Summa Theologica

church would often use Aquinas to defend the church in scholarly settings, and used his writings to teach incoming priests. During his time of writing one of his most famous works, Summa Theologica, the seventh crusade was coming to an end. This was also at a time where the Papacy was struggling to spread their claim farther and farther away from rome. Often attempting to accomplishing this through conquests on the basis that it was justified warfare. Thomas Aquinas’ just war ideology has allowed Christianity to expand because it allowed for justified warfare, papal abuse of this justifiable warfare, and an expansion of Papal land and power.…

given should serve God. “Head” believed that man’s intellect, superior to all other beings, was clearly meant to learn and serve God, while “Heart” believed that man’s devout faith to God was the gift that should serve God. Although the debate eventually cooled down, it is quite clear that knowledge was not compatible with religion in the Middle Ages; Christians believed that all scientists were non-believers. “The ignorant was closer to the truth,” to Healing this divide was nearly…

teachings are discussed over 800 years and still posses an extreme amount value to the Church. The years that followed resulted in Saint Thomas Aquinas becoming more and more educated, earning a master’s degree in theology, and teaching in many schools. Alongside his time teaching he wrote many philosophical works that brought him fame and attention throughout the religious community. In 1259, Saint Thomas Aquinas was appointed as the papal theologian in Rome, but in the same year he would be…

is neither obvious nor beyond proof. Aquinas believed that Jesus Christ was truly divine. However, he gasped that Christ had a truly rational human soul, generating a duality of natures that persisted even after the Incarnation. These two natures existed simultaneously yet discernibly in one real human body. For St. Thomas Aquinas, the goal of human existence is union and eternal fellowship with God. For Christians who have experienced salvation and redemption through Christ while living on…

Saint Thomas Aquinas was a philosopher in the 13th century credited with his philosophical works: Summa Theologiae and Summa Contra Gentiles. These were used as a basis of Christian theology for early theologians. In these works, Aquinas spells out what is known as “The Five Ways.” This is a series of five arguments that Aquinas believed to prove the existence of God using the facts one can observe in the world. Two of the arguments used are the argument from motion and the argument from design.…

St. Thomas Aquinas was born into a wealthy, religious family. His concern was find a solution to a problem that has been bedazzling humanity for centuries; how to reconcile religion and science, and faith with reason. In fact, St. Thomas did not reject his religion, rather he found a way to explain how religion and science were linked to each other. In order to do so, he developed four kinds of law by which the world operated. His definition of law came from the belief that every rule should be…

uniqueness. Natural law believes that morality has a place in law; while conversely the legal positivist perspective will argue that empirical evidence and practices should be the only method used when conducting legal practices. Legal realism is the focus and study of how courts ‘actually’ work in everyday life. The final theory of law, the sociological perspective in which law is analyzed by ascribing social norms and changes exhibited in society. Each theory has supporters and each can be…

Aquinas uses his writing to persuasively show that God works through events to immerse themselves into God’s life and act in a sense that shows true freedom. By doing so, Aquinas is able to engage the reader in the concept of faith without having to stating it. Aquinas thinks of law as divine instruction and God will not limit us but will instruct us. For example, Aquinas writes about how one should love one’s neighbor because God exists in all of us. We are able to see and give back to God by…

When considering morality from a religious standpoint, a conclusion is often drawn, particularly in monotheistic religions, that goodness is an absolute concept, dictated by a set of God-given rules. It is logical to assume that God, as an omniscient, transcendent and ultimately perfect being, would be the source of moral command. Often, divine moral command is delivered to believers through scripture; however, it is argued that the moral teachings arising from such scripture cannot be absolute…

Thomas Aquinas has influenced the teachings of the Catholic church forever. His book based on Aristotle's philosophy, Summa Theologica, first began to influence the Dominicans, followed by the Jesuits, and soon the entire Catholic church followed his theology/philosophy. During Vatican II, it was said that his works were to no longer be used in the Catholic church. This did not last however, when John Paul II brought back his teachings to the church. For the last 500 years, the Catholic church…