Words of the Living God: Place and Function of Holy Scripture in the Theology of St. Thomas Aquinas by Wilhelmus G. B. M. Valkenburg (review)

484 BOOK REVIEWS of "mutual trust and dialogue" established by university presidents against the "juridicism" of Rome. One searches in vain for any acknowledgement that there are genuine theological and pastoral principles that animate canon law. It is the very juridicism of the Church that preserves many of our "spiritual rights" as members of the mystical body of Christ-it protects us from abuses both clerical and lay and provides for the common good of the people of God by regulating the proper administration of the sacraments and so forth. Likewise, canon law can play a role in the maintenance of "Catholic identity" on an American university campus for the sake of the faithful-do Catholic parents not have a right to expect a certain minimum Catholicity when they send their children to Catholic colleges and universities? Gallin notes on several occasions that the current Roman magisteriumseems intent on curbing or even rolling back some of the "openness" of the council on these matters. She fears that Ex corde is the Pope's attempt to bring all Catholic institutions of higher learning, not just those with ecclesiastical mandates, under the juridical control of Rome. It is a shame that she chooses to frame the debate in this manner. Gallin's obvious grasp of the history of Catholic higher education since 1960 gives her voice on these matters agravitas that is deserved. Unfortunately, the book is constrained by its effort to justify the accommodation of American Catholic universities to the dominant culture. It is a shame to see a text with so much promise fail due to the weaknesses of its underlying assumptions. Gallin gets the history right, but seems not fully to grasp its lessons. LARRY S. CHAPP DeSales University Center Valley, Pennsylvania Words ofthe Living God: Place and Function ofHoly Scripture in the Theology of St. Thomas Aquinas. By WILHELMUS G. B. M. VALKENBURG. Leuven: Peeters, 2000. Pp. 253. 1200 BEF (paper). ISBN 90-429-0818-1. In an era when the Summa Theologiae largely served as the sole Dominican textbook, a well-intentioned novice master habitually encouraged his charges to read the Bible because it is "chock full of Scripture." Wilhelmus Valkenberg helps us to see that St. Thomas, biblical theologian, might be read for much the same reason. This study states its aim at the outset: to investigate St. Thomas's use of Scripture in his systematic-theological works, and more precisely, to demonstrate the biblical character of the Summa Theologiae in light of his exegetical works. Valkenberg's thesis, ecumenically conscious, is defined BOOK REVIEWS 485 against the Reformation portrait of a gospel-compromising Thomas, the progressive assessment of a thinker ignorant of the passionate God ofScripture, and the conservative reading of aphilosopher fitting theology into metaphysics. The thesis, simple in its overall design and complex in the details, uncovers the biblical character of Thomas's systematic theology in intricate analyses. The quantitative inquiries ("place") present comparative analysesofthe number and kinds of scriptural quotations in different theological works and tracts. The qualitative inquiries ("function") probe the distinct uses of Scripture in such varied tasks as determining the quaestio, elucidating the argument, and confirming the conclusion, and in such various modes as the clearly cited, the generally presupposed, and the cross referenced. Chapter 1 contains the thesis in miniature by presenting the theory, which is tested in the following chapters against what Thomas actually does. It introduces the three major issues associated with place and function: defining the relationship between Scripture and theology (sacra doctrina), developing a methodology for distinguishing kinds of references and tabulating them, and providing a "heuristicframework" for undertaking the virtually unprecedented task of studying Thomas's actual use of Scripture in his systematic theology. First, sacra doctrina is identified alternatively with Scripture and theology because theology is intimately grounded in divine revelation-this in contrast to contemporary theology which approaches Scripture more critically and less confidently. Even in Thomas, however, the precise relationship between Scripture and theology requires clarification. A brief presentation lays out the Summa's architectonic vision of rooting all of theology in its scriptural source. This leads to Valkenburg's central insight that Scripture is at work in the text...