This disclaimer, early in the Summa, did not prevent the
Angelic Doctor from developing his own trinitarian theology, based, as it was, on a literal reading of the Scriptures.
Even in this, however, Lombardo performs a valuable service, reminding us that the mind of the
Angelic Doctor is often in the details.--Giuseppe Butera, Providence College.
The
Angelic Doctor is the best of companions along this way.
Thomas Aquinas, that is, the
Angelic Doctor. During his years at the University of Paris he popularized the thinking of Aristotle, despite a host of warnings and condemnations from bishops, Roman curia officials and several popes.
Thus, Bonaventure was the Doctor Seraphicus ("Seraphic Doctor"), Thomas Aquinas, the Doctor Angelicus ("
Angelic Doctor"), and so on.
In the earlier dominant narrative, the
Angelic Doctor is thought to be everything that Eastern Christianity is not, particularly on the question of the use of pagan sources and the role of human reason in the work of theology.
Thomas thinks this or that, or that his thought entails this or that conclusion, Father Elders cites in support of his assertion, and includes in a footnote, a full sentence or two in the original Latin from the works of the
Angelic Doctor himself.
Thomas Aquinas's Summa Theologiae, Part III, Questions 1 to 59, where the
Angelic Doctor moves step by step from the Incarnation to Jesus' enthronement at the Father's right hand.
Thomas Aquinas' proofs of the existence of God and bones up on the
Angelic Doctor as if he had never heard of the guy.
On the heels of MOTHER ANGELICA, the fundamentalist tele-evangelist, comes the
ANGELIC DOCTOR, a metaphoric name for Saint Thomas Aquinas.
Remarkably, the Jewish community appealed to the authority of Thomas Aquinas to reject baptism against the will of the parents and concluded that the pope himself had disregarded the teaching of the
Angelic Doctor (120)!
In short, this concession to Kant fails to circumvent the Kantian proscription on metaphysics--an unpleasant outcome for the Transcendental Thomists who ostensibly wish to revitalize the full speculative range of the
Angelic Doctor's thought.