Summa Theologiae, Volume 56 (3a. 60–65), The Sacraments by St. Thomas Aquinas (review)

BOOK REVIEWS St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, Volume 56 (3a. 60-65), The Sacraments. Latin text. English translation, Introduction, Notes & Glossary by DAVID BoURKE, with Index of Scriptural References and General Index. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co.; and London: Eyre & Spottiswoode Limited, 1975. Pp. 168. $Hl.50. The publication of this magnificent sixty-volume series has spanned the turbulent decade for theology which followed the Second Vatican Council. Over forty men have contributed as translators and compilers of footnotes, references, and explanatory appendices. The sixty volumes deserve a longer review article which would evaluate the work as a whole as well as its special contribution to contemporary Thomistic studies. At this time we can only express our gratitude to the group of scholars who made this Latin-English edition of the Summa Theologiae possible, especially to those who have contributed multiple fascicles to the -series. The entire series remains as an eloquent monument to its General Editor, the late Father Thomas Gilby, O. P., whose indomitable spirit would not quit until the last galleys were in from the printer. The earliest volumes, which began to appear in 1964, struggled to explain Thomas's key ideas and his sources. These volumes are characterized by a multiplicity of footnotes, references, and appendices. During these years there is also a struggle, often defensive in nature, to present Thomas within the theological setting of the thirteenth century and to include positions resulting from recent developments in the Church. Volume 14 (la. 108-109) Divine Government by T. C. O'Brien, appears to be the " break-through " fascicle of the series, for it contains discoveries on Aquinas's use of auctoritates and of Aristotle. The final publications of the series limit themselves to references for the most part tracked down by the Leonine Commission supplemented by a modest number of footnotes relating to contemporary problems. Volume 56 (Sa. 60-65), The Sacraments, is one of the last of the series of Summa volumes to be published and it deserves to be included as a valuable part of this series. David Bourke, who also contributed volume !l9 to the series, gives a translation that is " literally close to the original " and in keeping with the high standards set by the editors of the series. Bourke tends to use a multiplicity of English words to convey the Latin meaning and at times this results in an awkward construction, e.g. 60, 8 ad 3, p. 18. When viewed within the context of the other sixty volumes, especially 295 ~96 BOOK REVIEWS volume 14 mentioned above, the Introduction of David Bourke is valuable and quite refreshing. It is not profound in the sense that a new interpretation of Thomas's sacramental treatise is proposed, but it is useful in the historical development of sacramental theology up to St. Thomas's own time and in the suggestions it makes towards an interpretation of the key ideas of this treatise. Bourke asserts that the scriptural background for Aquinas's study of the sacraments begins with the Old Testament. The novelty of this suggestion appears in the way that Bourke applies it in q. 60, Q: "One purpose of this article seems to be to broaden the definition of sacrament so as to allow it to apply to Old Testament sacraments too, as being signs, though non-causative ones, of the same sacred reality as those of the New. But as a matter of definition it adds the specific difference to the genus of sign as explained in the previous article. What distinguishes the sacraments from other kinds of sign is that they represent a sacr,ed reaJ,ity as sanctifying men" (p. 8). The customary division following John of St. Thomas is simply the logical one into the metaphysical components of genus and species (aa. 1-S) and the physical components (aa. 4-8). Bourke's brief outline of the development of the treatise on sacramental theology is quite useful for setting the stage for the questions included in volumes 56-60 (Sa. 60-90) . The significant contribution of the mature works of Aquinas, he rightly maintains, is in giving the sacraments a more positive and cultic purpose. In...