Aquinas on Israel and the Church: The Question of Supersessionism in the Theology of Thomas Aquinas
Ebook
Overview
The question of whether or not Thomas Aquinas’s theology is supersessionist has elicited deep disagreement among scholars. Some maintain that Aquinas is the standard-bearer of a supersessionist church that undermines Judaism, while others hold that Aquinas avoids supersessionism altogether. Yet the discussion over whether Aquinas’s theology is supersessionist has not always carefully interrogated the term “supersessionism,” nor has it taken into account some of Aquinas’s most relevant texts on the subject of Israel and the Church: his commentaries on Paul’s letters. Drawing upon the Pauline commentaries, Aquinas on Israel and the Church argues that while Aquinas’s most commonly articulated view is that Jewish worship is discontinued after the passion of Christ, Aquinas also advanced views that set this into question, and in ways that support contemporary Christian teachings that affirm the value of postbiblical Judaism.
”Matthew Tapie carefully analyzes the terminology of
supersessionism and develops a working definition that enables us
to discern the tensions in the writings of Thomas and to understand
the rival assessments of his modern interpreters. Guided by his
insightful commentary, we come to see a Thomas who is both a son of
his own age and a rich resource for those of our own times seeking
a Christian theology of Judaism that is faithful to the teaching of
Nostra Aetate."
--Mark S. Kinzer, President emeritus, Messianic Jewish Theological
Institute, Ann Arbor, MI
“Christians today often repudiate supersessionism, but they do not
always carefully examine just what that is supposed to mean. We are
in Tapie’s debt for remedying this situation with special reference
to the theology of Thomas Aquinas. Tapie’s rich, thorough, and
multidimensional picture of Aquinas’s views on Jewish observance of
the ceremonial law after Christ is destined to become a
landmark."
--R. Kendall Soulen, Professor of Systematic Theology, Wesley
Theological Seminary, Washington, DC
"Tapie has provided a definitive study on Aquinas’s complex and at
times contradictory reading of Paul as supersessionist or not. In
the process, Tapie offers the clearest teaching I have seen on the
meaning of supersessionism in modern scholarship, from Isaac to
Wyschogrod, Nostra Aetate, Levering, Soulen, and much more.
Without covering over ambiguities (in) Romans, Galatians,
Ephesians, and Hebrews, he concludes with a sober yet hopeful
account of the trajectory of Thomas’s thinking--an account that
should contribute significantly to contemporary discussions of
Judaism and the church."
--Peter Ochs, Edgar M. Bronfman Professor of Modern Judaic Studies,
University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA
"The drafters of Nostra Aetate, the 1965 Vatican II document
that revolutionized Catholic teaching on the Jews, felt they had to
go all the way back to Scripture to find resources for rethinking
theological anti-Judaism, so soundly rooted did it seem in the
church’s tradition. Tapie shows that they missed more proximate
sources in St. Thomas Aquinas, among the most revered authorities
in Catholicism. The perspectives Tapie has opened are a landmark
contribution to the difficult work of reconciliation between
Christians and Jews."
--John Connelly, professor, University of California at Berkeley,
Berkeley, CA
Product Details
- Title : Aquinas on Israel and the Church: The Question of Supersessionism in the Theology of Thomas Aquinas
- Authors:
- Tapie, Matthew
- Valkenberg, Pim
- Publisher: Pickwick Publications
- Publication Date: 2014
- ISBN: 9781630875367
Matthew Tapie, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor of Theology and Director of the Center for Catholic-Jewish Studies at Saint Leo University.