The genesis of Cajetan's exegesis: Motivation and initial quest.

摘要

What kind of crisis motivates a radical shift in one's intellectual pursuits, especially for a scholar deemed the greatest theologian of his time? The time? The early sixteenth century! The pursuit? Thomism! The scholar? Thomas de Vio Cardinal Cajetan, foremost commentator on the Summa Theologica; and one whose Commentary eventually received universal acclaim by its inclusion in the famous Leonine edition of Aquinas' magnum opus.;With such plaudits, it's astonishing that Cajetan would make an intellectual switch in the final decade of his life. In the 1520's, he literally abandoned scholasticism to concentrate on biblical exegesis according to the literal sense. What brought this about? The Reformation, especially the face-to-face encounter with Luther at Augsburg in 1518.;Cajetan's reorientation was calculated to meet the Reformation in its chosen arena. He developed a hermeneutics which eschewed all previous interpretations, including those of the Church Fathers. He contemplated the Bible with an almost tabula rasa mindset. Thus came about his notion of a novus sensus, a notion which also led him to trouble's door.;Trouble's door would not be Wittenberg or Luther, but Paris and Cajetan's own confreres, namely, two irreverent fellow Dominicans, Catherin and Cano.;A detailed examination of the 1518 encounter with Luther and its effect on Cajetan is given vis-a-vis its effect on Luther. Chapter II deals with Cajetan's hermeneutics and his sui generis approach. Chapter III discusses a fascinating quaestio (Galatians 3:19-20) in Cajetan's initial exegetical endeavor, his Jentaculum novi Testamenti; hence, "Initial Quest" in the thesis title. Cajetan's Responsio to the criticisms by the Sorbonne is scrutinized in Chapter IV.;Would that conclusions were as conclusive as one might wish. Yet, we are convinced that it was Cajetan's encounter with Luther and their differences over fides sacramenti which precipitated Cajetan's theological shift, and which was also responsible for inspiring "The Genesis of Cajetan's Exegesis.".