God the Father in the Theology of St. Thomas Aquinas Hardback

by John Baptist Ku

Part of the American University Studies series

Hardback

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Description

God the Father in the Theology of St. Thomas Aquinas is an exposition of Aquinasâ€™ theology of God the Father as a coherent whole.

Surprising as it might be, there has not been an extended treatment of Aquinasâ€™ theology of God the Father.

Three misconceptions are addressed: (1) the idea that Aquinasâ€™ speculative Trinitarian theology is detached from Scripture; (2) the supposition that in Aquinasâ€™ understanding, the Fatherâ€™s relation to the Holy Spirit is an afterthought to the Fatherâ€™s relation to the Son; and (3) the view that for Thomas, the Father has no proper mode of action in the created universe â€“ since Thomas maintains that in all ad extra activity, the Trinity acts as a single principle.

Two less polemical, more perennial issues are discussed as well.

First, the concept of relation, as the key to a coherent account of three distinct persons in one same divine essence, emerges as an important theme in Aquinasâ€™ exposition of the Fatherâ€™s paternity and innascibility.

Second, Aquinas understands the Father as the source of unity in the Trinity and as the beginning and end of the whole created universe.

It becomes clear that St. Thomas places forceful emphasis on the Sonâ€™s equality to the Father and on the radical difference between the creator and the creature.