Negotiating Authority and Epistemic Humility: Thomas Aquinas’ Summa Theologiae I, 65-74 as a Propaedeutic Training in the Reverential Reading of Patristic Texts

Aquinas’ treatment of the Creation narrative (Genesis 1:1-2:4) within QQ 65-74 of the prima pars of his Summa Theologiae (ST) has long been and remains neglected, virtually unread, within the community of the readers of Aquinas. This neglect is born of a mistaken expectation of this section of the ST as a quest for theological or philosophical truth. Those reading his parallel treatments of the same material have deemed ST I, 65-74 insufficiently robust, shallow, even embarrassing for those who see him as a theological touchstone. But the readers of Aquinas in general and of the ST in particular have not asked why Aquinas elected to engage in this apparently simplistic treatment of a Scriptural passage which addressed issues that were foundational to his philosophical and theological project. Drawing upon Aquinas’ historical context and through comparison with his other treatments of the same biblical material this thesis argues that within these QQ Aquinas deliberately shaped his use of patristic sources to create both a primer on the use of these patristic sources for his students and, in so doing, also made a necessary appeal to all his readers that they embrace Augustine’s epistemic humility. Read through this lens, ST I, 65-74 provides important insights into Aquinas’ use of ideas and authoritative texts and once more gives voice to his still relevant call for epistemic humility.