AquinAs And CAlvin on RomAns Aquinas and Calvin on Romans God’s Justification and Our Participation ChARles RAith ii 1 1 Great Clarendon street, oxford, ox2 6dp, united Kingdom oxford university press is a department of the university of oxford. it furthers the university’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide. oxford is a registered trade mark of oxford university press in the uK and in certain other countries © Charles Raith ii 2014 The moral rights of the author have been asserted First edition published in 2014 impression: 1 All rights reserved. no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of oxford university press, or as expressly permitted by law, by licence, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographics rights organization. enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights department, oxford university press, at the address above You must not circulate this work in any other form and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer published in the united states of America by oxford university press 198 madison Avenue, new York, nY 10016, united states of America British library Cataloguing in publication data data available library of Congress Control number: 2013954860 isBn 978–0–19–870825–4 printed and bound in Great Britain by Cpi Group (uK) ltd, Croydon, CR0 4YY links to third party websites are provided by oxford in good faith and for information only. oxford disclaims any responsibility for the materials contained in any third party website referenced in this work. To Mindy apart from whom none of the following would have mattered to me Preface underlying the following study is the conviction that historical theol- ogy can serve ecumenical dialogue. While the historical theologian strives to understand theologians and theological texts within the contexts and thought patterns of their particular periods of history, the fruit of the analysis is by no means confined to better understand- ing that time period, just as the divisions arising in times past between ecclesial communities are still with us today. The results of historical analysis aid contemporary dialogue by unearthing the theological judgments underlying these divisions, thus bringing clarity to our present situation, while also purging us of false assumptions about and hagiographical retellings of times past. in the process, we also discover resources for enriching our theologies, sometimes in ways we once thought inimical to our confessional identities. one area of historical theology in need of clarification is the rela- tionship between the theologies of Thomas Aquinas and John Calvin. By the time of the sixteenth century, one could have legitimately asked: “Will the real Aquinas stand up?” not only were there differ- ing interpretations of Aquinas among the Thomists, but Aquinas also appeared in the occamist school of thought. And it is unclear how much of Aquinas’s thought Calvin had in mind when he criticised the “scholastics,” as Calvin was not one to name his opponents. Thus, only a close reading of the texts will help clarify the relation between Calvin’s theology and the thought of Aquinas. The results of this study, then, will both help clear up the past and contribute to a fruitful ecumenical future. As Catholic theologian and ecumenist Gustav Weigel noted years ago, “The Catholic theolo- gian, whether he knows it or not, has in his thought elements which are shared by Calvin. We must for ecumenical reasons produce a Calvinistic–Catholic dialogue. it should be very fruitful, if we can for- get ancient shibboleths and consider Calvin and the Catholic divines, Aquinas above all others, with a scientific study of the texts.” The present work is the result of numerous influences that have shaped the historical and ecumenical sensibilities embodied in what follows. two guiding lights must be set apart for special mention: hans viii Preface Boersma and matthew levering. many thanks to you both for your patience and friendship and the many ways you contributed to mak- ing this work possible. i also want to thank those who read previous versions of the chapters of the book and contributed to its qual- ity: todd Billings, holly taylor Coolman, edgardo Cólon-emeric, marc Guerra, Fr. matthew lamb, steven A. long, Fr. Thomas Joseph White, Roland Barnes, and Jeff Reimer. A special thanks to timothy George, who placed in me as an mdiv student a desire for both his- torical theology and ecumenical engagement, and to david steinmetz and Richard muller, neither of whom i have met personally but whose work has guided me immensely in my understanding of the sixteenth century. last and most importantly i want to thank my wife, Ansley. Words cannot capture the contributions you have made to this book and to my life. Thank you. Contents List of Abbreviations xi Introduction 1 Calvin and participation 2 historical Considerations for Comparing Aquinas and Calvin on Romans 6 Why paul’s letter to the Romans? 14 plan of the Work 17 Part I: Participation in Christ’s Justification 1. Justification (Romans 1:16b–17; 2:13; 3:21–26) 25 paul’s Thesis for Romans: 1:16b–17 28 The Iustitia Dei 29 doers of the law 35 God as Just and Justifier 41 Conclusion 51 2. Abraham (Romans 4:1–25) 57 Abraham and Works of the law 58 An issue of merit 61 The Causal Relationship between the divine nature and human nature in merit 66 Justification and the law 69 initial Justification and ongoing Justification 72 Conclusion 83 3. Peace with God, the Hope of Salvation, and the Adam–Christ Typology (Romans 5:1–11; 12–19) 86 The peace of Justification by Faith 87 The hope of salvation 90 Christ overturns Adam 95 The Grace of God and the Gift of God 97 Christ and the law 106 Conclusion 109