Theology is not an art but a science: Cuddy and Barrett

Is supernatural theology an art or a science? The way some do theology today you would think theology is an art, as if its principles originate from our own mind only to be projected outward in self-expression. Perhaps this is why theology has become subjective, like a wax nose, twisted this way or that depending on who is theologizing. But this was not always so! In the Great Tradition, theology was often defined as a science. Thomas Aquinas describes theology as a science, for example, because it “takes on faith its principles revealed by God.” If supernatural theology is based on First Principles that originate with God, then theology is defined by no little certainty. In this way, it is superior to other sciences, even the queen of the sciences.

And yet, theology is a theoretical (speculative) science that has endless import for that which is practical. For theology not only informs our love for God but that most blessed hope: seeing God. In the beatific vision our faith will turn to sight and theology will have its prize: God.

Thanks to the Thomistic Institute, this episode kicks off a series of conversations where Matthew Barrett sits down with other Thomists he has learned so much from and he hopes you will too. He talks with Dr. Cuddy, O.P., who is Assistant Professor of Dogmatic and Moral Theology at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington D.C. He is the author of The Summa Illuminated and Catholic Theology: An Introduction. He is the coeditor with Romanus Cessario of Thomas and the Thomists. He is also the editor of The Thomist Tradition series with Cluny Media.

Photo credit: CCO Public Domain