The Literal Exposition of Isaiah: A Commentary by St. Thomas Aquinas

by Thomas Aquinas

Publisher:

Emmaus Road

, 2019

Overview

Thomas Aquinas is most well-known as a scholastic theologian and philosopher, and his work is often considered primarily as the archetype of systematic theology: rational, system-building scholasticism. But in fact, he also wrote over twenty Scripture commentaries and other Biblical works, including five sustained treatments of Old Testament books. Among these, his commentary on Jeremiah and his Commentary on the Prophet Isaiah have never been translated.

Only recently have scholars began studying Aquinas’ commentaries in detail. Increasingly they are realizing that not only are Thomas’s scriptural works essential for understanding his theological and philosophical works, but that the image of Thomas as a rationalist system-builder must be adapted to accommodate Thomas the thoroughly scriptural theologian. Indeed, it is becoming increasingly clear that the Thomism that was dominant in Catholic theology in the modern period was not the theology of Thomas himself, which retained a medieval, even monastic, foundation in Scripture.

What has become increasingly accepted is that in the Middle Ages theology was ultimately based on discursive Scriptural exegesis and was directed toward a better understanding of the meaning of Scripture—this included the theology of Thomas Aquinas, and so his exegesis and his theology cannot be divorced. In medieval exegesis there were understood to be two primary meanings of Scripture, the literal and the spiritual (the spiritual was subdivided into the moral, allegorical, and anagogical). Thomas’s exegetical works tend to focus on the literal sense rather than the mystical sense of Scripture. Thomas’s focus on the literal is a compliment to his Aristotelianism.

Thomas, of course, did not repudiate Augustinianism in his theology and likewise he did not repudiate the mystical exegesis of the monastic tradition in his exegesis, rather he built on both of them. Thomas, then, has been seen by some scholars as a bridge figure—someone capable of reconnecting the critical exegesis of the late modern period to the mystical exegesis of the early Christian centuries.

Thomas’s Scriptural works have taken on renewed importance in post-modern thought. Their study, though, remains in its infancy. The translation of his Commentary on the Prophet Isaiah into English will be a profound contribution to this on-going project. With linking of Bible references, indexing by Bible verse, and integration as a commentary into your Passage Guide, this makes the Logos edition of the Commentary on the Prophet Isaiah: English and Latin (2 vols.) more powerful and easy to use than anything else available.

Key Features

• The first and only English translation of Aquinas' Commentary on the Prophet Isaiah
• Insight into Aquinas' theology and exegesis
• Penned by one the most influential philosophers and theologians

Product Details

• Title: Commentary on the Prophet Isaiah
• Author: Thomas Aquinas
• Publisher: Emmaus Road
• Print Publication Date: 2019
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Resource ID: LLS:PROPHISAENG
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2020-10-06T21:20:10Z

About Thomas Aquinas

Thomas Aquinas (1225–7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, Catholic priest, and Doctor of the Church. An immensely influential philosopher, theologian, and jurist in the tradition of scholasticism, he is also known within the latter as the Doctor Angelicus and the Doctor Communis. He was the foremost classical proponent of natural theology and he argued that reason is found in God. His influence on Western thought is considerable, and much of modern philosophy developed or opposed his ideas, particularly in the areas of ethics, natural law, metaphysics, and political theory.

Unlike many currents in the Church of the time, Aquinas embraced the philosophy of Aristotle—whom he called “the Philosopher”—and attempted to synthesize Aristotelian philosophy with the principles of Christianity.

His best-known works are the Disputed Questions on Truth (1256–1259), the Summa contra Gentiles (1259–1265), and the unfinished but massively influential Summa Theologica (1265–1274). His commentaries on Scripture and on Aristotle also form an important part of his body of work. Furthermore, Thomas is distinguished for his eucharistic hymns, which form a part of the Church’s liturgy. The Catholic Church honors Thomas Aquinas as a saint and regards him as the model teacher for those studying for the priesthood, and indeed the highest expression of both natural reason and speculative theology. In modern times, under papal directives, the study of his works was long used as a core of the required program of study for those seeking ordination as priests or deacons, as well as for those in religious formation and for other students of the sacred disciplines (philosophy, Catholic theology, church history, liturgy, and canon law).

Thomas Aquinas is considered one of the Catholic Church’s greatest theologians and philosophers. Pope Benedict XV declared: “This (Dominican) Order . . . acquired new luster when the Church declared the teaching of Thomas to be her own and that Doctor, honored with the special praises of the Pontiffs, the master and patron of Catholic schools.”