The Way of Aquinas: Its Importance for Moral Theology

This essay argues that, for Thomas Aquinas, nature always points in the direction of Christ. Therefore, moral theologies that proceed by way of nature in order to move beyond the confines of confessional traditions fail to read Aquinas well. Because Jesus is the Second Person of the Trinity, the exe...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Long, D. Stephen 1960- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Sage 2006
In: Studies in Christian ethics
Year: 2006, Volume: 19, Issue: 3, Pages: 339-356
Further subjects:B Karl Barth
B nature and grace
B Ecumenism
B Analogia Entis
B Thomas Aquinas
B Natural Theology
B Moral Theology
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Parallel Edition:Electronic
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Summary:This essay argues that, for Thomas Aquinas, nature always points in the direction of Christ. Therefore, moral theologies that proceed by way of nature in order to move beyond the confines of confessional traditions fail to read Aquinas well. Because Jesus is the Second Person of the Trinity, the exemplar in whom all things are made, nature cannot be a more universal category than Christology. Karl Barth critiqued Roman Catholic moral theology for failing to honour this essential theological point, wrongly attributing the error to Aquinas. However, many contemporary Catholic moral theologians have adopted the very understanding of nature Barth critiques, and are using Thomas to do so. This loses the ecumenical character of Aquinas’s work.
ISSN:0953-9468
Contains:Enthalten in: Studies in Christian ethics
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1177/0953946806071557