Theology as "enjoy[ing] a real epistemological transcendence by relation to the philosophies that it utilizes"

"Christian theology, as St. Thomas Aquinas understands and practices it, is not philosophy [as] applied to religious questions.  It has its own object, its own source of illumination, its own method, its own finality, and, if it has recourse to philosophy, does so always as 'master' and never as 'servant'.  It is, in fact, in the light of its own principles and methods that the theologian takes note of [(repère)], assumes, and integrates in a critical fashion certain notions or doctrines elaborated by the philosophers.  The history of theology cannot, therefore, be a [(le)] simple reflection of the history of philosophy."

     Serge Thomas Bonino, "Aristotélisme et angélologie chez Saint Thomas d'Aquin," Bulletin de littérature ecclésiastique 113, no. 1 (Janvier-Mars 2012):  34 (3-36).  Bonino cites, at this point, ST I.1.5.ad 2 on sacra doctrina.  The heading is from p. 4.