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14. The Extent of Jesus’ Human Knowledge according to the Fourth Gospel
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f o u r t e e n The Extent of Jesus’ Human Knowledge according to the Fourth Gospel Benedict M. Ashley, O.P. THE PROBLEM The First and Second Parts of the Summa theologiae of St. Thomas Aquinas prepare for his exploration of the mystery of the Person and work of Jesus Christ our Savior. His treatment of the Church, the sacraments, and the goal of history are all considered as the completion of his own work during his earthly and risen life. In his exploration in the Third Part of his Summa theologiae of the Person and work of Jesus, St. Thomas Aquinas drew heavily on his previous study of the fourth Gospel.1 In the Prologue of his commentary on this Gospel (n. 1) he cites the words of St. Augustine that “While the other Gospel writers inform us in their Gospels about the active life of Jesus, John in his Gospel informs us also as to his contemplative life.” Note that “also,” since St. Thomas tells us that the task of a member of the Dominican Order, as he was, must be to imitate the Lord by “giving to others what one has first contemplated.” This was in accord with Aquinas’s philosophy in which the nature of anything is revealed through what it does. Hence it is through the 1. The Commentary on the Gospel of St. John, of which the prologue and first five chapters are by Aquinas and the rest a reportatio by Reginald of Piperno, was probably written 120–122 during St. Thomas’s second period of teaching at Paris. The Third Part of the Summa theologiae was written at Naples, about 122 until left uncompleted in 12. See James A. Weisheipl, O.P., Friar Thomas D’Aquino: His Life, Thought and Works (Garden City: Doubleday, 1), 2–, 1–2, 2, and Jean-Pierre Torrell, O.P., Saint Thomas Aquinas, vol. 1, The Person and His Work, 1–201, 21–, , f. At least the first 20, or perhaps , questions of the Third Part, however, were already completed when he went to Naples, and it is with this part we are chiefly concerned here. Yet it remains probable that the Commentary is the earlier work. = work of Christ that we best recognize who he is. As a Person he is the Son of God, the Second Person of the Trinity, entirely equal with the Father and that Person through whom the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father as the source of both Son and Spirit. Yet in obedience to the Father and in the power of the Holy Spirit he has chosen to become human like us in all but sin, in order not only to redeem us from our sins but also to raise us up with him to eternal life in the community of the Trinity. This truth raises for us the difficult theological problem much discussed today as to the nature of Jesus’ human contemplation of the Father in the Holy Spirit during his earthly life. Did he in his humanity enjoy the beatific vision of his Father even in this life, or only in his divine nature? Gerald O’Collins, S.J., and Daniel Kendall, S.J., have reviewed this question in their article, “The Faith of Jesus.”2 They are concerned to refute the thesis defended by St. Thomas that Jesus, since even in his earthly life he had the beatific vision of the Trinity, unlike Christians, did not have the virtue of faith. Collins and Kendall carefully discuss the three documents of the Holy See that are sometimes quoted as adopting Aquinas’s view, held also by other medieval theologians. They conclude, however, that, as the International Theological Commission has also seemed to recognize, these documents do not constitute a definitive magisterial pronouncement on the subject, which thus remains open for theological debate. In reviewing the various theological opinions on the question, the authors list six principal difficulties for the assumption that Jesus had the beatific vision in this life: 1. How could he have truly suffered if he was already beatified? 2. How could he have had free will? . How could he have been tempted and gained merit through trials? . How could he have experienced the human process of learning? . The Gospels (e.g., Mk :0–2; 1:2) seem to indicate that his human knowledge was limited. . The hypostatic union in Christ...