Background

Thomas Aquinas is believed to have been born on 28 January 1225 in Aquino, Kingdom of Sicily, Italy. His father was Landulf, count of Aquino and his mother was Theodora, countess of Teano. He was the youngest of eight children in the family. His family members were descendants of Emperors Frederick I and Henry VI and were considered to be of lower nobility.

Education

After completing his early education, Aquinas was enrolled at the studium generale (university) recently established by Frederick in Naples in 1239. Here he was introduced to the works of Aristotle, Averroes, and Maimonides, and was greatly influenced by their thoughts.

During this time he also became acquainted with John of Saint Julian, a Dominican preacher in Naples who would play a key role in the young man's choice of a career. At the age of 19, Thomas decided to join the recently founded Dominican Order, much to the chagrin of his parents.

His family made several attempts to dissuade him from taking the step; they even held him as a prisoner for about a year in the family castles at Monte San Giovanni and Roccasecca. His brothers tried to distract Thomas by hiring a prostitute to seduce him. But the young Thomas was determined to dedicate his life to religion and remained steadfast in his resolve.

His mother realized that Thomas would not change his mind and helped him escape from his imprisonment so that he could follow his heart. He first went to Naples and then to Rome to meet Johannes von Wildeshausen, the Master General of the Dominican Order.

In 1245, Aquinas started studying at the Faculty of the Arts at the University of Paris, where he most likely met Dominican scholar Albertus Magnus.

Career

Thomas Aquinas was ordained in Cologne, Germany, in 1250. He went on to teach theology at the University of Paris and also furthered his education under the tutelage of St. Albert the Great and subsequently earned his doctorate in theology.

He was appointed regent master in theology at Paris in 1256, a post he would hold till 1259. During his tenure, he wrote numerous works including "Questiones disputatae de veritate" (Disputed Questions on Truth), "Quaestiones quodlibetales" (Quodlibetal Questions), and "Expositio super librum Boethii De trinitate" (Commentary on Boethius's De trinitate).

By the time his tenure ended, he had become quite famous and had gained a reputation for being an exemplary scholar. He spent many of the ensuing years preaching, teaching and writing, while also holding important positions, including that of a general preacher in Naples. He produced several works for Pope Urban IV such as the liturgy for the newly created feast of Corpus Christi and the "Contra errores graecorum" (Against the Errors of the Greeks).

In 1265, he started teaching at the studium conventuale at the Roman convent of Santa Sabina where he taught the full range of philosophical subjects, both moral and natural. During this time he also began working on "Summa Theologiae," his most important work.

He also wrote other important works such as his unfinished "Compendium Theologiae and Responsio ad fr. Ioannem Vercellensem de articulis 108 sumptis ex opere Petri de Tarentasia" (Reply to Brother John of Vercelli Regarding 108 Articles Drawn from the Work of Peter of Tarentaise).

He went back to Paris as a regent master at the University of Paris for the second time in 1268. He wrote two major works during this stint which lasted till 1272. One of them was "De unitate intellectus, contra Averroistas" (On the Unity of Intellect, against the Averroists) in which he criticized the concept of "Averroism" or "radical Aristotelianism."

In 1272, he was asked to establish a studium generale wherever he liked by the Dominicans from his home province. Thus he took leave from the University of Paris to start work on the project. He established the institution in Naples and became its regent master. He had a profound religious experience in December 1273 following which he stopped writing.

Fifty years after his death, on July 18, 1323, Aquinas was canonized a saint by Pope John XXII and the Roman Catholic Church. At the Council of Trent in the 16th-century, his Summa Theologica was honored with a place of prominence alongside the Bible. In 1567, Pope Pius V named Thomas Aquinas "Doctor of the Church." And in the 19th century, Pope Leo XIII commended the works of Aquinas to be taught at all Catholic seminaries and theological faculties around the world.

Today, Thomas Aquinas is still studied by Bible students and theological scholars of all denominations, including evangelicals. He was a devout believer, uncompromising in his commitment to Jesus Christ, the study of Scripture, and prayer. His works are timeless and undeniably worth reading.

Achievements

• Thomas Aquinas is best known as the author of the "Summa Theologiae." Even though he could not finish the work, it is regarded as "one of the classics of the history of philosophy and one of the most influential works of Western literature." The Summa covers topics such as the existence of God, the creation of Man, Man's purpose, Christ. He also wrote several important commentaries on Aristotle's works, including "On the Soul," "Nicomachean Ethics," and "Metaphysics."
  
  Aquinas was canonized a saint in 1323, officially named a doctor of the church in 1567, and proclaimed the protagonist of orthodoxy during the modernist crisis at the end of the 19th century.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Summa Theologiae

    (The most important work of the towering intellectual of t...)

    1485
  • Summa Contra Gentiles, Books I & II 1923
  • Commentary on the Letters of Saint Paul: Complete Set 2012
  • Catena Aurea 1841
  • Thomas Aquinas: Selected Writings 1999

Religion

Saint Thomas Aquinas was a member of the Roman Catholic Church.

During the medieval period, people had a hard time figuring out how theology, or religious faith, and philosophy, or reason, could exist together. Aquinas believed that people could have both faith and reason and said that both kinds of knowledge came from God so it was alright to have both. This theory is called scholasticism and Aquinas' work popularized this theory.

He believed that people could prove that God existed in five ways, including understanding that cause and effect was all under God's control, all movement in the world came from God, and that human intelligence was a gift from God. He also believed that God was all-powerful and that people could earn admission into heaven by abiding by moral and government laws. This connected to scholasticism, too, because he believed that following laws was based on reason. He had lots of followers and people who agreed with him, so he was very influential both while he was alive and for centuries after his death.

Views

Aquinas was known for combining theology with philosophy and putting forward theories that combined faith with logical reasoning. He theorized that both faith and reasoning ultimately come from God, and therefore are naturally meant to go hand-in-hand.Aquinas used this viewpoint to explore law. He authored Treatise on Law in the mid-1200s. This handwritten commentary uses philosophy and theology to explore the origins of law. According to Aquinas, God is the source of all law. He explains that "law" refers to an obligation. Aquinas determines that the obligation comes from human natural sense of justice and morality, and that natural sense comes from God.

Aquinas decided that there are four characteristics of all law: an order of practical reason; directed toward the common good; made by someone who cares for the community; promulgated, or publicized. First, a law is an order, meaning it binds, or obligates, a person to a particular behavior. For example, one still has free will and can voluntarily choose to speed down one's street anyway. However, one's free will is bound to the obligation to obey the speed limit. one uses practical reasoning skills to choose whether or not one will comply with this obligation. According to Aquinas, a person will choose based on what brings it the most happiness.

Second, a law is directed toward the common good. This means the law is meant to further the interests and the overall happiness of the community. It's in the best interests of the community to promote safe driving, whether or not one individually find happiness from this law. Though human individual "goods" might differ, they are all ultimately directed toward overall human happiness.

Next, a law is an order made by someone who cares for the community. Because laws are meant to increase the common good, the community should be permitted to make their own laws. Aquinas says this can be accomplished in a couple of different ways. The people can enact their laws, or laws can be made through a representative who works on behalf of the common good.

Lastly, the law must be promulgated. This means the law must be publicized. One cannot be bound, or obligated, to a set speed limit if that speed limit has not been communicated to one. The people must be notified of the laws in order to be obligated to follow them.

Aquinas' next question explores kinds of law. Laws can be divided into different categories, based generally on the origin or basis of the law. The kinds of law include: eternal, natural, and human.

Aquinas defines eternal law as God's plan for the world. He explains that if God exists, then God must have a divine plan for everything and everyone in this world. That plan serves as the eternal law of the world. The eternal law gives us our ideas of what is "right" and what is "wrong" like it is "wrong" to endanger the safety of others.

Aquinas defines natural law as human participation in the eternal law. It describes the link between the free will of humans and God's will. Aquinas says humans participate in the eternal law through the natural law. For example, they naturally know that they should drive safely so that they don't endanger one another, and humans will normally obey that natural inclination. That natural inclination is an example of natural law and comes from the eternal law, or God's will for human well being.

Aquinas defines human law as the actual laws, or rules, humans make based on the norms and expectations they derive from the natural law. For example, acting on human natural inclination to keep one another safe, they enact laws regarding speed limits. Speed limits are an example of the human law. Human laws are made to foster the common good.

Aquinas then explores the effects of the law. He looks at the usefulness of the law. First, he questions whether or not human law is useful. He decides that it is, because these laws help restrain those people who are prone to bad behavior. The human law can compel people to virtue when they do not naturally choose virtuous behavior.

Aquinas describes four common effects of law:

1. Precept, which means to command good acts, such as traveling at a safe speed and showing respect for other drivers. The law tells humans they must do this.

2. Prohibition, which means to forbid bad acts, such as driving recklessly or endangering other drivers. The law tells humans they must not do this.

3. Permission, which means to allow neutral and tolerable acts, such as traveling at an acceptable rate of speed and going about human everyday business. The law tells humans it will largely leave them alone as long as they are not negatively affecting others.

4. Punishment, which means to use fear of penalty to entice compliance. The law tells humans they will receive a hefty fine, or possibly even jail time, for driving recklessly or endangering other drivers. Therefore humans are compelled to follow the traffic laws.

Quotations: "He who is not angry when there is just cause for anger is immoral. Why? Because anger looks to the good of justice. And if you can live amid injustice without anger, you are immoral as well as unjust."

"The greatest kindness one can render to any man consists in leading him from error to truth."

"We must love them both, those whose opinions we share and those whose opinions we reject, for both have labored in the search for truth, and both have helped us in finding it. "

"To pretend angels do not exist because they are invisible is to believe we never sleep because we don't see ourselves sleeping."

"Man cannot live without joy; therefore when he is deprived of true spiritual joys it is necessary that he become addicted to carnal pleasures."

Membership

• 

  Dominican Order

Personality

Soft-spoken and humble, Thomas was often mistaken to be dumb by his fellow students. However, Albertus recognized his potential and predicted that he would one day become a great scholar.

Interests

• Philosophers & Thinkers

  Aristotle, Averroes, Maimonides

Connections

Aquinas neither married nor father any children.

Father:

Landulf of Aquino

Mother:

Theodora of Aquino

teacher:

Magnus Albertus

References

• Aquinas by Edward Feser
  2009
• Thomas Aquinas: Spiritual Master by Robert Barron
  1996