In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

BOOK REVIEWS Aquinas, Calvin, and Contemporary Protestant Thought: A Critique of Protestant Views on the 1'hought of Thomas Aquinas. By ARVIN Vos. Washington, D.C.: Christian University Press (a subsidiary of the Christian College Consortium and William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company), 1985. Pp. v + 178, with bibliography and index. Paper, $9.95. The author, profesRor of philosophy at \Vestern Kentucky University, has presented a work that is admirably structured and written with both clarity and an impressive command of the subject matter. The work examines Protestant views and St. Thomas Aquinas's thought in three areas: the meaning of faith, the relationship between natural theology and sacred theology (which entails the larger issue of faith and reason, philosophy and theology), and the theme of nature and grace. In his Introduction Professor Vos presents his own organization of these topics: "In Chapter One I compare Calvin's definition of faith as 'a firm and sure knowledge of God's benevolence toward us' with Aquinas's account of faith as 'thinking with assent.' ... In Chapter Two I address the issue of implicit faith and the distinction between formed and unformed faith. . . . In Chapter Three I begin to evaluate contemporary Protestant views of Aquinas. Since the matter with which most Protestants are familar is Aquinas's natural or philosophical theology, the obvious task is to show how it relates to his view of faith. In the process we will consider various views on the nature of this relation and attempt to clarify Aquinas's own view of the matter.... In Chapter Four I consider the role of the preambles (of faith) and examine the Rtatus of the proposition 'God exists' and its implications as both a starting point for sacred theology and a conclusion for the theology of the philosophers. In Chapter Five I give an account of how Aquinas relates the existence of God as it is known in theology to the existence of God as it is known in philosophy. Chapter Six is devoted to enlarging the discussion by setting the relation of faith and reason in the context of nature and grace (pp. xiii-xiv)." The themes and the language in which they are discussed would seem to indicate that the author speaks to those who remain concerned with traditional , substantive issues of theology, both Protestant and Catholic. This review will call attention mainly to the author's able choice and interpretation of texts from the works of Saint Thomas. Of the three main areas covered, the first is the meaning of faith. The misperception argued 148 BOOK REVIEWS 149 against is that St. Thomas stands as the diametrical opposite of John Calvin. Vos quotes Calvin's description of faith as a firm and certain knowledge, whereas St. Thomas makes faith and knowledge (scientia) mutually exclusive (see ST, 2a2ae. 1, art. 4 & 5). The author reconciles the two views by showing that both theologians were attempting to describe the character of faith as a unique response to God, the substantia sperandarum , argumentum non apparentium. Calvin's explanation means that faith consists more in assurance than in understanding or comprehension; it is more of the heart than of the mind. Believers are persuaded of what they do not grasp because the Spirit has changed their hearts. For St. Thomas's view Vos turns to the exposition of a definition of belief, the act of faith, deriving ultimately from Augustine: cum assensione cogitare, to ponder with assent (ST, 2a2ae. 2, 1). Vos explains that for St. Thomas "to be imperfect as knowledge is of the very essenee of faith" (ST la2ae. 67, 2), because faith is of the unseen, but the assent of faith has its firmness and assurance throug·h the influence of the will. Because belief is assent to the truth it is essentially an act of the mind, but as motivated by the will this assent is part of a total, loving, trusting response of the person to God. As St. Thomas himself put the matter: " God is the end of faith in that he is the unique good, who by his eminence transeends the capacities of man, but by his liberality offers his own very good to be...

pdf

Share