St. Thomas Aquinas

c. 1225-1274

Italian Philosopher

The writings of Thomas Aquinas represent the pinnacle of medieval Scholasticism, a school of thought that attempted to bring together Christian faith, classical learning, and knowledge of the world. In his life's work, the Summa theologica, Thomas Aquinas addressed new ideas that seemed to threaten the stability of Christian faith, among them the rising attitude of scientific inquiry among European scholars. The Summa attempted to delineate the realms of reason and faith, to affect an understanding between them, and to place God as the "Prime Mover" governing all realms. Thomas's ideas, initially scorned by church authorities, soon became received doctrine, and had a profound influence on European thinking for many centuries.

Born in the Italian town of Aquino—hence the name "Aquinas"—Thomas was the youngest son of a Norman count. At the age of five, he was placed in the Benedictine monastery at Monte Cassino, but an armed conflict between the papacy and the Holy Roman Empire created dangers there, and thus by the time he was 14 he was forced to move to Naples. There he enrolled in the school that would become that city's university.

In 1244, Thomas joined the Dominican monastic rule against the protests of his family, and in 1245 began studying with the Dominicans at the University of Paris. There he came underthe influence of Albertus Magnus (c. 1200-1280). By this time Thomas had been given the nickname "the dumb ox" because he was tall, large, and slow in movement. But his famous teacher, impressed by the young man's abilities, made the remarkable prediction that "the bellow of this ox will be heard around the world."

Thomas went on to study with Albert at the latter's home in Cologne from 1248 to 1252, then returned to Paris to earn his degree in theology. In 1256, he became a theology instructor at the university. During this period, he produced Summa contra gentiles, a guidebook for Dominican missionaries in Spain and North Africa who encountered the conflicting ideas presented by Muslims, Jews, and Christians outside the Catholic faith.

In 1261, Thomas moved to Rome to serve as a lecturer at the papal court. While there, he began writing the Summa, an undertaking that would consume the remainder of his life. Part one, completed during this time, concerned the existence and attributes of God. He then returned to Paris, just in time to become involved in a brewing controversy concerning the influence of Averroës (Ibn Rushd, 1126-1198) among European thinkers.

Initially Thomas challenged the Arab philosopher's position that reason and faith could coexist. In time, however, he adopted a similar viewpoint, maintaining that reason can aid the believer in discovering certain truths about God, and thus, reason can be used to prove the existence of God as creator of the world. This unorthodox idea, combined with his growing interest in the works of Aristotle (384-322 B.C.), exposed him to censure among church circles during this period.

By 1271 or 1272, Thomas had completed the second portion of his Summa, concerning questions of happiness, sin, law, and grace. Having returned to Naples in 1272 to set up a Dominican study house attached to the university, Thomas went to work on the third part of the Summa, this one concerning the identity of Christ and the meaning of his work. On December 6, 1273, his own work suddenly stopped, and he explained to others that everything he had done seemed meaningless. Whether he suffered a physical breakdown, experienced a spiritual insight, or simply ran out of ideas is not known.

The completed Summa—the greatest of the several books Aquinas produced—ran to about 2 million words, or the equivalent of about 8,000 double-spaced, typewritten sheets. Among the areas touching on science was his overall discussion of God as physical creator, or "Prime Mover," an idea derived from his studies of Aristotle. On a specific level, Thomas made the erroneous observation in the Summa that metals are formed by rays from the Sun, Moon, and planets, each of which governs a particular metal.

His health failing, Thomas set out in 1274 to attend a church council in France. He was struck on the head by a branch falling from a tree over the road, and may have suffered a concussion. He stopped at a castle belonging to his niece to recover, and soon afterward was taken to a monastery, where he died on March 7, 1274.

At the time of his death, Thomas's work was under question by the church, which took issue with his attempts to reconcile reason and faith. Four decades later, however, proceedings were under way to canonize him. In 1323 he was declared a saint, and in 1567 was named a Doctor of the Church, or one of the leading church fathers. Though his views would come to seem hopelessly static to the restless minds of the Renaissance, in his time Thomas was a forward-looking thinker who attempted to incorporate what were then far from orthodox ideas. Thus in many ways he opened the door for greater scientific inquiry in the last centuries of the Middle Ages.

This is the complete article, containing 843 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page).