Title: Primus Doctor Iudaeorum: Moses as Theological Master in the Summa Theologiae of Thomas Aquinas
Abstract: 1 See Jean-Pierre Torrell, Saint Thomas Aquinas, vol. 1: The Person and His Work, rev. ed., trans. Robert Royal (Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press, 2005), 5053 ; and James A. Weisheipl, Friar Thomas D’Aquino: His Life, Thought, and Work (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday & Co., 1974), 96-110. 2 Rigans montes de superioribus suis, prooemium: “Similiter, de supernis divinae sapientiae rigantur mentes doctorum, qui per montes significantur, quorum ministerio lumen divinae sapientiae usque ad mentes audientium derivatur” (S. Thomae Aquinatis Opuscula Theologica vol. 1, De re dogmatica et morali, ed. Raymund A. Verardo [Turin and Rome: Marietti, 1954], 441). 3 Rigans montes de superioribus suis 4: “Deus propria virtute sapientiam communicat. . . . Sed doctores sapientiam non communicant nisi per ministerium” (Marietti ed., 443). 65 The Thomist 75 (2011): 65-94 PRIMUS DOCTOR IUDAEORUM: MOSES AS THEOLOGICAL MASTER IN THE SUMMA THEOLOGIAE OF THOMAS AQUINAS FRANKLIN T. HARKINS Fordham University Bronx, New York I N THE SPRING OF 1256, having recently been licensed to teach at the University of Paris as a master in theology, Thomas Aquinas delivered his inaugural lecture or principium as part of the installation ceremonies of a new doctor.1 Alle-gorizing the words of Psalm 103:13, “Watering the mountains from your higher places, the earth will be filled from the fruit of your work,” Thomas explains that the minds of learned teachers are watered from the heights of divine wisdom. Subsequently, through the ministry of the human teacher, the light of divine wisdom runs down to the minds of learners.2 Near the end of his principium, the newly minted master makes clear that whereas God communicates wisdom by his own power, the human teacher does so only as a minister.3 In a second complementary lecture or resumptio, Thomas commends Sacred Scripture for, among other FRANKLIN T. HARKINS 66 4 Hic est liber mandatorum Dei (Marietti ed., 435-36). On this lecture as a resumptio, see Weisheipl, Friar Thomas D’Aquino, 103-4. 5 Hic est liber mandatorum Dei (Marietti ed., 437). 6 For an overview of his exegetical writings and method, see Thomas Prügl, “Thomas Aquinas as Interpreter of Scripture,” in The Theology of Thomas Aquinas, ed. Rik van Niewenhove and Joseph Wawrykow (Notre Dame, Ind.: University of Notre Dame Press, 2005), 386-415. See also Aquinas on Scripture: An Introduction to his Biblical Commentaries, ed. Thomas G. Weinandy, Daniel A. Keating, and John P. Yocum (London: T&T Clark, 2005). Although both the “biblical bachelor” (baccalaureus biblicus) and the master were required to lecture on Scripture, each bachelor and master was free to decide on which book of the sacred text he would lecture at any particular time. It is not known with certainty why Thomas chose to lecture on such Old Testament books as Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Job and not on the Pentateuch, but we must assume that he made this decision in light of what he perceived as the pressing needs of his Dominican brothers and students training for their vocations as preachers (see Joseph Wawrykow, “Aquinas on Isaiah,” in Weinandy, Keating, and Yocum, eds., Aquinas on Scripture, 43-71, esp. 45; and Prügl, “Thomas Aquinas as Interpreter of Scripture,” esp. 404). 7 On the significance and influence of the Summa Theologiae, see Weisheipl, Friar Thomas D’Aquino, 222. For an overview of Thomas’s mature work of theology, see Jean-Pierre Torrell, Aquinas’s Summa: Background, Structure, & Reception, trans. Benedict M. Guevin things, its usefulness in leading the student to life.4 The first way Scripture fulfills this purpose is through the commandments of the Old Testament Law. Because “it was not suitable” (non erat idoneus) that the ancient Israelites should receive the Law immediately from God, Thomas maintains, Moses served as mediator. The giving of the Law, then, constituted a twofold process: first it was conveyed from the Lord to Moses, then from Moses to the people.5 These initial reflections of Thomas as a newly incepted theological master are noteworthy not only for what they reveal about his understanding of the teaching office, but also for what they presage concerning the role of Moses in the thought and work of the great Dominican theologian...
Publication Year: 2011
Publication Date: 2011-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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