Death according to the Commentaries of Saint Thomas to the letters of Saint Paul

Authors

  • Catalina Vial de Amesti Pontificia Università della Santa Croce

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17421/2498-9746-05-21

Keywords:

death, sin, grace, St. Paul, Thomas Aquinas

Abstract

The Letters of St. Paul focuses in the death and resurrection of Christ as the way through which God saved the humankind. Thomas Aquinas in his Commentaries of St Paul’s Letters refers to the “message of the Cross” (1Co 1.18) in terms of liberation, redemption and reconciliation. At the same time, Aquinas is aware that death is the greatest imperfection that human nature suffers, the greatest punishment that man can incur on earth. So, in what sense does St. Thomas, in his reading of St. Paul, speak of death as an essential event for the realization of the human being? Can we say that dying grants some perfection to the one who dies or others? This paper attempts to answer these questions in the light of the Aquinas Comments to the Letters of St. Paul.

Published

2021-05-04

Issue

Section

Human nature, soul and body. Convergence of perspectives