Colloquia Maruliana, Vol. 8 , 1999.
Original scientific paper
The Opuscula Theologica of St Thomas Aquinas in the Thought of Marko Marulić
Mladen Parlov
Abstract
Among his many books, Marulić possessed in his own library two books by St Thomas Aquinas, Catena aurea and Opuscula. In his testament he left both books to the brothers of the great Aquinas in the Monastery of St Dominic in Split. Unfortunately, in the whirlwind of history that has affected Marulić’s city, the books have disappeared without trace.
The editio princeps of Aquinas’s Opuscula was in 1475, while in 1485 all his works were published, including apocryphal works. Marulić in all likelihood owned the second, enlarged edition. In this edition there were also Aquinas’s interpretations of the Creed, Our Father, Ten Commandments and Two Commandments of Love, which because of their didactic and sermonising nature could well have excited Marulić’s attention. The author cites as an interesting fact that the inner structure of the Evangelistarium, in which Marulić dedicates some of the books to faith (what is to be believed), to hope (what is to be hoped) and charity (what is to be done), corresponds to Aquinias’s opuscula cited above. In them the Saint explains the three things that are needful for salvation: what needs to be believed (the interpretation of the Creed), what is to be hoped (Our Father) and what has to be done (Commandments).
The author has then attempted through an analysis of the contents of Aquinas’s interpretation of the Creed to discover where he is present in Marulić’s writings. Indications and similarities do exist. But it is hard to say which sections were literally taken over, since Aquinas and Marulić both faithfully followed the teaching of the Holy Scriptures and the patristic writings. Nevertheless, the congruence of certain contents and especially of certain theological explanations shows that Marulić did use the Aquinan interpretation of the Creed. It is not too much to note that St Thomas Aquinas wrote under patristic influence and that he can be called the spiritual son of St Augustine. For this reason it is difficult to say which wells Marulić drew a particular thought from, since it is frequently a matter of the common inheritance of the Catholic religion.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
9035
URI
Publication date:
22.4.1999.
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