In Reading Romans with St. Thomas Aquinas: Ecumenical Explorations. Ed. Michael Dauphinais and Matthew Levering. Washington: Catholic University of America Press, 2012. Pp. 52–74.
Ressourcement of Mystery: The Ecclesiology of Thomas Aquinas and the Letter to the Romans
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Yves Congar (1904–95), in a 1974 Aquinas Lecture at Blackfriars, Oxford, on the topic of “St. Thomas Aquinas and the Spirit of Ecumenism,” held out the angelic Doctor as a source of inspiration for discussion between Catholics and Protestants. While recognizing the tension between “the ontological and sapiential point of view of Thomas and the existential-dramatic approach of Luther,” Congar pointed out that nonetheless not just Catholics but also Protestants were looking to Thomas Aquinas (1224/25–74) as a source of inspiration.
In this chapter, I will follow Congar’s lead by engaging in a discussion of the ecclesiology found in Thomas aquinas’s commentary on Romans. In the process of arguing for the sacramental character of Thomas's ecclesiology, I will highlight five elements of his Romans commentary: (1) its ecclesial focus, (2) its kerygmatic focus, (3) its historical focus, (4) its Christological focus, and (5) its sacramental focus.
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