Paste your essay in here…Regine Jean-Michel
1 May 2017
Prof. Cirincione
History 1-002
St. Thomas Aquinas
St. Thomas Aquinas was a pivotal figure of Western Civilization. Even after reading and learning of his duties and accomplishments, I always associated his name with religion hence the prefix, Saint. Even today, Thomas has many schools, hospitals and churches named after him and it is important to know who this man is and why his name still holds some significant value long after his time and his death.
St. Thomas was born in 1225 in Roccasecca, Italy. St. Thomas went on to being a theologian and philosopher. Thomas was tall but a reserved, quiet and modest man. His beginnings would soon direct him on the path of great innovation in the Western Civilization.
At the age of five, Thomas was sent the the Benedictine monastery of Monte Cassino. At an early age, Thomas learned his alphabets and numbers along with gaining the ability and knowledge to read and write. This early exposure in education and in a religious and educational environment readied Thomas for his future and impacts on Catholicism. Just as many great historical figures who impacted the world and encouraged change and other new innovative strategies, Thomas’ questionable personality and interests of wanting to learn more piqued his interest of wanting to get more information and in turn, teach others.
At fourteen he spent some time home due to his families disapproval of his new found teachings. This was a strategy used to keep him away and erase these newly founded concepts. Thomas Aquinas went on to attending a higher education, at the Imperial University at Naples. He went on to study some of the things that he is known for today which include philosophy. Being young and eager for the truth, Thomas’ mind was fresh and full of ideas that could change the world. Having such important and history changing figures as influencers, St. Thomas studied the theories of these philosophers before his time that he too would learn from, reform and add on to in order to pass along to the future generation of philosophers and history changers. Apart from his philosophical interests, Thomas had a deep interest for the Church. It was not too common that a nineteen year old young man would make this decision and have such devotion, but St. Thomas proved otherwise in becoming a preacher.
St. Thomas went along to spending three years in Paris and spent the next four years at the Dominican House of studies in Cologne where he learned different skills from his mentor, Albert the Great. He then proceeded to obtain his doctorate in theology and continue on with his religious mission. Thomas wanted to continue the activities and humbleness of Jesus Christ, preaching this new found knowledge. He continued to preach and teach. He really loved the idea of traveling as he went back and forth through countries in Europe including France, Germany and his home of Italy. He'd do just as he’d say and imitate the examples of Jesus Christ by walking through large parts of Italy, France and Germany with great motive and intent.
Thomas’ ideas on the existence of God are today deemed as the right ideas for someone learning about Catholicism along with all the directive that all catholic institutions that teach the subject of philosophy, St. Thomas’ concepts and system is taught as the right form. He listed features that supported his claim. One being the reaction of humans and identifying Gods presents in humans. Noticing little details of perfection with the creations. He came to the conclusion that ‘natural beings’ could not solely be responsible for this level of intelligence, therefore there must be a God behind it all. Combining philosophical ideologies along with religious ideologies, St. Thomas created a system like none other. Presenting questions, rationalization, conclusions, logic arguments which resulted in getting answers to his premises. It is not too common in history that philosophy always supports the existence of God, therefore the philosophers before his time such as Socrates and Aristotle instilled in him to question everything and it is then and only then will you have the answers. He balanced teachings from the Bible as well as teachings from Aristotle which brought about physics, psychology and philosophy. This new change and somewhat obsession Thomas gained began to turn the heads of his colleagues and they began questioning his faith in the way he went about his teachings. Unlike other historical figures with good teachings but no documentation to support their theories, St Thomas Aquinas wrote close to sixty works that were widely spread across Europe. This made his combined religious and philosophical ideas spread and educate as well as contribute to the ideas of Catholicism and overall Catholic religion to become a stronger and more single coherent movement with more structured and organized ideas that could now be spread freely across the entire region. St. Thomas’ impact on this Christian religion is what signifies his importance today.
“ The influence of St. Thomas Aquinas' writing has been so great, in fact, that an estimated 6,000 commentaries on his work exist to date.”(Biography.com, 2016)
Even after many centuries, the ideas and beliefs of St. Thomas are discussed today. Although we do live in modern times, these works and the depth in them which put everything into question, are still very credible.
Thomas’ questionable attitude inspired many after him to continue questioning and finding answers to these questions. Questioning a humans virtue, the sense of ‘happiness’ given to humans and the overall interests of humanism which inspired views such as individualism and liberalism and encouraged the Enlightenment in France brought upon by other philosophers long after St. Thomas, named John Locke and Renee Descartes.
The phrase, ‘history repeats itself’ is supported when we have examples of philosophers, rulers, religious figures in society who develop similar ideologies. As previously stated, these ideas don't change but are rather improved. The historical figures before us plant the seed in which we water and wait for a bigger and better outcome. The information given to us by them are always given, but it is up to us to find out more, especially in cases where the pivotal figure leaves behind little to no documentation detailing their accounts or beliefs.
In his later years, Thomas ceased to write because he heard a voice coming from a crucifix and when urged to continue writing by his confessor, Father Reginald of Piperno, St. Thomas admitted to not wanting to share these sacred secrets given to him by God, that he might have unwittingly shared through his continued writings.
St. Thomas became ill very often up until his death in 1274. He died in the monastery in which during his last breaths he chose to remain there lying and saying “If the Lord wishes to take me away, it is better that I be found in a religious house than in the dwelling of a layperson." (Biography.com, 2016) St. Thomas’ conviction for religion remained instilled in him all during his last moments which demonstrated his true fidelity and faith shown through his work in philosophy and theology.