Page Range
99-118
Keywords
Thomas Aquinas, Beatific Vision, Theological Method, Eschatology, Biblical Hermeneutics
Abstract
This essay posits that Thomas Aquinas’s Beatific Vision may not be a biblically accurate conception of the Christian’s eternal destiny because it is grounded in a problematic theological method. For Aquinas, theology is a science for deducing the saving knowledge of God, which can only be discovered through Scripture. The integrity of Scripture’s place of prominence, however, is undermined by the apparent usefulness of other sources for interpreting Scripture’s meaning. His use of other sources in interpreting Scripture is justified by a hermeneutic that emphasizes the importance of Scripture’s figurative meaning over the literal in determining its usefulness for theological predication. Accordingly, the Beatific Vision is not predicated on Scripture’s literal meaning, but a figurative interpretation that aligns with tradition and other philosophical considerations.
Recommended Citation
Maitland, Kent T.. 2024. "The Theological Method of Thomas Aquinas in the Beatific Vision." Eleutheria: John W. Rawlings School of Divinity Academic Journal 8, (1). https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/eleu/vol8/iss1/9
Included in
Biblical Studies Commons, Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons