The Thomist: A Speculative Quarterly Review

520 BOOK REVIEWS L'institution des sacrements dans le Commentaire des Sentences de Saint Thomas. By BERTRAND-MARIE PERRIN. Collection «Bibliotheque de la Revue thomiste», section «Etudes». Paris: Parole et Silence, 2008. Pp. 652. €38.00 (paper). ISBN: 978-2845736368. The work under consideration is the publication of a dissertation in dogmatic theology composed at the l'Institut Saint Thomas d'Aquin de Toulouse (France). Its principal object is to study, in its initial origins and sources, the thought of Aquinas on the institution of the sacraments by Christ, as this thought was developed in the first speculative works of this medieval master. The choice of such a topic does not imply a restricted scope of study of St. Thomas, since the Scriptum is the work where his teachings on this subject are the most developed. Other sources, including the Summa Theologiae, offer less ample information on this subject, even if they develop his views in a way that is consistent with the early works (13). The precise question of the institution of the sacraments by Christ is one of real importance, as it touches directly upon what is at stake in the treatment of other fundamental theological questions (the role of the Church with respect to the sacramental acts from which she draws her life, the place accorded to the Holy Spirit in the economy of the Incarnation, etc.). What is being considered here, then, is the nature of the relationship between the Savior and sacramental acts, and this relationship casts a decisive light upon the economy of salvation (12-13). The book begins with a historical introduction to the work of St. Thomas. It focuses on the patristic background of his thinking, and the Scholastics (especially St. Albert the Great and St. Bonaventure) who wrote at the time of the Scriptum (16-50). This is helpful in situating Aquinas's original theological contribution while also exhibiting his doctrinal continuity with these others. The texts on the institution of the sacraments are then rapidly presented (52-68). The main body of the work is the analysis of these texts (69-555), which concludes with a theological synthesis. On the level of the methodology, this study is extremely well done, with regard to both the analysis of the texts and the synthetic conclusions. It makes use first and foremost of the historical-critical method of the study of the texts of St. Thomas, which permits one to understand more precisely their exact meaning, in distinction from the theological problematics of later time periods. However, the presentation of synthetic perspectives on his teaching also casts a light upon contemporary theological questions. The texts that are assembled for each sacrament in the analytical-historical section of the book are extremely interesting and deepen our understanding of St. Thomas's thought. Much more than in the Summa Theologiae, St. Thomas underscores here the importance of sacraments for the history of salvation. (See the valuable reflections on the necessity of sacraments through the course of various ages [104£.]). It is very helpful to read the later teaching of Aquinas with the help of these foundations that he poses in the Sentences. BOOK REVIEWS 521 The doctrinal synthesis presents in a very remarkable way the relationship between the sacraments and the redemptive Incarnation. The history ofsalvation is sacramental, and attains its perfection in the mystery of Christ. The sense of an evolution that leads to Christ (from the age of the natural law, through that of the Old Law) brings to light the progressive pedagogy of God which is also a developing anthropological teaching. The "power of excellence" of Christ is presented as strictly interrelated to the meritorious causality of Christ, that is to say, as being related to a quality of his humanity (577). This means (in principle) that the capacity to institute the sacraments could have been conferred to others than the Savior. This value placed upon the humanity of Christ is equally related to his instrumental dignity, even while this latter theme, although related to his merit, did not attain its full importance for Aquinas prior to the Summa contra Gentiles. In effect, once the power of excellence is taken into account...