On what basis does Thomas Aquinas say that the Church existed since the time of Abel?
score:3
Accepted answer
Abel was the first to offer sacrifice pleasing to God.
cf. You Shall Worship One God: The Mystery of Loving Sacrifice in Salvation History by Fr. Philippe, O.P., ch. 1, §"Sacrifice Before the Law"
Adam did offer sacrifice (to offer sacrifice as part of our nature), but it seems it was not pleasing to God on account of his Original Sin. According to St. Thomas Aquinas (Summa Theologica II-II q. 85 a. 1 ad 2),
Perhaps the reason why we read of no sacrifice being offered by Adam may be that, as the origin of sin is ascribed to him, the origin of sanctification ought not to be represented as typified in him.
Also, "the time of Abel" ("tempore Abel") needn't exclude Adam.
One can only offer pleasing sacrifice to God in His Church.
St. Thomas quotes 1 Cor. 10:20 in Expositio in Symbolum Apostolorum article 1, when discussing four different motives that lead man to worship false gods:
the things which the heathens [gentes, έθνη] sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God.
St. Paul distinguishes heathens/gentiles (gentes, Έλλησιν) and Jews from members of the Church of God ("ecclesiae Dei", εκκλησία του θεού) in v. 32.
Thus, the Church could be defined as that group of people which offers pleasing sacrifice to God.
More post
- 📝 Did the Gospel Standard Baptists and the (original) Plymouth Brethren comment on unity between themselves?
- 📝 If a sin is not intentional but due to psychological or physical reasoning, will Jesus Christ still count that act as a sin?
- 📝 How many times does the New Testament quote the Old Testament?
- 📝 According to Catholicism, did Jesus have a Guardian Angel?
- 📝 Meaning of cross with Jesus on both sides
- 📝 How do people who deny Biblical inerrancy understand this argument on inspiration?
- 📝 What are the major Christian Festivals
- 📝 Does God tempt Abraham in Genesis 22:1?
- 📝 Is the idea that God can erase His memory a common understanding?
- 📝 Does evanescent grace remove all assurance of salvation?
- 📝 Christianity and eating pork or other restrictions from Leviticus
- 📝 Do Jehovah's Witnesses plan a return to door to door ministry since their 2020 shutdown?
- 📝 Limited Atonement and Perseverance of the Saints in Light of 1 Corinthians 8:11 (Calvinism)
- 📝 Are contraceptives ok to treat other conditions?
- 📝 What is the Catholic Church's historical position on capital punishment: how did we get here?
- 📝 The founder of Zion's Watch Tower Charles Taze Russell made the following statements and now directly contradict new information by the organization
- 📝 Is there a biblical theory that tries to explain the mechanism of prayer?
- 📝 Did God institute a law against the debasing of currency? (RC Sproul)
- 📝 From a Reformed perspective, does retroactive prayer makes sense?
- 📝 What would the Jews of Jesus' time have known about heaven?
- 📝 Has Christianity ever come down in opposition of arranged marriages?
- 📝 Jehovah's Witnesses claim Jerusalem was destroyed in 607 BCE. What is the evidence?
- 📝 Do Christians have "secret" (handshakes for example) ways of knowing who other Christians were?
- 📝 What is the source DNA for the body of Jesus?
- 📝 How do Trinitarians explain that the Logos is a person?
- 📝 What are the 'Scriptures' mentioned in 1 Corinthians 15?
- 📝 What is the origin of the doctrine of perspicuity?
- 📝 Can a child presented by a same sex couple be validly baptized in the Catholic Church?
- 📝 What is the biblical basis against seeking medical advice?
- 📝 Christianity certainty and other religions certainty
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 On what basis does Thomas Aquinas say that the Church existed since the time of Abel?
- 📝 On what basis does the Catholic Church teach that women cannot be ordained?
- 📝 What does the Church say about the statements that the Pope Benedict XVI made in the book "God and the World"?
- 📝 What is the Biblical basis for the concept that Jesus spent time in Hell?
- 📝 What does Catholic Church say about the post-resurrection wound marks of Jesus?
- 📝 Does the Catholic Church teach that it has the authority to change what is morally right and wrong?
- 📝 What is the basis for saying that the Gospel of Thomas was accepted as scripture by early Christians?
- 📝 Under what basis does the Catholic Church condemn the use of drugs while permitting alcohol?
- 📝 What is the biblical basis for the idea that the church is a hospital for sinners?
- 📝 What is the basis for saying that Aquinas accepted the Immaculate Conception?
- 📝 What evidence does the LDS church forward for the claim that the Garden of Eden was in Missouri?
- 📝 What is the evidence that Thomas Aquinas was assassinated?
- 📝 What is the basis for the position that only Paul's writings are applicable to the church today?
- 📝 What does the Church have to say about the Pope's latest statement?
- 📝 What does the Catholic Church say happens on the New Earth?
- 📝 On what basis does the Catholic Church oppose penalisation of women guilty of abortion?
- 📝 What did the early Church Fathers (pre-Nicea A.D. 325) have to say about faith, baptism and if it is the act of baptism that saves?
- 📝 What is the biblical basis for the belief that the Lord Jesus Christ does NOT presently possess blood in his incorruptible body?
- 📝 What does the Catholic church say about its own presence or absence when the tribulation starts?
- 📝 What does it mean that the Believers Eastern Church (in Asia) is an "Ancient-Future Church"?
- 📝 What basis could there be for an 18th century Christian to say that "Gnostics were the Antinomians of their day"?
- 📝 Why does the Catholic Church say that the plan of salvation includes Muslims?
- 📝 What is the biblical basis to say that prophetic words spoken today are equivalent in authority to scripture?
- 📝 Does Augustine ever say that Christians in his time identify their Deus [God] with the Roman deity Saturn?
- 📝 What does the Catholic Church teach about the communication that takes place among the Persons of the Trinity?
- 📝 What is the Biblical basis that God does not punish disobedient Christians beyond the immediate natural consequences?
- 📝 What is the biblical basis for the belief that the Lord Jesus Christ DOES have blood in his incorruptible body?
- 📝 What is the basis for saying that the Catholic Church is the largest charitable organization in the world?
- 📝 Under what basis does the Catholic Church consider animals, in particular great apes, not to be persons?
- 📝 What is first time infant baptism was established and commissioned according to catholic church? What does church history say about this?
