What, according to Thomas Aquinas, is ‘the ideal bishop’? What kind of person should hold this ecclesial office? And what is the nature and purpose of the episcopacy itself? This study by Michael Sirilla tries to answer these questions by studying Aquinas's commentaries on the pastoral epistles.
In the general prologue to his commentary on the Pauline corpus, Aquinas writes that the whole teaching of Paul is about Christ's grace. Starting from the presumption that Timothy and Titus are bishops, the pastoral letters discuss grace as it is found in the bishops. Thomas’s commentaries on these epistles, Sirilla argues, therefore give insights in Thomas’s views on the episcopacy regarding the spiritual, intellectual, and moral prerequisites for one to execute the duties of this office that cannot be found elsewhere in his works. Studies on Thomas's views on the episcopacy have usually focused on one of two questions. Either they discussed the sacramentality of the episcopal office or they discussed the episcopacy as a state of perfection. The commentaries on the pastoral epistles, however, discuss the episcopacy as a concrete expression of divine grace. The Dionysian notion of the bishop whose task it is to work for the spiritual perfection of his people is paramount in these commentaries. The episcopacy is an active state of perfection, a stable condition that is ordered to the spiritual perfection of one's neighbour in charity.
This is most clearly present in the commentary on 1 Timothy. According to Thomas, this epistle instructs bishops on how to secure and promote the communion of the church by preaching to bring out faith and by governing to bring out charity. This requires a high degree of spiritual perfection from the bishop. He must be a man of contemplation who has the excelling love of God and neighbour at the heart of this hierarchical office. He must first attend to his own spiritual needs in order to provide well for the spiritual needs of his flock, because his moral authority is rooted in the quality of his personal example as a follower of Christ. In his relationship to others, preaching is the preeminent and proper duty for the bishops throughout the commentaries on the pastoral epistles: that is the way to bring about the unity of the church. In this commentary, Thomas finds a balance: on the one hand, he grounds the bishop's pastoral work for the spiritual life and well‐being of the faithful on the quality of his interior life. On the other hand, the perfection of a bishop is not in relation to himself, but in relation to others. Besides that, the state of perfection he describes is prescriptive, not descriptive. Thomas does not shy away from strong criticism of bishops in this commentary, noting among other things that those who assume the pontifical dignity are usually intent upon temporal goods rather than eternal ones.
Thomas is unique among his contemporaries in stating that martyrdom is the principal theme of 2 Timothy. In the commentary Thomas describes this mainly in terms of the unwavering dedication of the bishop to his flock: the bishop is to be a true friend to his people. Desiring the salvation of neighbours, the prelate dedicates himself by a solemn vow to serve them by instructing and perfecting them in Christ's doctrine of love. When the bishop must rebuke, he must do so calmly, moved by genuine love and not anger, retribution, or jealousy. Sirilla writes: ‘Aquinas's discussion of the mercy bishops should extend to unbelievers and heretics is integrated remarkably well with his strict stance on these matters’.
According to Thomas, the Letter to Titus is concerned with the bishop's duty to defend the church against heretics. The tone of the commentary here is very different from that in the commentaries on Timothy. Whereas in the commentaries on the Letters to Timothy, the mercy that needs to characterise the bishop's attitude towards his people is paramount, in the commentary to Titus the tone is more stern. This is not just related to the topics treated. Thomas also gives a psychological reason for this difference: Titus was meek by nature, and thus Paul had to exhort him to speak with authority. Timothy on the other hand, had a tendency for rigidity, and so the advice Paul gives him is different, for bishops of varying temperaments must act differently. The end of the episcopal office remains the same: to bring the people to knowledge of revealed truth and to the perfection of the love of God and neighbour.
Sirilla follows the commentaries closely in his book. This in itself is worth noting: recent years have seen a new interest in Thomas's biblical commentaries. Most studies on these commentaries however, either focus on questions of medieval exegetical method or take a theological topic, find the relevant passages in the commentary where Thomas speaks about it and rework those remarks into some form of a theological treatise, thereby sometimes losing the biblical context in which Thomas makes his comments. When speaking about the structure of a commentary, Sirilla usually uses the divisions of the commentary into lectures. This has the advantage of studying the commentaries on their own merits. It might have been more helpful, however, to stay with the division of the text that Thomas gives instead of the division in lectures, because sometimes Thomas will start an important next step in his division half‐way through a lecture.
Sirilla concentrates on understanding what Thomas claims in these commentaries. He also, however, points to ways in which these commentaries are important for contemporary theological discussions of the episcopacy. First, there is the sensitivity for the psychological condition of those in the episcopal state. Secondly, the criteria Aquinas develops for selecting suitable candidates for the episcopacy are worth studying for what they can offer the contemporary church. Thirdly, Aquinas's understanding of the episcopacy as a ‘good work’ of perfecting others in charity could benefit contemporary theological discourse. The careful reading of Thomas and the sensitivity to contemporary discussions make this book an excellent contribution both to the theological study of the episcopacy and to the study of Aquinas as a commentator of Scripture.
