Aquinas on Israel and the Church

The Question of Supersessionism in the Theology of Thomas Aquinas

The question of whether or not Thomas Aquinas's theology is supersessionist has elicited deep disagreement among scholars. Some maintain that Aquinas is the standard-bearer of a supersessionist church that undermines Judaism, while others hold that Aquinas avoids supersessionism altogether. Yet the discussion over whether Aquinas's theology is supersessionist has not always carefully interrogated the term "supersessionism," nor has it taken into account some of Aquinas's most relevant texts on the subject of Israel and the Church: his commentaries on Paul's letters. Drawing upon the Pauline commentaries, Aquinas on Israel and the Church argues that while Aquinas's most commonly articulated view is that Jewish worship is discontinued after the passion of Christ, Aquinas also advanced views that set this into question, and in ways that support contemporary Christian teachings that affirm the value of postbiblical Judaism.