suspect Owen is rejecting. The argument unfolds by presenting four putative points of strong personal distinction in John Owen's trinitarian theology and then reinterpreting each of the themes and passages that these four points are supposedly rooted in, evidencing his Augustinian account of trinitarian unity and distinction.

Reception of Thomas Aquinas in the Area of Eschatology

2021 ◽  
pp. 704-716
Author(s):  
Paul O’Callaghan
Keyword(s):  
Thomas Aquinas ◽  
Summa Theologiae ◽  
Beatific Vision ◽  
Resurrection Of The Dead ◽  
The Dead ◽  
Principal Elements

The study examines the principal elements of the eschatological doctrine of Thomas Aquinas. First his teaching is situated in the medieval context that preceded him, especially in Peter Lombard’s Sentences; the principal authors who developed their eschatology in continuity are also presented. Second, Aquinas’ principal texts on eschatology are listed; for the most part they are to be found in the so-called Supplementum to the Summa theologiae, drawn from his Commentary on the Sentences by his disciples. Structural priority seems to be given in his writings to the topic of resurrection. Third, the study presents the different aspects of Aquinas’ eschatology and their reception, in respect of the following topics: end-time signs and millenarianism; death and the ‘separated soul’; resurrection of the dead; purgatory, praying for the dead and intercession of the saints; beatific vision; condemnation; general judgment and the glorified universe.

scholarly journals Communal Knowledge and the Beatific Vision

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 27-46
Author(s):  
Joshua Cockayne
Keyword(s):  
Recent Work ◽  
Thomas Aquinas ◽  
Shared Vision ◽  
Personal Knowledge ◽  
Divine Essence ◽  
Religious Ritual ◽  
Knowledge Of God ◽  
Beatific Vision ◽  
Perfect Knowledge ◽  
Vision Of God

In this paper, I will consider what role, if any, our communion with the saints plays in our knowledge and communion with God. By considering recent work on the epistemology of personal knowledge and epistemology of religious ritual, I argue that our communion with the saints in some way enhances our knowledge of God. This conclusion has implications for our understanding of the beatific vision. According to Thomas Aquinas, those who are saved will receive a vision of the divine essence and thereby come to perfect knowledge of God. In attaining this perfect knowledge, Aquinas maintains, a human being will be perfectly happy. Thus, on Aquinas’s picture of the doctrine, communion with the saints is not necessary for perfect happiness or perfect knowledge of God. I suggest that there are two solutions to this problem. First, following Christopher Brown, we must say that whilst perfect happiness cannot be improved upon it can be somehow more extensive. Or, secondly, we must say that, in some sense, the beatific vision is communal in nature. Whilst God remains the object and source of perfect happiness on such an account, our vision of God is a shared vision.

Thomas Aquinas

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Brent
Keyword(s):  
Natural Theology ◽  
Ways Of Knowing ◽  
Thomas Aquinas ◽  
Divine Revelation ◽  
Word Of God ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Existence Of God ◽  
Comprehensive Overview ◽  
Knowledge Of God ◽  
Beatific Vision

Although Thomas Aquinas is perhaps known best for his natural theology and arguments for the existence of God, he thought that there were manifold ways of knowing God available to human beings. This chapter distinguishes and identifies within Aquinas’s thought seven such ways. One can know God (1) by a general and confused knowledge, (2) by a philosophical wisdom, (3) by divine revelation, (4) by faith, (5) by mystical wisdom, (6) by theological wisdom, and (7) by beatific vision. The chapter discusses the epistemic nature, properties, and limits of all seven. The main point is that Aquinas’s thought is rich enough to accommodate and account for all seven ways of knowing God. Such a comprehensive overview of Aquinas helps move past polemical contexts in which Aquinas is charged with reducing the knowledge of God to natural theology or failing to prioritize the Word of God.

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