St. Thomas Aquinas and his Contribution to the Church

"Three things are necessary for our salvation: to know what we ought to believe; to know what we ought to desire; and to know what we ought to do."

---St. Thomas Aquinas

I. The Life of Thomas Aquinas

Thomas of Aquino was born between 1224 and 1226 at the castle of Roccasecca near Aquino. His birth came only five years or so after the death of Dominic, the founder of the Order of Preachers, and a year or so before the passing of Francis of Assisi. Thomas was the youngest son of Landulph of Aquino, master of Roccasecca and Montesangiovanni, and of his second wife, Theodora of the Rossi branch of the family Caracciolo, a woman of the Naples region but with some Norman ancestors. 

Thomas was born at an important cultural moment. Pope Honorius III was continuing the renewal and prestige of Innocent III, Frederick II reigned as Holy Roman Emperor from Sicily to Germany, Louis IX was about to begin his long reign as king of France. The Muslim continued to expand in parts of Spain, while the Latin kingdom of Jerusalem established by the crusades became increasingly fragile. 

In 1231, at the age of about six, Thomas was entrusted by his parents to the Benedictine monks of the Abbey of Monte Cassino for elementary education according to the custom for noble families. The impact of the monastic life in that great and ancient institution must have impressed the young Thomas. When he was about fifteen years old, Thomas was sent home because of the occupation of the monastery, and being used as a fortress by Frederick II. The abbot gave a recommendation to Thomas` family that he should pursue studies at the University of Naples. There from about 1240 to 1244 Aquinas studied the seven liberal arts. When he finished his basic education, he was taught natural philosophy and most probably the metaphysics of Aristotle.

In 1256 Thomas became a master, roughly the equivalent of a professor of theology, though the word ‘theology’ is not quite right, since Thomas`s discipline was not divided into specialties. It is perhaps better to retain his full title, namely magister in sacra pagina, master of the sacred page (scripture). The title appropriately draws attention to the master`s focus upon the Bible. 

During his residence in Naples, studying at the Imperial University, Thomas had ample opportunity to encounter and to observe the lives of the handful of Dominicans who had arrived in Naples in 1227. Thomas could not have helped being impressed with their zeal for soul and evangelical poverty. Probably in 1243 he determined to enter the Dominican order; but on the way to Rome he was seized by his brothers and brought back to his parents at the castle of S. Giovanni, where he was held a captive for a year or two and besieged with prayers, threats, and even sensual temptation to make him relinquish his purpose. Finally the family yielded and the order sent Thomas to Cologne to study under Albertus Magnus, where he arrived probably toward the end of 1244. 

After completing his education, St. Thomas Aquinas devoted himself to a life of traveling, writing, teaching, public speaking and preaching. Religious institutions and universities alike yearned to benefit from the wisdom of the “Christian apostle.” In this time, St. Thomas devoted his life to reconcile the relationship between theology (faith) and philosophy (reason), something impossible at that time. Combining traditional principles of theology with modern philosophic thought, St. Thomas Aquinas' treatises touched upon the questions and struggles of medieval intellectuals, church authorities and everyday people alike.

II. Socio-Ecclesiastical Context

The intensification of ecclesiastical life in the eleventh century led to a stronger differentiation of theological thinking in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. The more the Christian West develops unity under papal leadership, the more active became the spiritual intercourse of the people. The expansion of the European horizon by the crusaders also provided new aspects, and the centers of learning shifted from the monasteries to the newly developing universities. The education system was changing from monastic to university system. It is because the Church wanted not only educated the monk but also all people.

The University of Paris around 1200 becomes the school of schools and also the counselor of princes and prelates. In the phrase of the pope, Paris was the oven where the intellectual bread of the Latin world was baked. Its fame, which is come from its schools of arts and theology, attracted students, even monks, priests, and bishops, from England and Germany. Primarily philosophy and theology were of importance in Paris, while at Bologna the school of law dominated. One of the most interesting chapters in the history of the university is the struggle over the admission of the mendicant friars in the middle of the thirteenth century. The papacy secured victory for the friars. And the unwilling university was obliged to recognize them as a part of its teaching force. 

There are two mendicant Orders which were arising at that time: the Franciscans (Fratres Minores) and the Dominicans (Order of Preachers). The first is called such because it is founded by St. Francis of Assisi by asking pope's approval in 1209/1210. This saint taught the ideal of poverty in imitation of Christ and at the same time refraining from blindly scolding others for their wealth. In the same time, Dominic who was a canon regular, became acquainted with the destructive effects of the movement of the Cathari in southern France. He thought about the necessary of a good theological training to produce a good sermon. Because of his idea, the Dominicans stressing the importance of study in their life until now.

III. His Works

Most of the writings of St. Thomas are the product of the requirement of his university teaching, and these works are in the form of disputed questions (quaestio disputata). This was the university`s style of expression par excellence in its programs of higher studies. Beginning with the reading of source texts in all areas of study, from the pagina sacra of the Bible to treatises on medicine. Questions were raised about both facts and doctrines. Based upon that, a disputatio or debate ensued between qualified Masters both “for” and “against” the point under discussion. 

Aquinas` disputed questions are classified and entitled according the major theme of each one of the series. So we have De Veritate (1256-1259), De Potentia (1259-1268), The Questiones disputatae De Malo (1269-1272), De Anima, De Virtutibus, De Unione Verbi incarnate, De spiritualibus creaturis, and some other isolated disputed questions. 

The Summa Theologiae is not the outcome of teaching, but a work motivated by personal considerations and become his greatest work. It is intended as a manual for beginners in theology and a compendium of all of the main theological teachings of the Church. In this great work, Thomas adopted the great platonic theme of emanation and return which provides the intelligibility to the project both at the human level and in terms of a vision of the universe and a conception of nature. So in this science of theology we have to study all things in their relation to God, whether with respect to their original production or to their final destiny.

IV. Thomas Aquinas and Theology

Thomas viewed theology, as a science, the raw material data of which consists of written scripture and the tradition of the Catholic Church. According to Thomas, the source of this science is God's revelation to man throughout history. And then we process this data of theology with faith and reason, as primary tools in doing this. In Summa Theologiae we can see that each of its elements is intrinsically referred to God and to the Word of God by reason of its situation within the theological program. Nonetheless, the truth of Catholic doctrine as well as a true reading of history insist that we do not break spiritual teaching away from its theological substructure. Theology is one reality; otherwise it risks being ripped away from the frame of the Gospel upon which it is woven. As a son of Dominic, the vir evangelicus, Thomas Aquinas is a spiritual master even in laboring scientifically at his theological work. 

The most famous discussion is about how Thomas proves the existence of God. He believed that the existence of God could be proved in five ways, mainly by: 

1. Observing movement in the world as proof of God, the “Immovable Motor”; 
2. Observing cause and effect and identifying God as the cause of everything; 
3. Concluding that the impermanent nature of beings proves the existence of a necessary being, God, who originates only from within himself; 
4. Noticing varying levels of human perfection and determining that a supreme, perfect being must therefore exist; and 
5. Knowing that natural beings could not have intelligence without it being granted to them it by God. Subsequent to defending people's ability to naturally perceive proof of God, St. Thomas Aquinas also tackled the challenge of protecting God's image as an all-powerful being. 

Shortly after his death, St. Thomas Aquinas' theological and philosophical writings rose to great public acclaim and reinforced a strong following among the Dominicans. Universities, seminaries and colleges came to replace Lombard's Four Books of Sentences with Summa Theologiae as the leading theology textbook. The influence of St. Thomas Aquinas' writing has been so widespread, in fact, that somewhere in the range of 6,000 commentaries on his work exist to date. But one thing that we should understand that to St. Thomas, theology always remains doctrina sacra: it always seeks its answers in the Gospel. Ultimately theology finds its fulfillment in the Word of God. 

 

Bibliography

O’Meara, Franklin Thomas, OP, Thomas Aquinas Theologian, University of Notre Dame Press, NotreDame, 1997.

Chenu, Marie-Dominique, OP, Aquinas and His Role in Theology, trans. Paul Philibert, OP, the Liturgical Press, Collegeville, Minnesota, 2002.

Franzen, August, A History of the Church, Palm Publishers, Montreal.

Healy, Nicholas M., Thomas Aquinas Theologian of the Christian Life, Ashgate Publishing Limited, Hants, England, 2003.

Weisheipl, James A., O.P., Friar Thomas D`Aquino, His Life, Thought, and Work, Doubleday & Company, Inc, New York, 1974.

Internet Sources

http://www.biography.com.

http://www.catholic.org.

http://www.ccel.org. 

http://www.tlogical.net.