Monday, November 18, 2013

A New Direction for Thomism

With respect to theology - "ressourcement" Thomism may be a necessary step, but what's next after that?

What if...
Aquinas had been fluent in Greek and had access to Aristotle and the Greek Fathers in Greek? How would his theological synthesis have turned
out differently? Would his hardened Greek critics be more receptive to his work? How would Aquinas have responded to Saint Maximos the Confessor or Gregory of Palamas?

A living Thomism engaged with both the Latin and Greek theological traditions.

Are Western theological languages too tied to Latin? Could 'native' words be adapted to Greek nuances, or would we
have to use transliterated words for the vocabulary instead?

Do most of our lay academic theologians possess an adequate grasp of Greek and the Greek Fathers? Most are not even familiar with the Latin theological tradition, in Latin or in English. Theologians in religious orders may be more qualified to undertake this work, but even then, how many of them have a proper grasp of Latin and Greek? How much Greek do Dominicans study, for example?