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versial, however, is the suggestion that we (re)arrange our reading of the Summa Theologiae with a more pronounced emphasis on the exegetical component, at least remedially focusing our attention, for a time, on the dynamics of the Summa Theologiae as a text written in light of certain, and not other, biblical texts, and regularly inscribing certain, and not other, Biblical texts within its inquiries. The way the Bible is used by Aquinas reflects the manner of his education in it and reading it, his reception and modification of what he learned from his teachers and predecessors. Given the prominent role of the Bible in almost all versions of Christian theology, knowledge of the particularities of Aquinas' Biblical literacy aids us in differentiating his theology from that of later theologians who, even if profoundly indebted to the Summa Theologiae, necessarily approach its inquiries differently because they use and understand the Bible differently. A sharper delineation of the particular modalities of his theological reception of the Bible is an important task before us. The project of spelling out his access to the Bible, his exegetical presuppositions, techniques and practices, and the theology built on those techniques, is a large one which, though taken up by a few modern scholars,
24 is incomplete; any significant advance in this area is certainly beyond the expertise of this author. Here, I merely observe that the broadened context established by comparative theology and by the specific experiment of a reading of Advaita makes Aquinas' use of the Bible more interesting and not less, for the example of Advaita urges us to notice attentively his ways of reading and the expectations his writing place on his readers. I offer a single example of where a more sharply focused attention to his usage might begin. |
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In the body of ST III.46.3, cited above, and in arguing that the death of Christ on the cross was the most suitable way for God to deliver the human race, Aquinas introduces four Biblical texts: |
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St. Augustine says, "There was no other more suitable way of healing our misery than by the Passion of Christ." (On the Trinity XIII.10) |
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