Saint+Thomas+Aquinas


 * [[image:hist2615/aquinas.jpg align="right"]]Thomas Aquinas (1225 – 1274) **

St. Thomas Aquinas was a scholastic scholar, theologian, and philospoher best rembered for his work the //[|Summa Theologica]//. Aquinas was writing his //Summa// during a period of great tension within the Latin medieval caused by the rediscovery and translation of Aristotle's works. Church leaders were critical towards Aristotle's ideas as they clashed with Christian religious doctrine; and in some cases were being argued as higher truths over established religious principals. Aquinas's //Summa Theologica// (unfinished at this death 1274) would be important in settling this tension as he showed that Aristotles works could be used to prove and complement Church doctrine, and in some cases create a better more logical understanding of some Christian principals.

=**// Early life //**= Thomas Aquinas was born in 1225 to a family of feudal nobility at the castle of Roccasecca in Aquino. Aquinas was introduced to Aristotles works and principles by Peter of Ireland at the University of Naples, and in 1244 became a [|Dominican friar].[1] This was against the wishes of his family who wanted him to become a Benedictine monk, leading to them incarcerating him in his home fortoc over a year to try and force him to change his mind. Aquinas however remained determined in his resolve to join the Dominican order, and even wrote two brief logical treatises and a handbook on fallacies during this period of incarceration.[2]

**// The Rediscovery of Aristotle //**
The rediscovery or Aristotle's works during the 11th and 12th centuries caused considerable debate between scholars and church clergy of this period; and the reconciliation of Aristotle's works and Church doctrine would be the task that consumed Aquinas's life. Aristotle's principles such as the universe existing for eternity, and man’s ability to rationalize without divine intervention directly challenge Christian doctrine, ultimately causing his works on metaphysics to be banned from universities following official condemnations in [|1210 - 1277 at the University of Paris].[3] Aristotle's works also inspired a school of thought called [|Averroism] whose leading proponents such as [|Boetius of Dacia], and [|Siger of Brabant] (1240 – 1280s) actively confronted the church, and argued that where Aristotelian thought deviated from church doctrine, Aristotle should be considered correct.[4]

** [[image:hist2615/summa4.jpg align="left" caption="A page from the Summa Theologica."]]Summa Theologica (1265–1274) **
Despite being a pious Christian Aquinas was always an ardent admirer of Aristotle, and used his //Summa Theologica// to prove to the Church and proponents of Averroism that they were wrong in their understanding of Aristotle's ideas. In the //Summa// Aquinas showed using the scholastic method of arguing that Aristotle's ideas were complementary to established Christian thought, and that reason and revelation were complementary and not competitive .[5] The Summa Theologica is intended to serve as a manual for beginners in Theology, and offer logical reasons for the main theological teachings such as the existence of god, man, and creation, to use against those who were arguing Aristotle's ideas as a higher truth then faith. Although the //Summa// focuses on many different areas concerning theology, natural law, and logic, its most important accomplishments was in uniting the accepted ideas of the old teachers of Christianity with Aristotelian thought, by using his views on logic and reasoning to prove their truth.



** Legacy **
Because of his efforts in the fields of Theology Aquinas was made a saint in 1323, and in 1879 was declared the official theologian of the Roman Catholic Church.[6] Outside of the religious world though Aquinas is also held in extremely high esteem by many vehemently anti-religious philosophers such as [|Ayn Rand], who considers him the father of the Renaissance.[7] This is because Aquinas’s success in establishing Aristotelian thought in the universities of Europe, led to Aristotle's works being read on their own, and many of the religious foundations that Aquinas had based his own work on were soon abandoned in favour of more secular ideas. This is most obvious in [|John Locke’s] principal for individual property rights which are based upon Aquinas’s own arguments concerning natural law, and how man’s ability to rationalize and create something out of nature to help him achieve his own happiness (such as clothing), were his own possessions free from all others.[8]

[1] Fergus Kerr, //Thomas Aquinas a Very Short Introduction//, (Oxford University Press), 2009, 11. [2] Anthony Kenny, //A New History of Medieval Philosophy Volume II//, (Oxford University Press) 2005, 65 [3] Fergus Kerr, //Thomas Aquinas a Very Short Introduction//, (Oxford University Press), 2009, 103. [4] Anthony Kenny, //A New History of Medieval Philosophy Volume II//, (Oxford University Press) 2005, 79. [5] Lesley Smith, //Cambridge History of Christianity Vol 4//, (Cambridge University Press, 2009), 79. [6] Anthony Kenny, //A New History of Medieval Philosophy Volume II//, (Oxford University Press) 2005, 76 [7] Ayn Rand, ed. R. Mayhew, //Ayn Rand Answers// (New American Library, 2005), 148. [8] Thomas Aquinas, ed. Arthur H, James W, Thomas W, //Philosophy in the Middle Ages: The Christian, Islamic, and Jewish Traditions//, ( Hackett Publishing Company, 2010), 535