102. Christ's Teaching: Written vs. Spoken Word

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Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

Why Christ Did Not Write His Teaching #

The Question: Should Christ have written His teaching, especially given that the Old Law was written by God on stone tablets?

Objections to Oral-Only Teaching:

• Scripture is meant to preserve teaching for the future; Christ’s teaching was to endure forever (Luke 21)
• The Old Law was written down by God (Exodus 24), establishing precedent
• Christ should have excluded error and opened the road to faith through writing
• Augustine apparently asks why Christ wrote nothing (cited from First Book on the Consent of the Gospels)

Thomas’s Resolution: The spoken word is inherently more excellent and perfect for teaching than the written word.

Three Reasons Christ Did Not Write #

1. Excellence of the Teacher: To the most excellent teacher belongs the most excellent way of teaching. Christ, as the supreme teacher, should impress His doctrine directly upon the hearts of His hearers, not rely on external written signs. This is why Pythagoras and Socrates taught orally.

2. Superiority of Oral Transmission: Written things are ordered to the impressing of teaching on hearts as to an end. The spoken word achieves this end more directly and perfectly. Berquist emphasizes that there is something irreplaceable about the living word of a great teacher.

3. Theological Reason—Nature of Christ’s Law: The Old Law was given in sensible figures and therefore was suitably written with sensible signs (in stone). Christ’s law, however, is “the law of the spirit of life” and must be written not by pen and ink but on “the flesh tablets of the heart” by the Holy Spirit (referencing 2 Corinthians 3:3). This represents the transition from external written law to internal spiritual law.

Christ’s Writing Through His Mystical Body #

Augustine’s Key Response: When the apostles wrote what Christ showed and said, Christ should be said to have written through them. The apostles are members of Christ’s body; when His members wrote, it was as if Christ Himself wrote through their hands. Whatever Christ wished us to read concerning His deeds and words, He commanded to be written by the apostles as if by His own hands.

Refutation of Pagan Objections #

Some pagan critics claimed Christ wrote magical books by which He performed His miracles. Augustine responds: if such books existed, those who read them would be able to perform the miracles described therein—but they cannot. Therefore the objection refutes itself. (Berquist also notes that Paul was not yet a disciple when Christ was in mortal flesh, so any association of Paul with Christ in such texts would be fictional.)

Key Arguments #

The Argument for Oral Over Written Teaching #

• Premise: The most excellent teacher requires the most excellent method of teaching
• Premise: The spoken word impresses teaching on hearts more perfectly than the written word
• Premise: Christ is the most excellent teacher
• Conclusion: Christ should teach orally, not in writing

The Argument from the Nature of Christ’s Law #

• Premise: The Old Law was given in sensible figures and written in sensible signs
• Premise: Christ’s law is the law of the spirit of life, not of external signs
• Premise: The law of the spirit must be written on the heart by the Holy Spirit, not on stone or paper
• Conclusion: Christ’s teaching should be internalized through oral transmission and the work of the Spirit, not external writing

The Argument from Corporate Identity #

• Premise: The apostles are members of Christ’s mystical body
• Premise: What the members of a body do, the head does through them
• Premise: The apostles wrote the Gospels as Christ showed and commanded
• Conclusion: Christ wrote through the apostles; the written Gospels are Christ’s writing

Important Definitions #

Sensible Figures (figurae sensibiles) #

External, perceptible signs—as the Old Law was manifested through visible commandments written on stone.

Law of the Spirit of Life (lex spiritus vitae) #

Christ’s teaching, which operates internally through grace rather than through external written precepts. It is written on the “flesh tablets of the heart” (the interior disposition of believers) by the Holy Spirit.

Mystical Body of Christ #

The Church understood as the continuation of Christ’s physical body. The apostles as members of this body write and act on Christ’s behalf; their writing is Christ’s writing through them.

Examples & Illustrations #

Historical Teachers Who Taught Orally #

• Pythagoras: Required students to take a vow of silence for a number of years while learning; did not rely on written texts
• Socrates: Left no writings himself; his teaching was preserved through his disciples (particularly Plato)
• Aristotle: Though he wrote, his published works appear to be ordered lecture notes from the Lyceum, which Thomas expounds in a well-ordered manner

The Living Word vs. Dead Text #

Berquist illustrates through personal experience and anecdote that taking notes while listening actually impedes understanding. He cites his brother Marcus, who found he could not follow French lectures while writing; listening without notes allowed better comprehension. Similarly, great teachers like Leo Strauss had profound influence through their spoken teaching, not through their writings alone.

Comparison with Shakespeare and Classical Authors #

Berquist notes that Shakespeare apparently did nothing to ensure his works survived (the First Folio was published in 1623, after his death in 1616). Similarly, Aristotle may not have deliberately preserved his works. Thomas Aquinas allegedly wrote on scraps of paper. This suggests that great teachers often trusted their teaching to others rather than relying on their own written preservation.

Questions Addressed #

Should Christ Have Written His Teaching? #

Resolution: No. For three reasons:

1. The spoken word is the more excellent tool of the most excellent teacher
2. Written things are ordered to impressing teaching on hearts as to an end; the spoken word is more perfect for this end
3. Christ’s law is the law of the spirit, written on hearts by the Holy Spirit, not written externally. The Old Law, being external, was fittingly written in external signs.

How Then Did Christ’s Teaching Survive? #

Resolution: Through His apostles as members of His mystical body. When they wrote His teachings, it should be said that Christ wrote through them. Thus the Gospels are Christ’s writing through His apostles.

Connection to Miracles Section #

The lecture concludes by introducing the treatment of Christ’s miracles. The upcoming questions ask:

1. Whether Christ ought to have done miracles
2. Whether He did them by divine power
3. At what time He began to do miracles
4. Whether the miracles officially showed His divinity

The treatment will cover miracles in general, then particular kinds (miracles regarding spiritual substances, celestial bodies, men, and the rational creation), and finally the transfiguration specifically.