Catena Aurea: Commentary of the Four Gospels Collected Out of the Works of the Fathers, Volume 1, Part 2This commentary on the Four Gospels - the Catena Aurea, or 'Chain of Gold' - is a useful and insightful today as it was when Thomas Aquinas compiled it in the mid-thirteenth century. For each segment of the Gospels he lined up a sequence (the chain of the title), of paragraph-length comments from the writers of the Early Church. This relatively unknown treasure trove is a gift to the preacher, or to anyone who wants to reflect on the Gospels in the company of the church fathers. The way Aquinas arranges his material, following sections in the Gospel text (what a biblical scholar might call a 'pericope'), usually aligns with lectionary portions even today. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) is revered by Roman Catholics as their 'universal' doctor or teacher, and is also highly studies and respected today by Protestants and Anglicans, as one of the greatest of all Christian thinkers. He is well known for his skill in synthesizing theological and philosophical insights, but his greatness also rests on his knowledge of patristic sources, which was remarkably wide for his time: he knew a good many early Greek Christian traditions, as well as to the Latin traditions that might be more obviously for a Western European of his time. He brought his capacious knowledge of those sources to bear in compiling this work, collecting what he saw to be the most illuminating and spiritually productive comments on the Gospels. Unusually, Aquinas goes out of his way to attribute his sources (although more recent scholarship occasionally has to put him right on that score). Recent decades have seen a revival of interest in the biblical commentary of the church fathers, reflected for instance in the ongoing publication of two major patristic commentaries by Eerdmans and InterVarsity Press. They too present a chain of excerpts for each section of the scriptural text, as contemporary witnesses to the value of this approach. Aquinas's Catena, dating from the mid-twentieth century, stands out in the history of the church as a perennially useful example of this kind of commentary. Compiled by the greatest son of the Order of Preachers, no preacher today could fail to be aided and enlightened by it. |
From inside the book
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Page 55
... flesh , He hath risen up and trodden down the evil spirits who hated us . Hence it is said , And he hath raised up an horn of salvation to us in the house of his servant David . ORIGEN ; Because Christ was born of the seed of David ...
... flesh , He hath risen up and trodden down the evil spirits who hated us . Hence it is said , And he hath raised up an horn of salvation to us in the house of his servant David . ORIGEN ; Because Christ was born of the seed of David ...
Page 78
... flesh might not re- ject the remedy with which sinful flesh was wont to be healed . For circumcision brought in the law the same assistance of a saving cure to the wound of original sin which Baptism does in the time of the grace of ...
... flesh might not re- ject the remedy with which sinful flesh was wont to be healed . For circumcision brought in the law the same assistance of a saving cure to the wound of original sin which Baptism does in the time of the grace of ...
Page 104
... flesh ; and as we confess that the Word suffered in the flesh , although the flesh only suffered , because of the Word the flesh was which suffered , so He is said to increase , because the human nature of the Word increased in Him ...
... flesh ; and as we confess that the Word suffered in the flesh , although the flesh only suffered , because of the Word the flesh was which suffered , so He is said to increase , because the human nature of the Word increased in Him ...
Common terms and phrases
according AMBROSE angel Apostles ATHAN baptism baptized BASIL BEDE behold believe Bethsaida birth blessed body born BOST called Capernaum Christ CHRYS Church circumcision command CYRIL dead death despised devil disciples divine Elisabeth Evangelist faith Father fear flesh fruit Gentiles give glory GLOSS Gospel grace GREEK EX GREG hath healed hear heart heaven heavenly Hence it follows Herod Holy Spirit Israel Jerusalem Jesus Jews John Joseph Judæa kingdom knew lest Lord Lord's Luke Mark Mary Matt Matthew mercy mind miracles Moses mother multitude mystery nature neighbour NYSS ORIGEN Peter Pharisees Photius pray preaching Priest prophet receive rejoice repentance resurrection righteousness rightly sabbath salvation Saviour say unto Scripture shew signifies sinners sins Son of God soul synagogue teaching tetrarch thee THEOPHYL things thou shalt thought truth ubi sup virgin virtue wisdom woman womb word Zacharias