Patristic Schools in the Summa

THE THOMIST A SPECULATIVE QUARTERLY REVIEW OF THEOLOGY AND PHILOSOPHY EmToRs: THE DoMINICAN FATHERS oF THE PRoVINCE OF ST. JosEPH Publishers: Sheed and Ward, Inc., New York City VoL. VII JULY, 1944 No.8 PATRISTIC SCHOOLS IN THE SUMMA 0 NE of the features of the Summa ·Theologica of St. Thomas Aquinas which strikes the casual reader is the wealth of references and quotations contained in every question, every article. The same reader may conclude that St. Thomas had in mind to make his masterpiece ·appear exceedingly erudite, to bolster up his arguments, and this conclusion has resulted in a very lengthy series of tracts. The student of the Summa readily concurs ,in the general admiration of the vast knowledge St. Thomas had of the literary and intellectual heritage of the past. At the same time, he is aware that the Angelic Doctor set out to give a brief, concise and orderly exposition of the whole of Christian doctrine. The Summa Theologica represented the perfection of his thought. His intent was to avoid all useless questions and arguments, to eliminate confusing and tiresome repetitions. Consequently, he introduced into his work only those elements which were necessary for developing an argument or clarifying a point of doctrine. Among those elements are included 271 NICHOLAS HALLIGAN the authority, the testimony, of the Fathers and Doctors of the Church. St. Thomas manifested the highest respect and humility towards the Fathers and saintly Masters of the past. Often he raised objections to their writings merely in order to justify or to clarify their teaching. He was very conscious of the value of ·authority and tradition in theology. He wove his own thought closely into the framework already established by the great intellectual pioneers. The Doctor Com~unis chose his authorities very judiciously and quoted from them always with a definite purpose in mind. Upon closer examination it becomes clear that among these theologians of earlier periods there were a few who exerted a direct and positive influence on St. Thomas. They were his masters, while, at the same time he brought their teaching to perfection. All Patristic writers can be generally grouped under two schools-that of Alexandria and that of Antioch. These theological traditions wielded a tremendous and permanent influence on the development of theology until well into the Middle Ages. It is the purpose of this study to sketch the teaching, methods, and importance of these schools. Obviously, only the outstanding representatives of each can be treated here, and those only in outline. Both those theologians who are genetically disciples of Alexandria and Antioch and others spiritually affiliated with them will be treated. The o~ject is to discover what writers exercised the most profound and direct influence on St. Thomas in his Summa Theologica, as well as how and in what respect these two theological traditions entered into the framework of his system. I. THE ScHooL oF ALEXANDRIA Beginnings The great Egyptian metropolis of Alexandria has been associated with learning and culture almost since the days of its foundation by Alexander the Great in 331 B. C. By the second century of the Christian era, it had developed into the para- PATRISTIC SCHOOLS IN THE 'SUMMA' fl78 mount intellectual metropolis of the world, the center for uniting the thought and influences of East and West. It is not surprising that from the Christian community in this locale there should arise a powerful movement toward the formation of a precise and scientific system of Christian thought. This movement, appearing in history in the person of Clement (150-c. fl15) , is properly known as the School of Alexandria, a single systematic stream of Christian intellectual expression. Its Hellenic and Judaic predecessors and contemporaries cannot correctly be labelled schools, since within these divisions existed opposing doctrines and contradictory tendencies, e. g., Platonism and Stoicism. The Gospel of Christ was proclaimed in a definite milieuPalestine in the reign of the Herods. Later it was propagated abroad among the peoples of the Greco-Roman world, an entirely distinct culture. Although Christianity itself was born in Judaism, the Christian theology developed in a Hellenic environment . At Alexandria there was inaddition the significant factor of Hellenic Judaism. Converts...