„Secretum meum mihi”. Przyczynek do teologii mysterium u św. Tomasza z Akwinu

Abstract

In the theology of Aquinas the concept of mystery has twofold function. First, in the epistemological sense, it consists in the conviction that our knowledge is limited. The characteristic obumbratio and the adequate way to know the mystery is through analogy. In this sense of mystery, faith and reason join in harmony, because ratio is always the norm of mysterium. On the other hand, in the theological sense, mystery for St. Thomas is the eternal plan of salvation which is revealed to all the people in Christ. He, as a Wisdom of God, reveals the secrets hidden from the creation of the world. Aquinas introduces two other terms which are linked to mystery: secretum which reveals total dependence on the will of God and sacramentum which express the permanent presence of the mystery in the history of the Church. The central point in this plan of salvation belongs to Christ, but to understand his person and his work, faith in the Trinity is necessary. That is why, Thomas develops the Trinitarian Christology and proposes the Unitarian vision of theology that permits to contemplate the presence of God in the history o f salvation. The Angelic Doctor expresses a special type of exegesis which proposes: to cultivate a theology secundum mysterium. Aquinas affirms the existence of only one mystery – the mystery of Christ – and it has three components: that the Son of God assumed our body, was conceived by the Holy Spirit and change the world through the grace of Holy Spirit (S. Th., II–II, q. 2, a.8c). The mystery of Christ has his prolongation in the Church which is contemplated by Saint Thomas as the “presence of mystery” in the world. For this reason, the Christian vocation for Aquinas is to be participes mysteriorum Christ”.