Thomas Aquinas – Medieval Theologian, Philosopher and Teacher
Thomas Aquinas – Doctor Angelicus
Thomas Aquinas was an extremely influential thinker in the middle ages. His philosophy exerted enormous influence on Christian theology, especially that of the Roman Catholic Church and then extending to Western philosophy.
In 1225, he was born in Italy and when he was a young child he went to Monte Cassino, a Benedictine monastery. His brilliance as a child was noticed and thus began an incredible journey of an exceptional mind seeking to bring understanding of God and the medieval world.
In Paris he studied Aristoltelianism (the philosophy of Aristotle ) during his theological studies. Thomas Aquinas recognized the fact that Aristotelian intellectualism would be of great help for the study of philosophy as well as theology. During the middle ages there was confusion between philosophy and theology. They did not believe that the human intellect was capable of abstracting intelligibles from the data of experience.
As a teacher, Thomas Aquinas believed the human intellect was capable of understanding not only material things but also the mysteries of religion. That meant that both faith and reason discover truth and a conflict did not exist between them as they both originated in God.
The teachings of Thomas Aquinas opened the door to science in the medieval world. His blend of Aristotle’s teachings and medieval Christian thinking became part of a system of belief and learning, that was called “Scholasticism”.
“A person is disposed to an act of choice by an angel … in two ways: Sometimes, a man’s understanding is enlightened by an angel to know what is good, but it is not instructed as to the reason why … But sometimes he is instructed by angelic illumination, both that this act is good and as to the reason why it is good.”
In this quote Thomas Aquinas discusses how we are enlightened by angels. Since God gives angels their knowledge, then their word is the Divine word.
There is a voice within us that knows the truth. We know that sometimes, even if dark forces are pulling us down, we can still hear that voice. We have to have faith in that voice. The truths of faith are above human understanding, according to Thomas Aquinas.
In 1274, Thomas Aquinas died at the young age of forty-nine. He was proclaimed a saint by the Church and by posterity has been acclaimed as the “Angelic Doctor”
If you are immersed in a darkness and cannot see thy way, may there be a voice that speaks the truth to be your lantern across the way.
Lady Sharon
Scribe of Camelot
We are thankful for Saint Thomas Aquinas for opening his mind so that our minds could flourish.
We thanketh BosMutusCatholic for putting together this video.
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