Jaarboek Thomas Instituut 2006 - Thomas Instituut te Utrecht

26 HENK J.M. SCHOOT
are the mediators, who in the metaphor, are compared with the
mountains.
The problem with the lecture is that Thomas uses so many
different terms, both for the content of what comes down from God
and is mediated by the teachers, and for the teachers themselves. The
same wisdom is referred to by different terms such as divine wisdom
(sapientia divina), spiritual doctrine (spiritualis doctrina), sacred
doctrine (sacra doctrina), knowledge (scientia), study (disciplina),
or science (scientia). What are we actually dealing with? Our
difficulties here bear a strong resemblance to the continual problem
of interpretation of Thomas' use of the term sacra doctrina, in
particular in the opening question of the Summa Theologiae. Is he
referring to revealed knowledge, or to its interpretation by the
Church Fathers, or the reflection on this knowledge that is the role of
theology? Where does God's wisdom end, and where does man's
share begin; to what extent can we talk about knowledge here? I
shall come back to this later, but we should already note that the
lecture provides no differentiation on this point: it deals with one
communication of wisdom which begins with God and, via
mediators, comes to man. It can certainly provide food for thought
for all those who like to make a differentiation in Thomas between
nature and grace, and between natural knowledge and inspired
knowledge.
And now we come to the following: who are the mediators?
Here we have the same image. Thomas speaks of doctores, scholars
or teachers, but also of sacred teachers (sacri doctores) who wrote
the Holy Scriptures, of doctors of the Church (doctores Ecclesiae)
who have to defend the faith, and as an example he mentions such
people as Saint Paul, or the elders of Crete to whom the letter to
Titus is addressed. With respect to the latter, Thomas shows that
their task can be defined as preaching, reading (providing
commentaries), and disputation. These last three look very much like
the threefold task of the medieval Master in Theology in general, and
of Thomas in particular. So, who is Thomas thinking of when it
comes to the mountains that receive and pass on the water of God's
wisdom? The apostles and their helpers? The writers of the Bible?
The Church Fathers as Church teachers? The Masters of his own
time? Or might he actually mean the Bishops, as defenders of the
faith? There is one indication that Thomas, in any case, also includes