Aquinas on Scripture

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rwoehmke

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In his book Thomas E. Woods Jr.( How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization) has a quotation from Edward Grants book “Science and Technology in the Middle Ages” which is attributed to Thomas Aquinas. It says as follows:

“First, the truth of Scripture must be held inviolable. Secondly when there are different ways of explaining a Scriptural text, no particular explanation should be held so rigidly that, if convincing arguements show it to be false, anyone dare to insist that it still is the definitive sense of the text. Otherwise unbelievers will scorn Sacred Scripture and the way to faith will be closed to them.”

In this day when there is sufficent archeological and/or scientific evidence that contradicts certain historical or scientific parts of the Scriptures it seems obvious that biblical history and science in the Old Testament needs be taken as carrying only theological truth. So what is to be made of narratives like the Creation, the Exodus, Noah’s Ark, David and Solomons Kingdom and such like?
 
Could you tell me where this is from in St. Thomas so I can look it up? It is likely the context of this remark will help to understand what he is saying much better. Hopefully this book says where this quote is from.
 
On the contrary, It is written (Genesis 1:6): “God said: let there be a firmament,” and further on (verse 8); “And the evening and morning were the second day.”
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I answer that, In discussing questions of this kind two rules are to observed, as Augustine teaches (Gen. ad lit. i, 18). The first is, to hold the truth of Scripture without wavering. The second is that since Holy Scripture can be explained in a multiplicity of senses, one should adhere to a particular explanation, only in such measure as to be ready to abandon it, if it be proved with certainty to be false; lest Holy Scripture be exposed to the ridicule of unbelievers, and obstacles be placed to their believing.
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newadvent.org/summa/106801.htm
 
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mspencer:
Could you tell me where this is from in St. Thomas so I can look it up? It is likely the context of this remark will help to understand what he is saying much better. Hopefully this book says where this quote is from.
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The Book on How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization is where I got the quote. I left it at my son’s place in California for him to read and I am back in Wisconsin. I have written him to send me the full note for the Citation. It contained a little more information than what I provided. I don’t think it went all the way back to one of Thomas’s writings. I will post it when it comes in. Thank you both for your interest. It does sound like a paraphrase of the quotation from the summa as found in new advent. Dick
 
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