Thomas Aquinas #2 (Aqunas' Teaching)

This is a discussion about Thomas Aquinas and his teachings. It mentions his work, the Summa Theologica, and how he believed that his writings were insignificant compared to a revelation he received. It also discusses his influence on Catholic doctrine and his disagreements with Martin Luther. The transcription goes on to criticize Aquinas' views on sacraments and righteousness, stating that they differ from scripture. It also mentions Aquinas' belief in natural theology and its separation from scripture. The transcription then mentions a book by Stephen Wolfe that defends Christian nationalism and mentions some criticisms of the book. It concludes by promoting a commentary on Exodus 20-24 and a website for supplement quality. Yeah, this is Thomas Aquinas, number two, his teaching. So welcome again everybody to TheGreatBibleReset.com. This is a call to embrace the book of the covenant in Exodus 20-24, the only response that God will honor against Klaus Schwab's great economic reset that threatens tyranny on a scale that the Roman Empire could only dream of. Unperturbed by the historical conflicts we reviewed yesterday, Thomas Aquinas is penning his Summa Theologica in the very heart of the 13th century from 1226-1274. However, on the feast of St. Nicholas in 1273, Aquinas was celebrating mass when he claimed to receive a revelation that so affected him that he wrote and dictated no more, leaving his great work, the Summa Theologica, unfinished. To Brother Reginald's, his secretary and friends, expostulations, he replied, quote, The end of my labors has come. All that I have written appears to be so much straw after the things that have been revealed to me, end of quote. When later asked by Reginald to return to the writing, Aquinas said again, I can write no more. I have seen things that make my writings like straw, end of quote, and that's from thecatholicforum.com. Aquinas died three months later, while on his way to the Ecumenical Council of Lyons. At the Council of Trent, Aquinas had the honor of having his Summa Theologica placed on the altar alongside the Bible and the Decretos. In his encyclical of 4 August 1879, Aeternum Petrus, Pope Leo VIII, stated that Thomas Aquinas' theology was a definitive exposition of Catholic doctrine. It affirmed works salvation, established a confession of faith and supremacy of the papacy. It condemned the Protestant doctrine of justification by faith alone, and it rejected the Protestant view of scripture alone by affirming tradition. Beginning in 1545, the Council of Trent was a definitive Roman Catholic response to Lutheran's Protestant Reformation. It is known as the Counter-Reformation. Dennis Johns summarized his findings in this way, it is important to underscore the fact that Luther did not utterly despise the Summa Theologia, or regard it as utterly worthless. One senses here a grudgingly recognition or greatness even in a book which contained from his point of view great error. And we recall too that Luther did not want to burn it along with other books of scholastic theology and canon law in 1520, end of quote. How then are such strong statements to be understood where Luther condemns Thomas as quote the source and stock of all heresy, all error, and of the obliteration of the gospel, as his books demonstrate, end of quote. Dewey Roberts in his Aquila Report of 2016 reports in his Summa Theologica, Aquinas clearly stated his view that the sacraments perform their work through a virtue in themselves. He also stated unequivocally that the sacraments confer the new birth, justification, the grace of the Holy Spirit, sanctification, inward enlightenment, the washing away of guilt, and the forgiveness of sins on every person who partakes of them. He denied that the righteousness of Christ is imputed to believers, rather Aquinas thought that our own good works become our righteousness, thus his writings represent a different gospel than the one taught in scripture. Read the warning of the Apostle Paul in Galatians 1.8, the one who preaches any other gospel than the one taught in the scripture is to be accursed. Aquinas did not believe in sola scriptura. The purpose Aquinas had in writing Summa Theologica was to combine the theology of the scripture with the theological systems of the ancient Greek philosophers. The theological system of the Council of Trent is virtually the same as the conclusions of Aquinas in his Summa Theologica. For instance, Pope Leo XIII in 1879 made the following comment about Aquinas' influence on the Council of Trent. The Fathers of Trent made it part of the order of conclave to lay upon the altar together with sacred scripture, and the decrees of the Supreme Pontiff, the Summa of Thomas Aquinas, went to seek counsel, reason, and inspiration. Aquinas denied that human reason has fallen. In his book Escape from Reason, Francis Schaeffer puts his finger on the problem with Aquinas' theology. In Aquinas' view, the will of man was fallen, but the intellect was not. From this incomplete view of the biblical fall flowed all the subsequent difficulties. Man's intellect became autonomous. In one realm, man was now independent and autonomous. This fear of the autonomous in Aquinas takes on various forms. One result, for example, was the development of natural theology. In this view, natural theology is a theology that could be pursued independently from the scriptures. From the basis of this autonomous principle, philosophy also became free, was separated from revelation. Therefore, philosophy began to take wings, as it were, to fly off wherever it wished without relationship to scriptures. Aquinas had opened the way to an autonomous philosophy, and once the movement gained momentum, there was soon a flood." Now we come to Stephen Wolfe, quoting Aquinas extensively, in defense of Christian nationalism. As noted last week, the book claims that Christian theology must be based on a foundation of Christian theory from natural law principles. The positive reviews on Amazon of this book are pretty much uninformed, but most of the critical reviews miss the point also. But some of them get to the heart of the matter. For example, James Learns says, Wolfe admits he is not a theologian and does not use scripture to begin or sustain his views. Not only is the book unworthy of upholding as a potential remedy for America's civil and societal ills, the fact that Canon Press has published it as a viable theory brings their editorial and theological discernment more than into question. Rather than having, quote, some disagreements with Wolfe's premises, Canon Press should be condemning it and should never have printed it in the first place, says James Learns. And then James White, it is also a work that is less reformed in nature and seeks to re-establish pope-ish scripture plus tradition, development of religious thought. To that point, the author leans heavily on Thomistic patterns of thought concerning natural theology. While this work is probably the most well-written work produced by Canon Press and its academic style will appeal to many, it is a work that has not been put together with thoughtful, careful, and extensive work in the revealed word of God. He has allowed his reaction to our culture and his philosophical desires to inform his theological approaches rather than the word of God, says James White. And then we have the theology nerd, racist, kinest, sexist, and unbiblical. This is exactly what happens when someone tries to devise a Christian theory without opening their Bible. It's a great case for why natural theology is meaningless apart from the oversight of scripture. Another reviewer says he appeals to scripture only secondarily. Quote, I rely heavily on the classical Protestant tradition. Despite some Protestant distinctives, however, my account is largely Catholic. I rely on a broad Christian theological and political tradition. Admittedly, I assume much from this tradition as a complex argument involving theology, philosophy, and politics must start somewhere. Well, how about, sir, we start with the Bible, specifically the great Bible reset that we are presented with in Exodus 20-24, the very first set of commands Moses brought down from Mount Sinai, defining Christian nationalism as God sees it. You can pick up my commentary on this passage in the bookstore at Kingsway Classical Academy. You can also check out the unbeatable supplement quality at boomers-alive.com with the NSF quality badge that is awarded only to a handful of restaurants in any city. So thank you for being with us today and we hope to see you again tomorrow.