Summa Theologiae by St. Thomas Aquinas (review)

BOOK REVIEWS 613 three works will give the reader a good grip on the whole modern problem of violence. Each work enables us to see the theological complexity surrounding the choice which the Christian must make. Washington Theofogical Union Washington, D. C. CALVIN ALDERSON, 0. Carm. Summa Theologiae. By ST. THOMAS AQUINAS. Latin text, English translation , Introduction, Notes, Appendices, Glossaries and Indices. Published by Blackfriars in conjunction with McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York, and Eyre & Spottiswoode, London. Volume 81. FAITH (QaQae. 1-7). Translated by T. C. O'BRIEN, 1974. Pp. 248. $15.00. Covering the first seven question on faith, this volume of the Summa begins with a step-by-step analysis of just what is the object of faith and what is not. Establishing the formal objective as God Himself as First Truth, St. Thomas goes on to demonstrate that it is not merely a proposition that is known, but that correct epistemology requires knowledge to terminate in reality itself. The question of differentiating between faith and evidence is given attention in a methodical manner, and then the author discusses the role of articles of faith. He does this generally under the rubric of "appropriateness,"-an approach which theology often utilizes when it considers the practice of the Church. In examining the acts of faith from the perspective of inner and outward acts, the author is careful to show that while belief is principally a reliance on God speaking, yet secondarily and indispensably it is concerned with what He speaks. Here St. Thomas explores the range covered by explicit faith, including the. mystery of the Incarnation and the Trinity. To complete this view there is an investigation into the outward act proper to faith and whether this is necessary for salvation. The fourth question treats of faith as a virtue, asks in what faculty of man it resides, how it is related to charity and the other virtues, theological and intellectual. The fifth deals with the problem of who can have faith: men and angels, devils and heretics, and whether faith can vary from one person to another. The last two questions are concerned with the origin and cause of faith (here the translator indicates St. Thomas's development of view over his previous writings) and with its effects in terms of fear and purification of heart. At every step of the way the editor and translator, T. C. O'Brien, proves 614 BOOK REVIEWS himself to be what we have come to expect: the master. After taking in his brief Introduction to the whole area of faith, one might do well to tackle the Appendices. They are four, and each pinpoints and then probes a key problem in the understanding of St. Thomas. The first appendix sets forth the terminology of scholastic theology (and of St. Thomas) on objects and virtues of faculties, and of faith in particular. The use of the phrase " formal objective " for formal object seems a very useful clarification. The second appendix is a profound investigation of the relationship of faith to grace and to encounter with God. Here he shows the development in St. Thomas's thinking and his dependancy on themes and concepts of Sacred Scripture. Particularly illuminating is the brief account of " two views of faith." Appendix 3 is a rewarding journey through the dark labyrinth of epistemology. The editor's own sure and steady step and the handy light he is able to throw before the reader are fine contributions to the over-all clarity of the entire treatise on faith. The fourth appendix explores the background and the meaning of some traditional theological phrases in this subject area: cum assensione cogitare, (where O'Brien seems to differ somewhat with J. Pieper's analysis) and Credere Deo, credere Deum, credere in Deum. Whether the foregoing are the best features of the volume or whether the copious footnotes throughout the text are, is perhaps a moot point. At any rate, in this volume one has the best of both. The contemporaneity of St. Thomas' treatise is sensed repeatedly as O'Brien points out (1) that the author does not work with a hypostatization of the Church (as, e.g...