The name St Thomas Aquinas identifies his ancestral origins in the county of Aquino in present-day Lazio, Italy.
FactSnippet No. 1,885,264 |
The name St Thomas Aquinas identifies his ancestral origins in the county of Aquino in present-day Lazio, Italy.
FactSnippet No. 1,885,264 |
St Thomas Aquinas argued that God is the source of both the light of natural reason and the light of faith.
FactSnippet No. 1,885,265 |
St Thomas Aquinas has been described as "the most influential thinker of the medieval period" and "the greatest of the medieval philosopher-theologians".
FactSnippet No. 1,885,266 |
Unlike many currents in the Catholic Church of the time, St Thomas Aquinas embraced several ideas put forward by Aristotle—whom he called "the Philosopher"—and attempted to synthesize Aristotelian philosophy with the principles of Christianity.
FactSnippet No. 1,885,267 |
Furthermore, St Thomas Aquinas is distinguished for his eucharistic hymns, which form a part of the church's liturgy.
FactSnippet No. 1,885,268 |
Thomas Aquinas was most likely born in the castle of Roccasecca, near Aquino, controlled at that time by the Kingdom of Sicily, c, According to some authors, he was born in the castle of his father, Landulf of Aquino.
FactSnippet No. 1,885,269 |
St Thomas Aquinas was born to the most powerful branch of the family, and Landulf of Aquino was a man of means.
FactSnippet No. 1,885,270 |
At the age of five St Thomas Aquinas began his early education at Monte Cassino, but after the military conflict between the Emperor Frederick II and Pope Gregory IX spilled into the abbey in early 1239, Landulf and Theodora had St Thomas Aquinas enrolled at the studium generale recently established by Frederick in Naples.
FactSnippet No. 1,885,271 |
At the age of nineteen St Thomas Aquinas resolved to join the Dominican Order, which had been founded about 30 years earlier.
FactSnippet No. 1,885,272 |
St Thomas Aquinas was held prisoner for almost one year in the family castles at Monte San Giovanni and Roccasecca in an attempt to prevent him from assuming the Dominican habit and to push him into renouncing his new aspiration.
FactSnippet No. 1,885,273 |
St Thomas Aquinas passed this time of trial tutoring his sisters and communicating with members of the Dominican Order.
FactSnippet No. 1,885,274 |
St Thomas Aquinas was sent first to Naples and then to Rome to meet Johannes von Wildeshausen, the Master General of the Dominican Order.
FactSnippet No. 1,885,275 |
St Thomas Aquinas taught in Cologne as an apprentice professor, instructing students on the books of the Old Testament and writing Expositio super Isaiam ad litteram, Postilla super Ieremiam and Postilla super Threnos.
FactSnippet No. 1,885,277 |
St Thomas Aquinas lectured on the Bible as an apprentice professor, and upon becoming a baccalaureus Sententiarum he devoted his final three years of study to commenting on Peter Lombard's Sentences.
FactSnippet No. 1,885,278 |
In 1259, St Thomas Aquinas completed his first regency at the studium generale and left Paris so that others in his order could gain this teaching experience.
FactSnippet No. 1,885,279 |
In Orvieto St Thomas Aquinas completed his Summa contra Gentiles, wrote the Catena aurea, and produced works for Pope Urban IV such as the liturgy for the newly created feast of Corpus Christi and the Contra errores graecorum.
FactSnippet No. 1,885,280 |
Some hymns that St Thomas Aquinas wrote for the feast of Corpus Christi are still sung today, such as the Pange lingua, and Panis angelicus.
FactSnippet No. 1,885,281 |
In 1268 the Dominican Order assigned St Thomas Aquinas to be regent master at the University of Paris for a second time, a position he held until the spring of 1272.
FactSnippet No. 1,885,284 |
In reality, St Thomas Aquinas was deeply disturbed by the spread of Averroism and was angered when he discovered Siger of Brabant teaching Averroistic interpretations of Aristotle to Parisian students.
FactSnippet No. 1,885,285 |
In what appears to be an attempt to counteract the growing fear of Aristotelian thought, St Thomas Aquinas conducted a series of disputations between 1270 and 1272: De virtutibus in communi, De virtutibus cardinalibus, and De spe.
FactSnippet No. 1,885,286 |
In 1272 St Thomas Aquinas took leave from the University of Paris when the Dominicans from his home province called upon him to establish a studium generale wherever he liked and staff it as he pleased.
FactSnippet No. 1,885,287 |
St Thomas Aquinas chose to establish the institution in Naples, and moved there to take his post as regent master.
FactSnippet No. 1,885,288 |
St Thomas Aquinas took his time at Naples to work on the third part of the Summa while giving lectures on various religious topics.
FactSnippet No. 1,885,289 |
St Thomas Aquinas has been traditionally ascribed with the ability to levitate.
FactSnippet No. 1,885,291 |
When Reginald begged him to get back to work, St Thomas Aquinas replied: "Reginald, I cannot, because all that I have written seems like straw to me".
FactSnippet No. 1,885,292 |
St Thomas Aquinas was then quickly escorted to Monte Cassino to convalesce.
FactSnippet No. 1,885,293 |
Dante asserts that St Thomas Aquinas died by poisoning, on the order of Charles of Anjou; Villani cites this belief, and the Anonimo Fiorentino describes the crime and its motive.
FactSnippet No. 1,885,294 |
At the Council of Trent, St Thomas Aquinas had the honor of having his Summa Theologiae placed on the altar alongside the Bible and the Decretals.
FactSnippet No. 1,885,295 |
St Thomas Aquinas's philosophical thought has exerted enormous influence on subsequent Christian theology, especially that of the Catholic Church, extending to Western philosophy in general.
FactSnippet No. 1,885,296 |
St Thomas Aquinas asserts that Christians have a duty to distribute with provision to the poorest of society.
FactSnippet No. 1,885,297 |
In Summa Contra Gentiles, Book 3, Chapter 146, which was written by Aquinas prior to writing the Summa Theologica, St Thomas was a vocal supporter of the death penalty.
FactSnippet No. 1,885,298 |
Thomas Aquinas wrote several important commentaries on Aristotle's works, including On the Soul, On Interpretation, Nicomachean Ethics, Physics and Metaphysics.
FactSnippet No. 1,885,299 |
St Thomas Aquinas was well aware that the Albigensians and the Waldensians challenged basic moral precepts concerning marriage and ownership of private property and that challenges could ultimately be resolved only by logical arguments based on self-evident norms.
FactSnippet No. 1,885,301 |
St Thomas Aquinas accordingly argued, in the Summa Theologiae, that just as the first principle of demonstration is the self-evident principle of noncontradiction, the first principle of action is the self-evident Bonum precept.
FactSnippet No. 1,885,302 |
St Thomas Aquinas defined the four cardinal virtues as prudence, temperance, justice, and fortitude.
FactSnippet No. 1,885,303 |
St Thomas Aquinas describes the virtues as imperfect and perfect virtues.
FactSnippet No. 1,885,304 |
Furthermore, in his Treatise on Law, St Thomas Aquinas distinguished four kinds of law: eternal, natural, human, and divine.
FactSnippet No. 1,885,305 |
St Thomas Aquinas defined the dual inclination of the action of love: "towards the good which a man wishes to someone and towards that to which he wishes some good".
FactSnippet No. 1,885,306 |
St Thomas Aquinas greatly influenced Catholic understandings of mortal and venial sins.
FactSnippet No. 1,885,307 |
Thomas Aquinas refers to animals as dumb and that the natural order has declared animals for man's use.
FactSnippet No. 1,885,308 |
St Thomas Aquinas denied that human beings have any duty of charity to animals because they are not persons.
FactSnippet No. 1,885,309 |
St Thomas Aquinas contributed to economic thought as an aspect of ethics and justice.
FactSnippet No. 1,885,310 |
St Thomas Aquinas dealt with the concept of a just price, normally its market price or a regulated price sufficient to cover seller costs of production.
FactSnippet No. 1,885,311 |
St Thomas Aquinas argued it was immoral for sellers to raise their prices simply because buyers were in pressing need for a product.
FactSnippet No. 1,885,312 |
St Thomas Aquinas sees man as a social being that lives in a community and interacts with its other members.
FactSnippet No. 1,885,313 |
St Thomas Aquinas made a distinction between a good man and a good citizen, which was important to the development of libertarian theory.
FactSnippet No. 1,885,314 |
St Thomas Aquinas thinks that monarchy is the best form of government, because a monarch does not have to form compromises with other persons.
FactSnippet No. 1,885,315 |
St Thomas Aquinas held that a slave is by nature equal to his master.
FactSnippet No. 1,885,316 |
Thomas Aquinas maintains that a human is a single material substance.
FactSnippet No. 1,885,317 |
Thomas Aquinas addressed most economic questions within the framework of justice, which he contended was the highest of the moral virtues.
FactSnippet No. 1,885,318 |
Thomas Aquinas was careful to distinguish the just, or natural, price of a good from that price which manipulates another party.
FactSnippet No. 1,885,319 |
St Thomas Aquinas argued, then, that the price should reflect the current value of a good according to its usefulness to man.
FactSnippet No. 1,885,320 |
Thomas Aquinas wrote extensively on usury, that is, the lending of money with interest.
FactSnippet No. 1,885,321 |
Thomas Aquinas viewed theology, or the sacred doctrine, as a science, the raw material data of which consists of written scripture and the tradition of the Catholic Church.
FactSnippet No. 1,885,322 |
St Thomas Aquinas believed both were necessary—or, rather, that the confluence of both was necessary—for one to obtain true knowledge of God.
FactSnippet No. 1,885,323 |
St Thomas Aquinas blended Greek philosophy and Christian doctrine by suggesting that rational thinking and the study of nature, like revelation, were valid ways to understand truths pertaining to God.
FactSnippet No. 1,885,324 |
The ultimate goals of theology, in St Thomas Aquinas's mind, are to use reason to grasp the truth about God and to experience salvation through that truth.
FactSnippet No. 1,885,325 |
St Thomas Aquinas believed that truth is known through reason, rationality and faith.
FactSnippet No. 1,885,326 |
However, St Thomas Aquinas makes a distinction between "demonstrations" of sacred doctrines and the "persuasiveness" of those doctrines.
FactSnippet No. 1,885,327 |
St Thomas took the text of Exodus beyond the explanation of essential theology.
FactSnippet No. 1,885,329 |
St Thomas Aquinas bridged the gap of understanding between the being of essence and the being of existence.
FactSnippet No. 1,885,330 |
St Thomas Aquinas reasoned that these species were generated through mutations in animal sperm, and argued that they were not unintended by nature; rather, such species were simply not intended for perpetual existence.
FactSnippet No. 1,885,331 |
St Thomas Aquinas laid these out in his historic work, Summa Theologica:.
FactSnippet No. 1,885,332 |
St Thomas Aquinas believed that the existence of God is self-evident in itself, but not to us.
FactSnippet No. 1,885,333 |
St Thomas Aquinas believed that the existence of God can be demonstrated.
FactSnippet No. 1,885,334 |
St Thomas Aquinas was receptive to and influenced by Avicenna's Proof of the Truthful.
FactSnippet No. 1,885,335 |
St Thomas Aquinas argued that God, while perfectly united, is perfectly described by Three Interrelated Persons.
FactSnippet No. 1,885,336 |
St Thomas Aquinas argued against several specific contemporary and historical theologians who held differing views about Christ.
FactSnippet No. 1,885,337 |
St Thomas Aquinas argued against Eutyches that this duality persisted after the Incarnation.
FactSnippet No. 1,885,339 |
St Thomas Aquinas stated that these two natures existed simultaneously yet distinguishably in one real human body, unlike the teachings of Manichaeus and Valentinus.
FactSnippet No. 1,885,340 |
Thomas Aquinas identified the goal of human existence as union and eternal fellowship with God.
FactSnippet No. 1,885,341 |
St Thomas Aquinas stated that an individual's will must be ordered toward right things, such as charity, peace, and holiness.
FactSnippet No. 1,885,342 |
Indeed, St Thomas Aquinas ordered his treatment of the moral life around the idea of happiness.
FactSnippet No. 1,885,343 |
Thomas Aquinas belonged to the Dominican Order who began as an order dedicated to the conversion of the Albigensians and other heterodox factions, at first by peaceful means; later the Albigensians were dealt with by means of the Albigensian Crusade.
FactSnippet No. 1,885,344 |
Simple theft, forgery, fraud, and other such crimes were capital offenses; St Thomas Aquinas's point seems to be that the gravity of this offense, which touches not only the material goods but the spiritual goods of others, is at least the same as forgery.
FactSnippet No. 1,885,345 |
Jews, St Thomas Aquinas argues for toleration of both their persons and their religious rites.
FactSnippet No. 1,885,346 |
Position taken by St Thomas Aquinas is that if children were being reared in error, the Church had no authority to intervene.
FactSnippet No. 1,885,347 |
The pope noted that the position of St Thomas Aquinas had been more widely held among theologians and canon lawyers, than that of John Duns Scotus.
FactSnippet No. 1,885,348 |
Thomas Aquinas was instrumental in developing a new doctrine that included the belief in the real power of witches.
FactSnippet No. 1,885,349 |
Grasp of St Thomas Aquinas's psychology is essential for understanding his beliefs around the afterlife and resurrection.
FactSnippet No. 1,885,350 |
St Thomas Aquinas, following church doctrine, accepts that the soul continues to exist after the death of the body.
FactSnippet No. 1,885,351 |
St Thomas Aquinas says that the soul shares in the material and spiritual worlds, and so has some features of matter and other, immaterial, features.
FactSnippet No. 1,885,352 |
Yet St Thomas Aquinas believes the soul persists after the death and corruption of the body, and is capable of existence, separated from the body between the time of death and the resurrection of the flesh.
FactSnippet No. 1,885,353 |
St Thomas Aquinas believes in a different sort of dualism, one guided by Christian scripture.
FactSnippet No. 1,885,354 |
St Thomas Aquinas knows that human beings are essentially physical, but physicality has a spirit capable of returning to God after life.
FactSnippet No. 1,885,355 |
St Thomas Aquinas believes the human who prepared for the afterlife both morally and intellectually will be rewarded more greatly; however, all reward is through the grace of God.
FactSnippet No. 1,885,356 |
St Thomas Aquinas insists beatitude will be conferred according to merit, and will render the person better able to conceive the divine.
FactSnippet No. 1,885,357 |
St Thomas Aquinas accordingly believes punishment is directly related to earthly, living preparation and activity as well.
FactSnippet No. 1,885,358 |
St Thomas Aquinas is not engaged in an inquiry, the result of which it is impossible to know in advance.
FactSnippet No. 1,885,359 |
Critical edition of St Thomas Aquinas's works is the ongoing edition commissioned by Pope Leo XIII, the so-called Leonine Edition.
FactSnippet No. 1,885,360 |