General Introduction

Any attempt to bring Thomas Aquinas and Martin Luther together on the same dialogue table is clearly an unprecedented move in the annals of conventional theological dialogue because of a number of reasons that will be explicitly discussed as this essay advances. Having said so, it is also worth acknowledging that once upon a time it would have been unimaginable to link any of these two characters in any way whatsoever.

The available evidence indicates that until recently, the over five hundred years of bickering and contention as to who is a legitimate custodian of absolute truth run drove an irreconcilable wedge between followers of both great thinkers. Like many observers this author aligns with the widely held view that there is a tidal wave mounting on the horizon that has no place for obsolete doctrinal acrimony (Baglow 2002, Pp. 67-87)

In its place is a new dawn of scholarship built on interconfessional dialogue in our quest to understand what constitutes “the truth” and what does not. It is against this background that the late Pope John Paul is on record to have advocated for deeper interconfessional exchanges, particularly sanctioning the need for the Catholic faithful to extend a hand of openings to look at what Lutheran sacraments stand for, much in the same way as Lutheran followers have always had a cordial approach to the core teachings of Thomas Aquinas (Baglow, 2002, Pp 87-93).

Of course the skeptics such as McGraith (1988) have reasons to say that, towing such a line is easier said than done. Without underestimate the enormity of the task ahead in view of the years of entrenchment the prospects sounds somewhat promising. A number of indicators poignantly point to this emerging discourse; prominently among them include the step towards the acknowledgement by the Catholic church that Thomas Aquinas is by many standards a theologian, an issue that remained contentious for many years, though superficially there seems to be inadequate basis to doubt his theological inclination. Prior to this recent holding, many interpretive scholars had reasons to believe that Thomas Aquinas was more suited as metaphysician than a theologian in the most absolute sense (Aquinas 1948).

This acknowledgement by itself gives this essay a significant boost given the fact that it takes away a major hurdle that could potential defeat the merit of making a theologically centered comparative analysis of what Thomas Aquinas and Martin Luther both stood for in their respective teachings. A new dawn in the body of theological knowledge owes its success to the depths of this feat—effectively putting Thomas Aquinas to his rightful place within the corridors of interpretive theology and thus consequently serving as an impetus that drives the defining framework of this current study.

Sacramentology At a Closer View

By many authoritative accounts, the day of Pentecost marks the advent of the Christian church (Reference). The coming of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost did indeed provide the foundational precepts of the Church and the place it devotes to sacramentology as a whole. There is an apparent sense of synergy that comes with the different Christian institutions and thinkers about what a sacrament is. For instance reference from the Concise Dictionary of Religion cites the Roman Catholic Church as describing a sacrament as “a rite in which God is uniquely active.” Careless (2003, Pp 24) also citing references from the Anglican Book of Common Prayer defines a sacrament as “an outward and visible sign of an inward and invisible Grace.”