A Theology of Charisms in Saint Thomas Aquinas

“A Theology of the Charisms in Saint Thomas Aquinas meets a long-standing need for a theologically and historically responsible book-length account of the gratiae gratis datae according to Aquinas. This is an exemplary study of the graces geared to the building up of Church. Fr. Adiredjo is thorough and accurate as he recounts all that Aquinas has taught about the charisms, individually and collectively. The charisms are located securely in their appropriate contexts, and through this study new light is shed on Aquinas on Christ and the Holy Spirit, and on Church understood as mystical body. The author is familiar, too, with Pentecostal teaching, as well as that of select modern Roman Catholic portrayals of the charisms, and offers along the way comparisons that are fair and judicious, and suggestive of Aquinas’s abiding significance. The book is highly recommended, a wonderful addition to the scholarship!” - Joseph Wawrykow University of Notre Dame

“We have here a thorough and penetrating study of an unjustifiably neglected part of Aquinas’s theology of divine grace and of the Church. As Pentecostalist theologies are on the rise in a shifting ecumenical scene, Adrian Adiredjo, O.P., points us in the direction of a profound ressourcement of what the Common Doctor has to teach about an important but often misunderstood aspect of Christian ecclesial life. While skillfully portraying for us the novelty and significance of Aquinas’s developing understanding of the role charisms play in the life of the Church and so of the individual Christian, Adiredjo focuses in particular on those relating to speech, that is, the proclamation of the Gospel, and to the corresponding witness of the working of miracles. Displaying an insightful ability to manifest connections across the whole of St. Thomas’s theology, including the role of Christ as Head of the Body and the mission of the Holy Spirit, Adiredjo not only shows us how this fruitful Christian thinker compares in a fascinating way both with other medieval theologians and the general ecclesiastical and monastic culture of his time, but also relates to us a doctrine of crucial relevance for Christian theology today.” - Simon Francis Gaine, O.P. Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas

“Adrian Adiredjo’s book offers a careful and much-needed retrieval of a dimension of Thomistic theology that is often cited but rarely examined in its full theological scope. Against the widespread tendency to reduce the gratiae gratis datae to gifts that merely ‘do not sanctify,’ this study convincingly shows how Thomas situates the charisms within the very order of grace and the concrete life of the Church. One of the book’s major strengths lies in its comprehensive engagement with Aquinas’s corpus. By bringing together texts from the Summa Theologiae, the biblical commentaries, and earlier works, Fr. Adiredjo reconstructs a coherent vision of the charisms as manifestations of the Spirit ordered to ecclesial communion and the building up of faith. Particularly valuable is his treatment of prophecy, which is not isolated within the theology of revelation but carefully integrated into Aquinas’s broader theology of grace and sanctity. This book provides both historical depth and theological clarity, showing how Aquinas’s insights remain surprisingly relevant for current pastoral and spiritual debates.” - Piotr Roszak Nicolaus Copernicus University

“The Catholic Church has always been charismatic, but what are charisms and how do they function? How do the charisms of preaching or of miracles relate to salvation and to sanctifying grace? This book provides comprehensive guidance from the theology of St. Thomas Aquinas. Not only are we confronted with the manifold analysis of charisms provided by medieval spiritual figures, this treatment also allows one to envisage clearly how charisms work within the mystical body of the Church—always in relation to the Gospel itself, the teaching and authority of the Church, the sacraments, and an ecclesial life of sanctification. An important work of reference.” - Thomas Joseph White, O.P. Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas