Dlaczego teolog fundamentalny powinien czytać św. Tomasza z Akwinu?
Why a Fundamental Theologian Should Read St. Thomas Aquinas?

Summary/Abstract: In the article, the author seeks an answer to the question why a fundamental theologian should read St. Thomas Aquinas. To this end, he draws on the thoughts of Leszek Kołakowski, Joseph Ratzinger/Benedykt XVI, Robert Barron and Jacek Salij. The answer to the title question is rhetorical. There is no doubt that the modern theologian should read St. Thomas Aquinas. In Aquinas’s thought, we first find the natural correspondence existing between the Christian faith and reason. Showing their specificity and mutual reference, defining the limits of cognition and the possibilities of human nature, is what characterizes St. Thomas. The researchers cited in the text pay special attention to this aspect of Aquinas’ thought. Defense of reason in the thought of St. Thomas is very clear. In defending rationality, the Dominican sees it as a constitutive element of human identity, which fundamentally shapes a human being. Defending reason, he not only opposes irrationalism or fideism, but by emphasizing rationality, he shows that man is able to discover the phenomenon of his existence, its depth and finiteness. Second, he finds in Thomas the method or methods that Aquinas introduced into theology. The first can be described as synthetic. It consists in a new synthesis of philosophy and theology, and also in distinguishing between them. The second is the assimilationist method. It appeals to the capacity for assimilation, which is one of the clearest signs of a living idea, assimilating what is common to it and rejecting what is opposed to its integrity. Thirdly, Thomas showed the desirability of theological research. Theology practiced cannot be merely an intellectual discourse or argumentation about God and His affairs. Aquinas knew perfectly well that every theological search is directed towards an encounter with a Person. The main goal of theology is the glorification of God and the divinization of man.

• Details
• Contents