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Aquinas on Prophecy
Wisdom and Charism in the Summa Theologiae
Imprint: Catholic University of America Press
Aquinas on Prophecy is the first full-length monograph to underscore the importance of the charism of prophecy within St. Thomas’s Summa theologiae as a whole. The book argues that his notion of prophecy significantly informs the Summa’s central presentations of sacred doctrine, salvation, and faith. For Aquinas the prophet is someone who receives divinely revealed knowledge meant to edify the Church; prophetic knowledge gives faith both content and certitude which are essential for sacred doctrine’s status as knowledge and wisdom.
This work examines Thomas’s rationale for categorizing prophecy as the Church’s foremost charism, which stems from the special role prophets have in divine government in making God’s wisdom manifest on earth. The Summa’s own ordination to wisdom shares a striking parallel with prophecy; the theologian and prophet are both called to build up the Church by testifying to the truth they know.
Paul M. Rogers is a post-doctoral researcher at Emmanuel College, Cambridge.
"Lucid, textually sound, and well written. The best volume published on prophecy in Thomas Aquinas. Rogers has a deep theological sensibility about Thomas’s work."
~Anna Moreland, Villanova University
"Rogers convincingly shows how for Aquinas prophecy as a definite and certain participation in divine knowledge nonetheless makes way for less certain faith in the face of the disclosed absolute mystery of Christ. Articulation of this paradox stands at the core of a helpfully comprehensive treatment of prophecy in Aquinas."
~Catherine Pickstock, University of Cambridge
"Thomas Aquinas wrote that ‘since grace does not destroy nature but perfects it, natural reason ought to serve faith, just as the natural inclination of the will yields to charity’ (ST, I q.1, a.8, ad 2). This important study of prophecy displays how, for Aquinas, revelation is outpouring of the divine goodness in creation—and all directed to the common good. It will be an enriching read not just for students of Aquinas, but for all those who are interested in that which concerned Aquinas— salus—human flourishing in its widest sense."
~Janet Soskice, Duke Divinity School