Book contents
- The Humanity of Christ as Instrument of Salvation
- The Humanity of Christ as Instrument of Salvation
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- Contents
- Preface and Acknowledgments
- A Note on Translations
- Introduction
- Part I Foundations and Statements of the Doctrine
- Part II Difficulties and Resolutions
- 4 Dubia, Part 1
- 5 Dubia, Part 2
- 6 Toward a More Precise Thomistic Account of the Instrument Doctrine
- Part III Theological Implications
- Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index
6 - Toward a More Precise Thomistic Account of the Instrument Doctrine
from Part II - Difficulties and Resolutions
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 August 2025
Book contents
- The Humanity of Christ as Instrument of Salvation
- The Humanity of Christ as Instrument of Salvation
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- Contents
- Preface and Acknowledgments
- A Note on Translations
- Introduction
- Part I Foundations and Statements of the Doctrine
- Part II Difficulties and Resolutions
- 4 Dubia, Part 1
- 5 Dubia, Part 2
- 6 Toward a More Precise Thomistic Account of the Instrument Doctrine
- Part III Theological Implications
- Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
This chapter resolves the problem posed in the previous chapter, namely, the Scotist objection to the instrument doctrine. It argues that of five different strategies, only one solves the problem of coherence, and it is a solution found not only in some of Aquinas’s mature statements on instrumental causality but also in the theology of Matthias Joseph Scheeben (1835-1888), who knew the intricate debates about the doctrine after Aquinas’s time and had developed a unique response to the Scotist objection. The chapter defends Scheeben’s view, known as ’extrinsic elevation’, as the way to preserve the coherence of the two claims that God alone is the cause of grace and that Christ’s humanity is an instrumental efficient cause of grace.
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- The Humanity of Christ as Instrument of SalvationA Study in Thomistic Christology, pp. 173 - 198Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2025
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