Jaarboek Thomas Instituut 1989 - Thomas Instituut te Utrecht

118 P. Bakker, M. Brinkhuis, A. Kamp, H. Rikhof
SUMMARY
Testing a Hypothesis
On the basis of the quaestiones that form the start of the Summa
(especially qq. 3-13), the hypothesis is formulated that Aquinas in
those quaestiones does not present an informative, descriptive
doctrine of God, but a set of linguistic rules that enable us to speak
correctly about God. In this article this hypothesis is tested
internally via analyses of ST I, q. 21 (de iustitia et misericordia Dei),
ST I, q. 34 (de Verbo), ST III, q. 1 (de convenientia incarnationis) and
ST III, q. 24 (de praedestinatione Christi). Each time it is asked
whether Thomas uses the linguistic rules on crucial moments of his
argumentation. In all four quaestiones this appears to be the case.
Moreover, the analysis of ST I, q. 21 shows that here no argument
can be found for a caesura after q. 13, but on the contrary an
argument for a continuation; the analysis of ST I, q. 34 shows that
the distinction between de Deo Uno - de Deo Trino as traditionally
made in terms of natural reason - revelation (and for that reason
critiàzed) finds no support in this quaestio.