Abrogatio vel successio? Zniesienie prawa Mojżeszowego w Loci communes Filipa Melanchtona i Sumie teologicznej Tomasza z Akwinu

Wojciech Kozyra

doi:10.21697/ct.2025.95.3.05

Published: 2025-08-31

Vol. 95 No. 3 (2025)

Abrogatio vel succesio?

The Abolition of the Mosaic Law in Philip Melanchthon’s Loci communes and Thomas Aquinas’ Summa theologiae

Wojciech Kozyra

Collectanea Theologica

Section: Articles

https://doi.org/10.21697/ct.2025.95.3.05

Abstract

The article compares the approaches of St. Thomas Aquinas in the Summa theologiae and Philip Melanchthon in the first edition of the Loci communes to the abolition of the Mosaic Law. The main result of the study is the determination of the difference between Melanchthon’s paradigm of “abrogation” and St. Thomas’ understanding of the abolition of the old law in terms of “cessation” (cessatio) and “substitution” or “succession” (successio). The analysis follows the Thomistic division of the law into three parts: moral, ritual and judicial, which Melanchthon accepts. Abrogation applies to the law in all its parts and deprives its object of a special status in relation to the agent that performs the abrogation. In contrast, Aquinas’ conception leaves intact the moral part of the law and emphasizes the special significance of the Mosaic ceremonial for Christian identity. The implications of both paradigms for the Christian freedom are also discussed.

Keywords:

Thomas Aquinas, Summa theologiae, Philipp Melanchthon, Loci communes, Mosaic law, abolition of the law, freedom

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Kozyra, W. (2025). Abrogatio vel succesio? The Abolition of the Mosaic Law in Philip Melanchthon’s Loci communes and Thomas Aquinas’ Summa theologiae. Collectanea Theologica, 95(3), 517–546. https://doi.org/10.21697/ct.2025.95.3.05

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Wojciech Kozyra

w.kozyra@uw.edu.pl
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2210-4559

Affiliation:

Uniwersytet Warszawski Poland

Bio Statement (e.g., department and rank)

Absolwent filozofii i judaistyki na Uniwersytecie Warszawskim. Doktor filozofii (2024). Pracownik naukowo-dydaktyczny w Zakładzie Filozofii Społecznej Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego.