The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers, vol. 1

VIII. Thomas Aquinas, Codifier of Theology

Albertus Magnus had opened new fields of investigation, and gathered an enormous amount of knowledge. But an organizing genius was needed to make the material available for the church in general. This genius came upon the scene in the person of his pupil THOMAS AQUINAS (1225-1274). He was born near Naples about 1225, went to Monte Cassino, later to the university of Naples, and then entered the Dominican Order in 1243. There he sat at the feet of Albertus Magnus, who recognized his coming greatness. Thomas, in his later life, became the most eminent divine of the Latin church, next to Augustine. PFF1 655.2

In his teachings, especially in his famous work Summa Theologica, we have, with but few exceptions, the doctrinal tenets of the Latin church, in their perfected exposition, just as we find them later in the decrees of the Council of Trent, there in their final redaction. Thomas is revered in the Catholic Church as the Doctor Angelicus. PFF1 655.3

Just as monasticism underwent a radical change during this period, and became more and more an instrument in the hand of the hierarchy, so scholasticism provided the scholars that helped the church to crystallize her doctrines and to establish her foundations. At the same time it is noteworthy that these scholars sprang mostly from the ranks of the new orders, the Dominicans and the Franciscans. PFF1 656.1

Thomas Aquinas was not important as a prophetic expositor; his commentary on Daniel is not particularly original, although an occasional detail shows his individual touch. His exposition on the Apocalypse was largely incorporated in his Summa Theologica, especially in the Supplement to the third part, which, after his death, was compiled from an earlier work. What makes him important is the fact that the Summa is still regarded as the greatest codification of Catholic doctrine, and is used to this day in Catholic schools and colleges. That is not to say, of course, that every word, written from his medieval viewpoint, is considered authoritative, but the theological principles are still the same. ⁸³ PFF1 656.2

His exposition of Daniel is the old, familiar interpretation, for which he cites Jerome, Augustine, and others, but his scholastic method is apparent in the formal treatment of the material. In each section he organizes the discussion in such sub divisions as the “original cause,” the “final cause,” the “material cause,” the “formal cause,” the “arguments,” the “doubtful opinions,” the “moral opinions,” and the like. PFF1 656.3

1. HOLDS HISTORICAL VIEW ON FOUR EMPIRES

Up to Daniel 7, he says, the first coming of Christ is referred to, but from here on the second advent is dealt with, including the time of Antichrist, who is the Little Horn ruling over seven horns. ⁸⁴ The four kingdoms of Daniel 2 and 7 are the usual Babylonia, Persia, Grecia, and Rome; and the stone is the kingdom of Christ, which will last through all generations. ⁸⁵ The ten horns are the ten future kings in the time of Antichrist; Egypt, Ethiopia, and Africa are uprooted. The time, times, and half a time are the three and a half years of the Antichrist’s kingdom. And in one Roman Empire, because of Antichrist’s proud words, all kingdoms are to be destroyed. Then the saints are exalted at the advent of the Son of man; all the earth is subjected to the churchly power, and perhaps the prelates and members of monastic orders will be holy like the apostles of Christ. ⁸⁶ PFF1 656.4

He doubts Porphyry’s theory of Antiochus as the Little Horn of chapter 7. ⁸⁷ But he makes Antiochus the Little Horn of chapter 8, coming out of the Seleucid division of Alexander’s empire, with the 2300 days as the time of his devastation of Jerusalem. This horn is also Antichrist, and his three-and-one-half-year persecution is equated with the 1290 days. ⁸⁸ PFF1 657.1

2. SEVENTY WEEKS LUNAR YEARS TO CHRIST

The 70 weeks are 490 “abbreviated,” or lunar, years from the twentieth year of Artaxerxes. The seven weeks are the building under Nehemiah; in the last week Christ is baptized after three and a half years, and crucified at about the end (in the second half). Citing Jerome and Bede, he reckons the 490 lunar years, or 475 solar years, to extend to the eighteenth year of Tiberius. ⁸⁹ PFF1 657.2

3. FOLLOWS AUGUSTINE ON ANTICHRIST

In chapter II Aquinas finds Antiochus as a type of Antichrist. He cites Jerome for a Jewish Antichrist from Babylon. This is the Man of Sin who will stand in the temple and make himself as God, pretending to be the Messiah, but secretly worshiping the devil. He will persecute the saints, and break three of the horns, but will be killed when he ascends the Mount of Olives. ⁹⁰ PFF1 657.3

In the Summa there are scattered references to Antichrist. He is the Man of Sin, the fullness of wickedness, into whose humanity Satan infuses his wickedness by suggestion, not by personal union or indwelling. Antichrist is a “member” of the devil but is the “head” of the wicked. ⁹¹ Enoch and Elijah are believed to have been taken to the earthly paradise, in the atmospheric heaven, where Adam dwelt, where they will live until the coming of Antichrist. ⁹² PFF1 658.1

4. AQUINAS’ VIEWS ON THE LAST THINGS

In the posthumously edited Supplement are included the sections on last things. At the end of the age comes the second advent, with the cleansing fire which reduces to ashes the bodies of all, both bad and good, and cleanses the earth, followed by the resurrection of all and the glorification of the saints, and after the judgment the casting of the wicked into the fire for eternity. ⁹³ PFF1 658.2

The place of judgment will probably be the Mount of Olives, so that the Saviour will return to the earth on the spot from which He ascended. ⁹⁴ The promise of sitting on twelve thrones includes all who, like the apostles, leave everything to follow Christ in “perfection of life,” referring especially to voluntary poverty. And the “twelves tribes” are all the other nations, because they were called by Christ to take the place of the twelve tribes. ⁹⁵ Christ will come to judgment in His glorified human body; the “sign of the Son of Man” is the sign of the cross. ⁹⁶ PFF1 658.3

After the sounding of the seventh trumpet comes the resurrection; then the motion of the heavenly bodies will cease, but they will be brighter, and the world will be glorified. There will be left no corruptible bodies (animals, plants, minerals, and mixed bodies), but only the elements, the heavenly bodies, and man. ⁹⁷ The blessed will see God spiritually, not with the bodily eyes, and their “many mansions” correspond to the various grades of blessedness. ⁹⁸ PFF1 658.4

The time of the judgment and the end of the world is reserved to God. The signs are uncertain, for, says Augustine, those mentioned in the Gospels refer also to the fall of Jerusalem and the daily spiritual coming of Christ to His church. It is impossible to fix the time by year, century, or thousand years; expressions like “the last hour” do not indicate the time, but mean the last state of the world, which is indefinite. ⁹⁹ It is possible that the sun, moon, and stars may be darkened as a warning, but all the signs of the judgment are to occur within the time occupied by the judgment, after the death of Antichrist and preceding the coming of Christ. ¹⁰⁰ PFF1 659.1

The Augustinian thousand years constitute the present age, wherein the saints now reign with Christ; their first resurrection was that of the soul, and their bodily resurrection is future. The former calculations mentioned by Augustine- four hundred, five hundred, or one thousand years from Christ—are false; the 1260 days are indefinite, denoting the duration of the church, by analogy with Christ’s ministry of three and a half years. ¹⁰¹ PFF1 659.2

Thus we see that Thomas Aquinas followed the old interpretation of Daniel’s empires, but the Augustinian view of the Apocalypse. In spite of the fact that this eschatology was compiled from old sources, such as the fathers and the glossa, it is in the form of the Summa that these doctrines are circulated today in the Catholic Church. PFF1 659.3