The Trinity, Volume 6 (Ia, 27–32) Summa Theologiae ed. by Thomas Gilby, O. P. and Ceslaus Velecky, O. P. (1966)

BOOK REVIEWS The Trinity, trans. CEsLAUs VELECKY, 0. P., Volume 6 (Ia, Q7-3Q) Summa Theologiae, edited by Thomas Gilby, 0. P. and Ceslaus Velecky, 0. P. New York, McGraw-Hill, 1965. Pp. 170, with Latin text, English translation, Introduction, Notes, Appendices and Glossary. $5.75. The high level of scholarship generally characteristic of the new English Summa is amply verified in this volume which covers the first section of the treatise on the Trinity. Fr. Velecky's competence in this most awesome subject is evident from the very start, beginning with the Introduction where he admirably expresses the pivotal role of the doctrine of the Trinity in St. Thomas' conception of theology. In vivid terms he points out: "The chief truth that the Word of God tells us about God is that he is not one Self but three ... who live one life. And to think about this is not to become involved in barren metaphysical speculation, but to look at the mystery of Christian life, the salvation brought by the Word made flesh who brings us to the Father by the grace of the Holy Ghost " (p. xix) . In fact the treatise reaches its climax in the last question, "the discussion of the divine missions (Ia. 43), where the story begins of man's sharing in the life of the three divine Selves." The treatise on the Trinity, concludes Fr. Velecky, is no less than "the cornerstone which locks together the 51Q Questions of the Summa." Without it, no other section of the Summa can really be understood in its full context. St. Thomas' theology of the Trinity is shown in still greater perspective through Fr. Velecky's discussion of its scriptural, patristic, and scholastic elements. The whole enterprise of theologizing about the Trinity is persuasively defended against the charges of rationalization and fruitless speculation . Aside from exigencies arising from erroneous interpretations of revelation, theological reasoning about the Trinity is also demanded because a thinking Christian will always want to penetrate the revealed message as well as possible-" not to make it comprehensible, but to give some meaning to certain puzzling statements taken from or based on the Scriptures " (Appendix 1, p. 1Q7) . St. Thomas' doctrine in fact " has only one sourcethe Scriptures " (Appendix Q, p. 130) . It is also ba5ed on Tradition, of course, but Scripture and Tradition are " a single source rather than two " since St. Thomas understands the Scriptures " as something meant to be read and interpreted with the living tradition of the Church" (ibid.). Finally, by explaining the relation of the Thomistic teaching to that of the Fathers (Introduction and Appendix 3) and to later discussions in the medieval schools (Appendix 4), Fr. Velecky shows how sensitive St. Thomas was to theological problems both in the history of the Church and in his own day. 296 BOOK REVIEWS ~97 The last six appendices are explicitly intended to be read as introductions to the six questions translated in the volume, although all of the appendices can really be used in this way with great advantage. Appendices 5, 6, and 7-" Divine Processions," "Divine Relations," and " Divine Persons "discuss the central concepts of questions 27, 28, and 29 respectively. Appendix 8, "Logic in the Theology of the Trinity,"' has an especially pointed message for modern readers who might be inclined to see questions 30 and 31 as evident justification for the caricature of scholasticism as an idle word game: although, " as St. Ambrose says, it is not God's good pleasure to save his people by means of dialectical skill, mistaken logic can lead men into paths that lead away from salvation" (p. 150). Appendices 9 and 10, "Characteristics or 'Notions'" and "Reason and the Trinity," are connected with question 32. For all of the questions, finally, much additional clarification is furnished in the copious footnotes to the text itself. One erroneous footnote of some importance does deserve mention. On p. 85 the XI Council of Toledo's rejection of the formula, " Trinity is in the one God," is quoted as evidence that the term ' Trinity ' was not always accepted in the Church. From the text cited (DB 278) it appears that the objectionable word was...