Thesis advisor: Dominic Doyle / I argue for a performative reading of the Summa theologiae in relation to Thomas Aquinas’s coordination of the trinitarian processions with the trinitarian image and the process of teaching and learning. Specifically, I argue that the Summa is skillfully arranged in order to initiate the student into the graced process of conceiving words about the Triune God that burst forth into love—the very processions by which we are ad imaginem Dei and become more like God. Learning to speak truly and love rightly prepares students to preach about God within their culture, just as Thomas’s own efforts to preach the trinitarian mystery indicate. My argument takes into account Thomas’s life as a Dominican preacher and teacher in thirteenth-century Europe as well as his theology of the mixed life of contemplation and action. With respect to the latter, Thomas maintained that the Dominican must draw in contemplation what he will pour out later on in preaching (contemplata aliis tradere). Thomas wrote the Summa theologiae with this pastoral orientation in mind. In light of this historical context, I argue that the Summa is a performative text and transformative encounter with sacra doctrina written to prepare Dominican students to hand on the fruits of their contemplation. This interpretation of the Summa theologiae and Thomas’s trinitarian theology enriches standard contemporary interpretations of the psychological analogy. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2017. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Theology.

Submitted by Renata Lopes (renatasil82@gmail.com) on 2016-04-06T15:01:57Z No. of bitstreams: 1 fabiocaputodalpra.pdf: 1804864 bytes, checksum: bad361942d42943d80d0027198f294fb (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Adriana Oliveira (adriana.oliveira@ufjf.edu.br) on 2016-04-24T03:48:54Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 fabiocaputodalpra.pdf: 1804864 bytes, checksum: bad361942d42943d80d0027198f294fb (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-24T03:48:54Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 fabiocaputodalpra.pdf: 1804864 bytes, checksum: bad361942d42943d80d0027198f294fb (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-03-26 / CAPES - Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Em uma de suas obras mais importantes, De Trinitate (400-416), Agostinho desenvolve uma reflexão sobre o mistério trinitário partindo da concepção cristã do ser humano criado à imagem e semelhança de Deus. Discussão que, ao se expandir, integrando diferentes referências teológicas e filosóficas, ocasionaria o estabelecimento da base teórico-textual da, assim denominada, analogia psicológica. A partir deste contexto, o presente trabalho tem por objetivo investigar como, por meio de uma convergência originária entre razão filosófica e fé cristã, a analogia psicológica agostiniana se insere diretamente no âmbito de problematização da filosofia da religião. / In one of his main works, De Trinitate (400-416), Augustine develops a reflection on the Trinitarian mystery from the Christian concept of man being created in God‟s image and likeness. This discussion enabled, through its expansion and by merging different theological and philosophical references, the theoretical and textual foundation of what is commonly called psychological analogy. Within this context, the present work aims to discuss how Augustine‟s psychological analogy bears on the subject area of philosophy of religion through its underlying and connecting currents of faith and reason.