Literary Theory - Aquinas - Summary of Summa Theologica

Aquinas

1.     Summa Theologica – Ninth Circle – Whether holy scripture should use metaphors.

a.     Objections:

                                               i.     Holy scripture should not use metaphors as it proper to the lowest science of poetry.

                                             ii.     Metaphors obscure the divine truth as they are not clear.

                                            iii.     God should be represented through higher creatures, not lower.

b.     Answers from Aquinas:

                                               i.     It is befitting to put forth divine and spiritual truths by means of comparisons with material things.

                                             ii.     It is natural to man to obtain knowledge through sensible objects.

                                            iii.     Metaphors enable the simple to understand intellectual things.

c.     Reply to Objections:

                                               i.     Sacred doctrine makes use of metaphors as both necessary and beautiful.

                                             ii.     Metaphors enable revelation by raising the comparisons to knowledge of truths.

                                            iii.     As things further from god help establish truer estimations of god, it is fitting that truths are represented by figures of less nobler bodies.

2.     Summa Theologica – Tenth Circle – Whether in holy scripture a word may have several senses.

a.     Objections:

                                               i.     The holy writ of a word cannot have several interpretations, as it would produce confusion and deception.

                                             ii.     It does not make sense to explain one word of God with four different interpretations.

                                            iii.     There are also parables that is not one of the four interpretations.

b.     Answers from Aquinas:

                                               i.     There is a historical and literal sense where words signify things.

                                             ii.     Spiritual sense is present as things signified by words also have signification.

                                            iii.     Allegorical sense is the things of the old law signifying things in the new law (reconciliation between the Old and New Testaments.

                                            iv.     A moral sense exists in that we should do things as done by Christ.

c.     Reply to Objections:

                                               i.     The different senses do not produce different meanings.

                                             ii.     Some of the senses like history fall under the literal sense.

                                            iii.     Some of the senses like allegorical and tropological fall under spiritual sense.

                                            iv.     Parables fall under the literal sense as words are signified properly and figuratively.