THEOLOGICAL CONCLUSION. - A phrase used to indicate the deduction made from two premises, one of which is of faith, the other of reason. E.g.: the one divine nature is common to all the persons of the Most Holy Trinity (= truth of faith, revealed); now the nature is the proximate principle of operation (= truth of reason, philosophical); therefore the operation (ad extra) is common to all the persons of the Most Holy Trinity. For there to be a properly so-called theological conclusion, it must be derived from its principles by way of rigorous demonstration, obtained through a deductive syllogism, not merely an explicative or analytic one, such as the following: Jesus Christ is man; man consists of soul and body; therefore Jesus Christ consists of soul and body.
All admit that the theological conclusion, being indissolubly connected with Revelation, falls within the scope of the Church's infallibility, but it is disputed whether it belongs to the indirect or the direct object of infallibility, that is, whether it is an object of ecclesiastical or of divine faith and therefore definable as dogma. This divergence of opinions derives from the difficulty, often encountered, of distinguishing the deductive syllogism from the merely analytic one, and, consequently, the properly so-called theological conclusion from one that is such only in a broad sense, virtual revelation from formal revelation. Thus, for example, the Immaculate Conception of Mary, a formally revealed truth, before the bull Ineffabilis Deus was admitted by many only as a theological conclusion, as a virtually revealed truth. The value of the theological conclusion and its applicability in theology was vigorously contested recently by L. Charlier, in the work Essai sur le problème théologique (Thuillies 1938), placed on the Index by decree of the Holy Office on 4 Feb. 1942.
Bibliography9 worksA. Gardell, Le donné révolté et la théologie, Paris 1910, pp. 163-86; M. M. Tuvaerts, L'évolution du dogme, Louvain 1919, pp. 192, 201, 206;
BIBL.: A. Gardell, Le donné révolté et la théologie, Paris 1910, pp. 163-86; M. M. Tuvaerts, L'évolution du dogme, Louvain 1919, pp. 192, 201, 206; R. Schultes, De definibilitate conclusionum theologicarum, in Ciencia Tomista, 9 (1921), p. 305 ff.; F. Marin-Sola, L'évolution homogène du dogme catholique, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Fribourg in Switzerland 1924; P. Wyser, Theologie als Wissenschaft. Ein Beitrag zur theologischen Erkenntnislehre, Salzburg 1938, pp. 112-20; J. F. Bonnefoy, La nature de la théologie selon St Thomas d'Aquin, Paris 1939, pp. 67-72; M. R. Gagnebert, Un essai sur le problème théologique, in Revue Thomiste, 45 (1939), pp. 108-45; A. Lang, Die Gliederung und die Reichweite des Glaubens nach Thomas von Aquin und den Thomisten. Ein Beitrag zur Klärung der scholastischen Begriffe: fides, haeresis und conclusio theologica, in Divus Thomas, 20 (Fribourg 1942), pp. 207-36, 335-46; 21 (1943), pp. 79-97.
Chiettini, Emanuele. “Conclusione Teologica.” In Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. IV, coll. 184–185. Città del Vaticano: Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1950. https://azioneromana.com/article/conclusione-teologica.
MLA
Chiettini, Emanuele. “Conclusione Teologica.” Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. IV, Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1950, coll. 184–185. Azione Romana, https://azioneromana.com/article/conclusione-teologica.
BibTeX
@incollection{ec4_conclusione_teologica,
author = {Chiettini, Emanuele},
title = {Conclusione Teologica},
booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica},
volume = {IV},
pages = {184--185},
note = {Cited by column},
publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico},
address = {Città del Vaticano},
year = {1950},
url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/conclusione-teologica}
}
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