Books by Jason Mitchell
Spirit of Wisdom Press, 2024
Aquinas employs metaphysical notions to expound the theological mystery of grace. How Aquinas's m... more Aquinas employs metaphysical notions to expound the theological mystery of grace. How Aquinas's metaphysics is interpreted inevitably affects how his theology of grace is interpreted. This dissertation develops the "new perspective" on Aquinas's theology of grace aided by the metaphysical interpretation of Cornelio Fabro.
Introduction 1 Christmastide: Our Savior Has Been Born 9 e Nativity of the Lord [Christmas]: At t... more Introduction 1 Christmastide: Our Savior Has Been Born 9 e Nativity of the Lord [Christmas]: At the Vigil Mass 10 Literal 1. e Nativity of the Son of David 14 Allegorical 2. e Nativity of the Bridegroom 17 Moral 3. Joseph's Evening Fiat 20 Anagogical 4. e Eschatological Meaning of Christmas 22 e Nativity of the Lord [Christmas]: At the Mass During the Night 25 Literal 5. Caesar Is Neither Savior nor Son of God 28 Allegorical 6. e Nativity of Grace and Glory 31 Moral 7. At the Manger with the Shepherds 33 Anagogical 8. e Royalty of Heaven Are Not ose of Earth 36 e Nativity of the Lord [Christmas] at the Mass at Dawn 38 Literal 9. e Nativity of Our Salvation 40 Allegorical 10. e Nativity of the Good Shepherd 42 Moral 11. e Story Will Be Messy but the End Glorious 45 Anagogical 12. Christmas Is Always Pointing to Easter 47 e Nativity of the Lord [Christmas] at the Mass During the Day 50 Literal 13. e Nativity of the Word of God 54 Allegorical 14. e Nativity of the Son of God 57 Moral 15. Today We Enter into the Cosmic Worship of God 59 Anagogical 16. e Weight of Glory 62 e Sunday within the Octave of the Nativity of the Lord [Christmas]e Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph Year A 65 Literal 17. Honor Your Parents 68 Allegorical 18. e Flight into Egypt of the New Moses 70 Moral 19. Joseph, the Hidden King of the Jews 73 Anagogical 20. e Christmas Story in the Apocalypse 75
All Things New - Vol. I - Advent, 2022
who taught us through his homilies to do what the Church does and teach what the Church teaches. ... more who taught us through his homilies to do what the Church does and teach what the Church teaches. CONTENTS Introduction 1 First Week of Advent-To You I Lift Up My Soul 9 Sunday A 10 Literal 1. The Two Advents of Jesus 13 Allegorical 2. The Second Coming of Jesus, the New Isaac 15 Moral 3. Climbing the Lord's Mountain 18 Anagogical 4. The Mystery at the Heart of Our Faith 20 Sunday B 22 Literal 5. Rend the Heavens and Come Down 24 Allegorical 6. Harden Not Our Hearts 26 Moral 7. A Personal Path to Holiness 29 Anagogical 8. Loving by Waiting 31 Sunday C 33 Literal 9. A Righteous Branch 35 Allegorical 10. The Advent of the Son of Man 38 Moral 11. Starting at the End 40 Anagogical 12. Preparing for the End by Faith, Hope, and Love 42 Monday A 44 Literal 13. The Purification of the Humble Remnant 46 Allegorical 14. The Remnant Will Be Saved by the Bridegroom 48 Moral 15. Letting God Be Your Father 50 Anagogical 16. One Nation Under God 51
Papers by Jason Mitchell
Summa metaphysicae ad mentem Sancti Thomae, 2024
The chapter in "Summa metaphysicae ad mentem Sancti Thomae. Essays in Honor of John F. Wippel" ex... more The chapter in "Summa metaphysicae ad mentem Sancti Thomae. Essays in Honor of John F. Wippel" explores "divine application" as an alternative to Banez's theory of physical premotion and Molina's theory of general concurrence. Simply put, Aquinas's thought on divine application sees that God moves the creature by applying the creature's operative powers to their operation.
Alpha Omega, 2023
In this paper I want to explore what some Analytical Thomists have written about the onto-theolog... more In this paper I want to explore what some Analytical Thomists have written about the onto-theological difference: the ontological difference between a being (ens) and its being (esse) and the theological difference between the creature's being (esse creatum) and divine being (esse divinum). I consider the views and approaches of four Analytical Thomists: Peter Geach; Anthony Kenny; Brian Davies; and Barry Miller. In my conclusion I will offer a general critique of their approaches.
C ornelio Fabro, CSS (1911-1995) devoted his two major works in Thomistic metaphysics to the noti... more C ornelio Fabro, CSS (1911-1995) devoted his two major works in Thomistic metaphysics to the notion of participation. 1 His interpretation of Thomas Aquinas's texts led him to oppose strongly Louis-Bertrand Geiger's twofold division of participation 2 as well as the Scholastic reduction of the act of being (actus essendi) to factual existence. For his part, Fabro proposed a division between predicamental participation and transcendental participation and understood actus essendi as the intensive, actuating, and emergent act of a being (ens). The importance of understanding correctly the notions of participation and being (esse) is immediately apparent with regard to Aquinas's theology of grace. On the one hand, the gift of grace is described by Aquinas as a "certain participation of divine nature," 3 and, on the other,
The Thomist, 2018
naturaliter inclinetur in finem ultimum, non tamen potest naturaliter illum consequi, sed solum p... more naturaliter inclinetur in finem ultimum, non tamen potest naturaliter illum consequi, sed solum per gratiam, et hoc est propter eminentiam illius finis" ("For even though man is naturally inclined to the ultimate end, he cannot reach it naturally, but only by grace, and this is on account of the eminence of that end"). 91 See De Verit., q. 27, a. 5.
In the concluding chapter of his The Metaphysics of Being of St. Thomas Aquinas in a Historical P... more In the concluding chapter of his The Metaphysics of Being of St. Thomas Aquinas in a Historical Perspective, Leo Elders deals with Aristotle's four causes and determines that the study of material causality has no place at all in Thomistic metaphysics. 1 He allows, though, that in metaphysics there are forms of causality that are analogous to material causality: the potentiality of substance with regard to its accidents, of a faculty with regard to its action, and of essence with regard to being. 2 This insight, in my opinion, needs to be pursued further, and there is a need to distinguish more precisely physical causality and metaphysical causality in both Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas. The analogical nature of the four causes and Aristotle's distinction between causality in the Physics and causality in the Metaphysics has been studied extensively by Enrico Berti in Aristotele: Dalla dialettica alla filosofia prima (1977) 3 . After summarizing some of Berti's conclusions, we can proceed to Aquinas' metaphysical thought on causality, _____________ 1 See L. ELDERS, The Metaphysics of Being of St. Thomas Aquinas in a Historical Perspective, E.J. Brill, Leiden 1993, 293. 2 Ibid. 3 It is one of the few treatises that attempts a global consideration of Aristotelian causality. _____________ 22 J. MITCHELL, "The Method of resolutio and the Structure of the Five Ways", Alpha Omega 15 (2012), 339-380. 23 J. A. AERTSEN, Nature and Creature: Thomas Aquinas's Way of Thought, E.J. Brill, Leiden 1988, 92-93. 24 J. AERTSEN, Nature and Creature, 112. 25 THOMAS AQUINAS, De substantiis separatis, ch. 9, n. 95.
Metaphysics is defined as the science of being as being and its properties by its ultimate causes... more Metaphysics is defined as the science of being as being and its properties by its ultimate causes. The identity between metaphysics and philosophical theology 1 necessitates founding both ontologically (per causas intrinsecas) and theologically (per causas extrinsecas) the transcendental properties of being as being: res, unum, aliquid, verum, and bonum.
Alpha Omega 15 (2012)
Aquinas’s Five Ways can be structured in accordance with the metaphysical method of resolutio. Th... more Aquinas’s Five Ways can be structured in accordance with the metaphysical method of resolutio. The real distinction between subject and its accidents is complemented by the reduction of accidental movement to the first immobile mover (First Way). The distinction between prime matter and substantial form requires two levels of causality reflected in the Third Way and in its reduction of possible beings subject to generation and corruption, to some necessary being in need of an ulterior reduction. The real composition of essence and actus essendi is fundamental to the Fourth Way, interpreted as a way of participation. A fourth stage in resolutio considers the ordered operation of finite beings and this consideration is complemented by the Fifth Way.
My paper focuses on five current topics in Thomistic philosophical theology and metaphysical epis... more My paper focuses on five current topics in Thomistic philosophical theology and metaphysical epistemology. I first explore the subject and method of Thomistic philosophical theology (1), giving particular attention to the method of resolutio secundum rem which incorporates Dionysius' triplex via. Based on this, I then consider the relationship between the via causalitatis and the Five Ways (2); the relationship between the via remotionis and the five principal divine attributes: simplicity, perfection, infiniteness, immutability, unity (3); and the role of the triplex via (especially the via eminentiae) in explaining divine action (intelligence and will) and divine power (4). I conclude with a consideration of the doctrine of creation according to the three extrinsic causalities (5): efficient causality and participation in esse; exemplary causality and the role of the divine ideas in creation; final causality and divine governance through divine providence.
Spanish Translations by Jason Mitchell
1 En este artículo no voy a considerar la triplex via en cuanto a su uso en la predicación de los... more 1 En este artículo no voy a considerar la triplex via en cuanto a su uso en la predicación de los nombres divinos, sino su uso como método de la teología filosófica.
Translations by Jason Mitchell
1. OMNIS DOCTRINA EST DE REBUS VEL DE SIGNIS. Veteris ac novae Legis continentiam diligenti indag... more 1. OMNIS DOCTRINA EST DE REBUS VEL DE SIGNIS. Veteris ac novae Legis continentiam diligenti indagine etiam atque etiam considerantibus nobis, praevia Dei gratia innotuit sacrae paginae tractatores [tractatum] circa res vel signa praecipue versari. Ut enim egregius doctor Augustinus ait in libro De Doctrina Christiana: Omnis doctrina vel rerum est, vel signorum. Sed res etiam per signa discuntur. Proprie autem hic res appellantur, quae non ad significandum aliquid adhibentur; signa vero, quorum usus est in significando.
Chapter One INCIPIT OSTENDERE QUOMODO PER CREATURAM POTUERIT COGNOSCI CREATOR. Apostolus namque a... more Chapter One INCIPIT OSTENDERE QUOMODO PER CREATURAM POTUERIT COGNOSCI CREATOR. Apostolus namque ait (Rom 1, 20) quod invisibilia Dei, a creatura mundi per ea quae facta sunt, intellecta conspiciuntur, sempiterna quoque virtus eius et divinitas. Per creaturam mundi intelligitur homo, propter excellentiam qua excellit inter alias creaturas, vel propter convenientiam quam habet cum omni creatura. Homo igitur invisibilia Dei intellectu mentis conspicere potuit, vel etiam conspexit, per ea quae facta sunt, idest per creaturas visibiles, vel invisibiles. A duobus enim iuvabatur, scilicet a natura, quae rationalis erat, et ab operibus a Deo factis ut manifestaretur homini veritas. Ideo Apostolous (Rom 1, 19) dicit, quia Deus revelavit illis, scilicet dum fecit opera in quibus artificis aliquatenus relucet indicium.
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Books by Jason Mitchell
Papers by Jason Mitchell
Spanish Translations by Jason Mitchell
Translations by Jason Mitchell