Z dziejów egzegezy perykopy o Marii i Marcie (Łk 10, 38-42), czyli jak św. Tomasz z Akwinu rozumiał św. Augustyna. Przyczynki do teologii kontemplacji i życia czynnego

Abstract

The history of Biblical exegesis of pericopes about Mary and Martha is began by Origen, who identifies Mary with the consecrated life and Martha with the active one. The unified western interpretative tradition went the way appointed by him. Then it found its peak in the thought of St. Tomas Aquinas. The exegesis of St Augustine went the another way. Mary is for him the model of Christian united in love with Christ and contemplating His mystery. When Martha indicates the member of the Church involved in the community life and connected with it by the bonds of love to God and a fellow human being. Mary and Martha indicate two worlds – eternal and temporal, Mary symbolizes the aim of life and Martha the way leading to it. Martha is the picture of Christian life in the world, devoted to love of fellow expressed in the works of mercy and the service in The Church. Mary has chosen “what is better”, because symbolizes the future life of Christian contemplating the God’s Word in eternity. For St. Tomas Aquinas Mary and Martha indicate two ways of being a Christian. Mary has chosen “what is better” because contemplational life is better and more important than active life, because represents what is the best in human and is realized in the sphere of mind engaging the highest truth, but active life concerns the external things. The contemplative life is the watching of Divine Truth, so the contemplation and meditation lead to it. The active life is not an activity dealing with the world, but only this one which serves the human life. An example of such life are church superiors, who join prayer with the care of The Church needs. The contemplation concerns temporal life, but it is not fully possible in it. St. Thomas uses a patristic argument in his philosophy, including also the texts of St. Augustine.