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THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY of AMERICA the Kingdom of God In THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA The Kingdom of God in the Gospel Commentaries of St. Thomas Aquinas: Historical, Ecclesiastical and Eschatological Dimensions A DISSERTATION Submitted to the Faculty of the School of Theology and Religious Studies Of the Catholic University of America In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree Doctor of Philosophy By Matthew L. Martin Washington, D.C. 2016 The Kingdom of God in the Gospel Commentaries of St. Thomas Aquinas: Historical, Ecclesiastical and Eschatological Dimensions Matthew L. Martin, Ph.D. Director: Joshua C. Benson, Ph.D. The preaching of the Gospel opens with the proclamation that the Kingdom of God is at hand. For two millennia, Christian theologians have been exploring the depths of that proclamation through reflection on both the Scriptures and on their great predecessors in the tradition. St. Thomas Aquinas stands as one of the greatest theologians of the Church but his understanding of the Kingdom has not been a major subject of investigation. Instead, Thomas’ thought on the subject has been ignored or criticized. When it has been addressed, it has been approached almost entirely from the direction of Aquinas as a systematic theologian or philosopher, rather than as an interpreter of Scripture. The Biblical commentaries of Thomas have only recently experienced a resurgence of scholarly interest, and while many great scholars have produced fine work on numerous topics, few have yet turned to the Kingdom. This dissertation seeks to correct that lacuna by examining the Kingdom in the light of Aquinas' scriptural works, especially his commentary on the Gospel of Matthew. After exploring the Kingdom as presented in that text, it looks into his other Biblical commentaries, his broader theological works, and the Matthew commentaries of his contemporaries to provide a full examination of Aquinas’ kingdom doctrine in its historical and theological context. This approach not only gives us insight into how he approaches the Bible, but also reveals a fascinating, multifaceted interpretation of the Kingdom which builds on Scripture and, in conjunction with ideas from Aristotle, Pseudo-Dionysius, Johannine mysticism and the mendicant movement, constructs a vision of the Kingdom. This vision is contemplative and evangelical, internal and ecclesiastical, focused on God and others, and manifest in multiple dimensions. Yet the Kingdom for Aquinas remains fundamentally oriented towards an eschatological vision at which the full promise of humanity is revealed and God becomes all in all. This dissertation by Matthew L. Martin fulfills the dissertation requirement for the doctoral degree in Historical Theology approved by Joshua C. Benson, Ph.D., as Director, and by Chad C. Pecknold, Ph.D., and Michael Root, Ph.D. as Readers. __________________________________________ Joshua C. Benson, Ph.D., Director __________________________________________ Chad C. Pecknold, Ph.D., Reader __________________________________________ Michael Root, Ph.D., Reader ii Table of Contents I. Introductory Material 1 Introduction and State of the Question 1 Background Material on St. Thomas Aquinas 6 A Biographical Sketch 6 Aquinas as Exegete 7 Key Philosophical Concepts 12 Nature and Purpose of “Kingdom” 13 Participation 21 Contemplation 22 A Note on Translation 26 II. The Kingdom of God and Kingship of Christ in the Gospel Commentaries of St. Thomas Aquinas 27 Introduction 27 The Catena Aurea and the Commentaries 28 The Commentary on St. Matthew 29 Matthew 3: Defining the Kingdom of Heaven 32 The First Aspect of the Kingdom: The Internal Kingdom and How It is Attained 37 The Second Aspect of the Kingdom: Preaching and Scripture 54 The Third Aspect: The Kingdom and the Church 66 The Fourth Aspect: The Kingdom at the End 71 The Kingdom of Heaven, the Kingdoms of the World, and the Kingdom of Israel 84 The Kingdom at War 111 Conclusions on the Kingdom and Kingship in the Commentary on Matthew 115 The Commentary on St. John 120 The Contemplative Kingdom 121 A Kingdom “Not of This World” 127 Conclusions on the Kingdom and Kingship in the Commentary on John 136 Overall Conclusion 138 III. The Kingdom and Kingship in Thomas Aquinas’ Other Scripture Commentaries 139 Expositio super Isaiam ad litteram 140 In Jeremiam prophetam expositio 142 In Psalmis Davidis expositio 144 Psalm 2: The Kingdom of David and of Christ 145 iii Psalm 3: Prayer for the Kingdom 148 Psalm 11, 16 (15): Brief Notes on the King 148 Psalm 18 (17): The King as Liberator and Conqueror 149 Psalm 19 (18): The Old and New Law 150 Psalms 21 (20) and 24 (23): Rejoicing in Conquest and the Crown 151 Psalm 26 (25): Sharing in the Kingship 152 Psalm 33 (32): The Nature of Worldly Kingship 153 Psalms 42-51 (41-50): Prayers for the Kingdom 153 Conclusions on the Psalms 161 Commentaries on the Pauline Letters 163 Commentary on Romans 164 Commentary on I Corinthians: Faith, Charity and Hope 170 Commentary on Colossians: Clarifying the Kingdom 173 Commentaries on I and II Thessalonians: Meriting the Kingdom, Relating Church and Empire 174 Commentary on I Timothy: Kingly Power 176 Commentary on II Timothy: A Multifaceted Kingship 177 Commentary on Hebrews: The Royal Dignity and the Glory of the Kingdom 178 Conclusions on the Pauline Letters 181 Overall Conclusions 184 IV. The Kingdom and Kingship in Thomas Aquinas’ Other Theological Works 187 Commentary on the Sentences 188 Book 1 188 Book 2 188 Book 3 191 Book 4 192 Conclusions on the Sentences 199 Summa Contra Gentiles: The Wisdom of the Kingdom 200 Books 1-3: The Providential King and Kingdom 201 Book 4: The Kingdom Comes to Earth 202 Conclusions on the Summa Contra Gentiles 205 Summa Theologiae 206 Prima Pars 206 Prima Secundae 207 Secunda Secundae 212 Tertia Pars 215 Conclusions on the Summa Theologiae 222 Disputed and Quodlibetal Questions 223 Theological Opusculae 225 Compendium Theologiae 225 iv Works on the Mendicant Controversy (Contra Impugnantes, De Perfectione, Contra Reprehentes) 227 Collations and Sermons 229 Expositio in orationem dominicam 229 Expositio in Symbolum Apostolorum 232 Academic Sermons 233 Overall Conclusions 238 V. Aquinas in Contrast to Other 13th-Century Dominican Commentaries On Matthew 241 Hugh of St. Cher, In Evangelia Matthaeum 242 Conclusions on Hugh of St. Cher 263 Albertus Magnus, Super Matthaeum 264 Conclusions on Albertus Magnus 297 Overall Conclusions 297 Concluding Remarks 302 Thomas’ Vision of the Kingdom 302 Revisiting the State of the Question 307 The Kingdom and Scripture 308 “Baptizing Aristotle:” Earthly Politics and the Kingdom of Heaven 311 The Kingdom and the Soul 313 The Kingdom and the Church 316 The Kingdom to Come 317 Possibilities for Further Research 319 The Use of the Thomistic Model of the Kingdom in the Contemporary Situation 320 Bibliography 322 Primary Medieval Sources 322 Secondary Sources 324 v Chapter 1: Introductory Material Introduction and State of the Question The Kingdom of Heaven or Kingdom of God is a key topic in Scripture and Christian theology, and Saint Thomas Aquinas treats the Kingdom at several points across his literary corpus. However, the Kingdom has rarely received close attention in recent scholarship on Aquinas. Instead, the topic has been generally neglected, reduced to a subordinate position or singled out for critique. For example, most work on Aquinas’s ecclesiology for the past century, from Chenu and Congar onward, has taken its cue from the Summa and the Commentary on Hebrews and focused on the “Church as Body of Christ.” Far less attention has been given to the Church’s relationship to the Kingdom. Similarly, “if one consults the standard index to the two Summae of Thomas under the word regnum (kingdom) one will find almost nothing.”1 Even works focusing on the Kingdom neglect Aquinas’s use of Scripture, especially his Lectura super Mattheum or Commentary on Matthew. Abstracts of two Roman dissertations on Aquinas and the Kingdom, for example, make only passing reference to the Commentary on Matthew, focusing instead on the Summa. A dissertation on the Kingdom of God in Aquinas, done only twenty-five years ago, likewise does not even include the Commentary in its bibliography. Thus, not only is a major theological theme minimized, but it has been approached almost entirely from the direction of Aquinas as a systematic theologian or philosopher, rather than as an interpreter of Scripture. The Biblical commentaries of Thomas have only recently experienced a resurgence of 1 Benedict T. Viviano, OP, The Kingdom of God in History (Wilmington DE: Michael Glazier, 1988), 61. 1 2 scholarly interest, and while many great scholars have produced fine work on numerous topics, few have yet turned to the Kingdom. This is compounded by the fact that the textual history of the Commentary on Matthew is more troubled than usual,2 and it was not until recently3 that an uncorrupted Latin text was available to the general public. Some work has been done on the concept of the Kingdom in Aquinas, but my research indicates that it has remained largely at the level of doctoral theses and dissertations. Joanne Edwards, S.J., did a dissertation for the Gregorian University on the topic of the Kingdom in 1958, only the first two chapters of which are easily accessible.4 Edwards' primary focus in those sections is on divine providence, teleology and predestination, and while the Gospel commentaries are cited in the Bibliography, no notes from them are included in the available text, and the Matthew text is the incomplete Marietti edition. Walter Mitchell's 1973 dissertation for the Pontifical University of St. Thomas, The Relationship Between Kingdom and Church in the Writings of St. Thomas,5 also makes use of the Marietti text, without use of any of the new material that had been discovered at that point.6 While Mitchell devotes some attention to Aquinas' commentary on Matthew, the study occupies only three pages, and is primarily focused on how the Church and the Kingdom interrelate.
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