The Book of Life: A Soulless Register or a Living Promise of Salvation? Reflections in Light of De veritate 7 and Biblical Thomism
Bartosz Adamski
xbartosz.adamski@gmail.comNicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń (Poland)
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4062-593X
Abstract
The book of life is a biblical motive that appears in both the Old and New Testaments. It is commonly believed that it is a list of persons and their deeds, on the basis of which humanity will be judged at the end of time. Sometimes this image functions as an idea of a list of the faithful to be saved. The subject of the book of life is also taken up by the Fathers of the Church, headed by St. Augustine, who in his work On the City of God (De civitate Dei) presents it as a record of the life of all people. It is confronted with God's commandments contained in the Holy Scripture.
The aim of the article is to present the main issues of St. Thomas Aquinas's reflection on the book of life, that is, to check what it is according to Aquinas, what it contains and what statements he makes about it. On the basis of his systematic works, such as Quaestiones disputatae de veritate, and relevant works commenting on the Bible, such as Super Psalmo 39, Super Ioanem, or Super Epistolam ad Hebraeos, the vision of the book of life will be presented not as a strict or soulless list of people and their deeds, but as a metaphor for God's knowledge of saved people, that is, God Himself, who enables man and invites him to live with Himself the same. In this way, it will be examined whether the reflections of St. Thomas Aquinas carry answers to questions about human existence.
Keywords:
Book of Life, God, knowledge, predestination, Christ, Thomas AquinasReferences
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Authors
Bartosz Adamskixbartosz.adamski@gmail.com
Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń Poland
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4062-593X
Rev. Bartosz Adamski, PhD – Doctor of Theology, lecturer in dogmatic theology at the Faculty of Theology of Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń (37 Gagarina Str., 87-100 Toruń, Poland), and prefect of the propaedeutic formation period at the Major Seminary in Toruń. His research focuses on the question of divine freedom in the thought of St. Thomas Aquinas.
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