Aquinas and the Supreme Court

This new work clarifies Aquinas’ concept of natural law through his biblical commentaries, and explores its applications to U.S. constitutional law. The first time the use of Aquinas on the U.S. Supreme Court has been explored in depth, and its applications tested through a rigorous reading of the biblical commentaries Shows how key judgments in the Supreme Court have rested on medieval natural law, and applies critical gender theory to discuss problems with these applications Offers new research data to give a different picture of Aquinas and natural law, and a fresh take on Aquinas’ biblical commentaries New research based on passages in the biblical commentaries never before available in English

Acknowledgments xi Bibliographic Note xiv List of Abbreviations xvii 1 Aquinas on the Supreme Court – and on the Bible, or How to Read This Book 1 Part I Aquinas on the Failure of Natural Law 23 2 What Aquinas Thinks We Cannot Know 25 3 How God Moves Creatures: For and Against Natural Law 63 4 How Aquinas Reads Scripture 97 5 How the Law of Nature Is a Character in Decline 118 6 How the Narrative Sexualizes Nature’s Decline 147 Part II Aquinas on the Redemption of Natural Law 177 7 How Aquinas Gets Nature and Grace Back Together Again: Aquinas Meets Karl Barth 179 8 How Faith and Reason Follow Glory 215 9 How Aquinas Makes Nature Dynamic All the Way Down: Aquinas Meets Judith Butler 232 10 How the Spirit Moves the Law 247 11 How Natural Science Becomes a Form of Prayer 265 12 How the Semen of the Spirit Genders the Gentiles: Rereading Romans 289 Conclusion: Questions Answered and Unanswered 298 Subject Index 305 Index of Thomistic Citations 313