Thomas Aquinas, De unione Verbi incarnati

by RW Nutt (Editor)

Overview

This volume contains the first publication in book form of an English translation of Thomas Aquinas's controversial disputed question De unione Verbi incarnati. This disputed question is a remarkable portal into the Angelic Doctor's theology of the hypostatic union, which is recognized as an area in which Aquinas forged some of his most original and penetrating articulations of the Christian faith. In the De unione Verbi incarnati Aquinas presents in five articles material that occupies more than eighteen questions in the third part of the Summa theologiae. The attribution of an esse secundarium to Christ, in the fourth article of the De unione, has been the object of intense debate, for it seems to contradict the account of the Summa. In addition to Professor Nutt's English translation, the volume includes the critical Latin text published by Barbara Bartocci, Klaus Obenauer, and Walter Senner, as well as a substantial introduction. Professor Nutt's introduction carefully unfolds the historical background, technical concepts, sources, and speculative claims needed for understanding the breadth of the biblical and metaphysical contemplation represented in this work; it also includes a detailed exploration of the debate over the fourth article.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9789042931978
Publisher:	Peeters Publishing
Publication date:	03/31/2015
Series:	Dallas Medieval Texts and Translations , #21
Edition description:	Bilingual
Pages:	169
Product dimensions:	6.50(w) x 9.40(h) x 0.50(d)

Table of Contents

Foreword John F. Boyle vii

Acknowledgements xi

Introduction 1

Note on the Translation and the Latin Text 2

Speculative Christology: An Introductory Primer 5

Dating the De unione 6

Key Terms 9

1 Union 9

2 Nature 10

3 Person 10

4 Supposition and Hypostasis 11

5 Esse 12

The Sources and Theological Parameters Undergirding the De unione 13

1 Aristotle in the De unione 14

a The Real Distinction of Suppositum and Nature 15

b Actiones sunt suppositorum 15

c The Problem of Substantial Unity 16

d First and Second Substance 17

2 Biblical Sources 20

a John 1:14 20

b Philippians 2:5-11 22

3 Creeds and Councils 23

a Athanasius and the Athanasian Creed: The Body-Soul Analogy in Christ 24

b Nestorianism and the Council of Ephesus (431) 26

c Pope Leo the Great and the Council of Chalcedon (451) 29

d Constantinople II (553) 31

e Constantinople III (681) 32

4 The Fathers' of the Church in the De unione 33

a Augustine 33

b Boethius 33

c Dionysius 38

d John of Damascus 38

e Concluding Summary 41

5 Peter Lombard and the "Three Opinions" 42

a The First Opinion: The homo assumptus Theory 43

b The Second Opinion: The Subsistence Theory 44

c The Third Opinion: The habitus Theory 44

6 Conclusion 45

De unione Verbi incarnati: A Summary Essay 46

Article 1 The Mode or Manner of the Union 47

Article 2 The Unity of Hypostasis 52

Article 3 Whether Christ is One in the Neuter or Two 54

Article 4 Christ's Unity in Being 57

a The Debate: Cajetan and Diepen 59

b The Historical Context of the De unione 63

Article 5 Christ's Operational Unity 66

Speculative Essay: Aquinas and His Critics on Christ's Esse 67

1 Jean Galot, SJ. 68

2 Thomas Weinandy, O.F.M. Cap. 72

3 Richard Cross 75

4 Conclusion 77

Bibliography 79

The Text 84

Notes 149

Indices 153