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Recalling the Biblical and Patristic roots of the Church's
sacramental identity, the Second Vatican Council calls the Church
the 'visible sacrament' of that unity offered through Christ (LG
9). 'Sacrament' in this sense not only describes who the Church is,
but what she does. In this regard, the Council Fathers were careful
to establish a strong connection between the symbolic nature of the
Church's sacraments and their effect on those who received them.
Reginald Lynch is concerned with the cleansing of the heart-a
phrase borrowed from St. Augustine and employed by Aquinas, which
describes the effects that natural elements such as water or bread
have on the human person when taken up by the Church as sacramental
signs. Aquinas' approach to sacramental efficacy is unique for its
integration of diverse theological topics such as Christology,
merit, grace, creation and instrumentality. While all of these
topics will be considered to some extent, the primary focus of The
Cleansing of the Heart is the sacraments understood as instrumental
causes of grace. This volume provides the historical context for
understanding the development of sacramental causality as a
theological topic in the scholastic period, emphasizing the unique
features of Aquinas' response to this question. Following this,
relevant texts from Aquinas' early and later work are examined,
noting Aquinas' development and integration of the idea of
sacramental causality in his later work. The Cleansing of the Heart
concludes by contrasting alternatives to Aquinas' theory of
sacramental causality that subsequently emerged. The rise of
humanism introduced many changes within rhetoric and philosophy of
language that had a profound effect on some theologians during the
Modern period. This book provides historical context for
understanding the most prominent of these theories in contrast to
Aquinas, and examines some of their theological implications.
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