Commentary on Saint Paul’s First Letter to the Thessalonians and the Letter to the Philipians by St. Thomas Aquinas (review)

BOOK REVIEWS 701 " The ' doubt of discussion ' is behind eYery article of the Summa, the ' doubt of wonder' is, of course, behind the whole vast enterprise of theology. Theology, as well as philosophy, begins in wonder " (p. 24, n. 22). The Catholic University of Arnerica Washington, D. C. EAMON R. CARROLL, 0. CARM. St. Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Saint Paul's First Letter to the Thessalonians and the Letter to the Philipians, (Aquinas Scripture Series Vol. 3; Revised Standard Version Text); tr. by F. R. LARCHER, 0. P., and MICHAEL Dc:FFY, 0. P.; Albany, N. Y.: Magi Books, 1969. Pp. 122. $4.50. The first impression the modern biblical scholar has on reading the commentary of St. Thomas is that of a strange new world. It is, of course, an unfamiliar old world that was home to Christian exegetes for many hundreds of years before it was succeeded by the modern world of critical scholarship. And for that reason alone it is important that these commentaries be preserved; we should not forget the roots from which we have sprung or the rock from which we have been hewn. As suggested above, the first thing the modern exegete notes is the almost total absence of critical or scientific analysis. There is no long introduction discussing the historical and doctrinal background of the letters, no philological discussions, no extended remarks on possible Hellenistic or Jewish influences at work, no literary analysis in the modern sense and no awareness of textual critical problems, minor as they may be in these letters. To this reviewer's mind the importance of the commentary is three-fold. First of all, it reveals Thomas's thorough acquaintance with the text of Scripture. In one sense it can be said that this is a commentary of the Bible on these two letters. Throughout, the author adduces other texts of Scripture which might throw some light on the passage. Nor are they from what we would consider the better known or more important biblical books. One must conclude that St. Thomas really read and was thoroughly familiar with the Bible. As often as not the parallel passages are applied in a merely accommodated sense, but this is not to be despised in a meditative reading of the Scriptures. The second point of importance is the hermeneutical stance of the author. Anyone acquainted with St. Thomas's other writings, above all his Summa Theologiae, will recognize immediately the tendency to analyse the text in a philosophical way. First of all, every verse is broken down into two or three points, each of which in turn is broken down into two or three 702 BOOK REVIEWS more points. :Moreover, his theological presuppositions frequently intrude in the explanation. For example, he writes: "Paul greets the Church ... in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, that is, in the faith of the Trinity and of the divinity and humanity of Christ, because our beatitude will consist in knowing them. He mentions only the person of the Father and the incarnate Son, in which two is understood the Holy Spirit who is the bond between the Father and the Son." (p. 5) Again, in discussing 1 Th. 4:4 he distinguishes between venial sin, when concupiscence is present in relations with one's wife, and mortal sin, when adultery is committed. (pp. 30 f.) Modern scholars have not overcome this "hermeneutical circle," though they are more aware of its presence. Thirdly, we occasionally find a theological insight that is of major significance in the development of ontological theology. Perhaps the most important of these in this commentary is Thomas's recognition, in 1 Th. 4:14, of the role of the resurrection of Christ in man's redemption, a role that has only recently been re-discovered by modern theologians. During the last several hundred years theologians commonly had reduced the resurrection to little more than epilogue in the theology of redemption, to an apologetic for Christ's divinity. Redemption was almost exclusively attached to Christ's passion and death. It is embarrassingly clear now that the Scriptures, and especially St. Paul, had already proclaimed the active, if not dominant role of...