Sacramental Forgiveness as a Gift of God
Thomas Aquinas on the Sacrament of Penance
By (author) E. Luijten
What is the theological place of the Holy Spirit with respect to the forgiveness of sins in the sacrament of penance? This study examines the role of the Spirit in the theology of sacramental forgiveness of Thomas Aquinas (1224/5-1274), who is often blamed for the “Geistvergessenheit” of Western theology. In the first part of this study it is shown that in Thomas’ theology notions like guilt and forgiveness function within the context of a relationship of friendship between God and human beings. Constitutive for this relationship is the indwelling of God, which is ‘appropriated’ to the Holy Spirit. It is explained that Thomas understands appropriation, i.e. the practice of ascribing to divine Persons individually what belongs to the divine essence in general, as a part of proper God-talk, which takes into account the limitations of our language vis-a-vis God. In the second part of this study, it is argued that the notion of the causality of the sacrament of penance, i.e. that it effects the forgiveness of sins that it signifies, can only be evaluated properly if the sacrament of penance is not only seen as prolongation of the incarnation, i.e. the visible mission of the Son, but also as accompanied by the continous invisible mission of the Holy Spirit. Eric Luijten (1964) has been a research-fellow of the Catholic Theological University at Utrecht, the Netherlands, and at present is rector of studies of the Arienskonvikt, the priest seminary of the archdiocese Utrecht and the diocese Groningen.
- By (author) E. Luijten
Other Titles in this Series
Divine Transcendence and Immanence in the Work of Thomas Aquinas
A Collection of Studies presented at the Third Conference of the Thomas Instituut te Utrecht, December 15-17, 2005
Volume 13
The Three Rings
Textual Studies in the Historical Trialogue of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
Volume 11
The Enduring Significance of Thomas Aquinas
Essays in Honor of Henk Schoot and Rudi te Velde
Volume 21
Initiation and Mystagogy in Thomas Aquinas
Scriptural, Systematic, Sacramental and Moral, and Pastoral Perspectives
Volume 19
Thomas Aquinas on the Beatitudes
Reading Matthew, Disputing Grace and Virtue, Preaching Happiness
Volume 18
Similar Books
âFor You I Study, For You I Work, For You I Live, For You I Am Ready To Even Give My Lifeâ
Essays in Honour of Francis (Frank) J Moloney, SDB
Liturgia semper reformanda
Adaptations and accommodations in the liturgy in light of canon 838 of the Code of Canon Law
Volume 6
The Therapeutae as the Best Paradigm for the Contemplative Life
A Contextual Reading of Philo of Alexandria's De Vita Contemplativa
