Fully divine, fully human: The mystery of divine providence in the theology of Thomas Aquinas and Karl Barth.
Published: 2004
Language: eng
Number of pages: 336
Description: Chapter Five offers an analysis of Barth's theology of divine providence as a biblically based dogmatic theology for a spiritual life of Christian faith and morals. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)This thesis is a study of Thomas Aquinas and Karl Barth on theology and the theology of divine providence for the Christian life in light of certain problems in modern theology. Chapter One considers why the thought of Aquinas and Barth has been understood in ways that highlight their fundamental opposition, arguing that given the manner in which Aquinas has been interpreted in the modern era, i.e., as a Christian 'rationalist' and not as a 13 th century mendicant and Master of the Sacred Page, it is not surprising that Barth exaggerated their differences.In the remaining chapters, I argue that Aquinas and Barth not only offer a more radical interpretation of divine transcendence, one that underscores a non-competitive notion of human and divine agency, but they also do so in a way that educates their readers in a radical and biblically based theology for a Christian life of faith and morals.Chapters Two and Three introduce the thought of Aquinas and Barth, respectively, in the context in and for which they were writing. Aquinas is understood as a mendicant friar, teacher, and Master of the Sacred Page, who meets the needs of his students by teaching with concrete examples from sensory experience (analogy) and universal first principles (revelation) in order to educate the fratres communes of the Dominican Order on fundamental Church doctrine in preparation for their pastorate in moral theology and pastoral care. Similarly, Barth's theology of the Word of God is written according to the "need and promise of Christian preaching." Unlike Aquinas, Barth uses the power of rhetoric and dialectical description to create an "open space" in which the Word of God may make its own meaning manifest.Chapters Four and Five analyze, respectively, Aquinas' and Barth's biblical and dogmatic theology of divine providence, government, preservation, and concursus in relation to the spiritual and moral education of their readers on dogmatic theology for the Christian life.
Notes: Adviser: Robert Sweetman.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of St. Michael's College, 2004.

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Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 65-12, Section: A, page: 4601.