Is it Better to Die Excommunicated than Act against One's Conscience?: What Aquinas Famously (Never) Said on Conscience and Church Authority
Thomas Aquinas is often presented as a champion of personal conscience over and against Magisterial Church teaching. This is done by reference to an oft-cited, but never explored passage. In this article, I explore his supposed passage on conscience and the Magisterium, and its historical, medieval...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Peeters
[2019]
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| In: |
Ephemerides theologicae Lovanienses
Year: 2019, Volume: 95, Issue: 4, Pages: 567-593 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Thomas Aquinas 1225-1274
/ Catholic church
/ Authority
/ Conscience
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| IxTheo Classification: | KAE Church history 900-1300; high Middle Ages KDB Roman Catholic Church NCA Ethics RB Church office; congregation |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (doi) |
| Summary: | Thomas Aquinas is often presented as a champion of personal conscience over and against Magisterial Church teaching. This is done by reference to an oft-cited, but never explored passage. In this article, I explore his supposed passage on conscience and the Magisterium, and its historical, medieval context. After tracing the ways various contemporary theologians have employed Thomas's passage, I contrast the two contexts and meanings, and conclude that the contemporary use of the passage is unjustified. I close by exploring a mysterious notion of 'the truth of life' that Aquinas mentions and explore its implications. |
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| ISSN: | 1783-1423 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Ephemerides theologicae Lovanienses
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.2143/ETL.95.4.3286924 |