God’s “Wrath” according to St. Thomas Aquinas Cover Image

„Gniew” Boga według św. Tomasza z Akwinu
God’s “Wrath” according to St. Thomas Aquinas

Author(s): Stanisław T. Zarzycki
Subject(s): Jewish studies, Theology and Religion
Published by: Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski Jana Pawła II - Wydział Teologii
Keywords: knowing God; the wrath of Christ; God’s “wrath”; God’s goodness; satisfaction;

Summary/Abstract: The article starts with the question: Can God be angry with man? In attempting to explore the issue of God’s wrath. The problem of knowing God is taken as the point of departure. The existential “otherness” between God and man is one reason why God’s emotionality, including anger, cannot be discussed in isolation but only by analogy to man’s anger. Therefore, the explication of God’s “wrath” demands first of all asynthetic presentation of man’s anger, including its origins, types and functions. In the second half of the article, the author presents the notion of God’s wrath in a metaphorical sense, shedding some light upon its object and purpose. He explains the nature of God’s wrath toward pagans, who relied on human wisdom, and then toward Jews, who placed their trust in the value of the Law of Moses. The wrath of Christ is shown within the framework of the mystery of incarnation, the reality of the humanity of Christ, and His attitude toward certain categories of people. In its conclusion, the article first presents the way of “mitigating” God’s wrath, according to Aquinus, through the satisfaction for the sins of humanity performed by Christ in His passion and the sacrifice of the cross, and then compares this interpretation of overcoming God’s “wrath” with the viewpoints of other theologians.

  • Issue Year: 2018
  • Issue No: 33
  • Page Range: 385-421
  • Page Count: 37
  • Language: Polish