Did Jesus experience the beatific vision?

One of today’s leading theologians in matters of Christology is Dominic Legge, O.P. His book The Trinitarian Christology of St. Thomas Aquinas (Oxford University Press, 2017) is a penetrating look at the contribution Aquinas makes to a biblical and creedal understanding the incarnation. He raises the question, did Jesus see God? Did he experience the beatific vision? In this conversation, Matthew Barrett sits down with Legge to answer that question. While a number of contemporary figures have denied that Jesus experienced the beatific vision, Legge observes that there are significant theological reasons why the Great Tradition said Jesus must experience the beatific vision if he is who he says he is. Legge takes us into the depths of Aquinas’s thought as well, explaining why Aquinas believed the logic of scripture itself supports Jesus’ experience of the beatific vision. In addition, Legge explains what Christology has to do with virtue in the Christian life. He gives special attention to our love for God each and every day.

Dominic Legge, O.P. is President of the Pontifical Faculty at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington D.C. He holds a J.D. from Yale Law School, a licentiate in philosophy from the Catholic University of America, a licentiate in Sacred Theology from the Pontifical Faculty, and a doctorate in Sacred Theology from the University of Fribourg in Switzerland. He is an Ordinary Member of the Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas. He is the author of The Trinitarian Christology of St. Thomas Aquinas (Oxford University Press, 2017), and numerous articles and book chapters on the thought of Aquinas.