Paige 1

Makayla M. Paige
Medieval Civilization
18 April 2018
Research Paper: Thomas Aquinas

Thomas Aquinas was a brilliant theologian and philosopher who greatly influenced the

church and extended knowledge on the subject of God. From a young age, Thomas was destined

to achieve greatness and eventually challenged the grand ideas proposed by scholasticism,

Aristotle and other teachers. As a child he studied at the Abbey of Monte Casino and eventually

transferred to the University of Naples where he met Dominican friars and joined them.

Thomas’s family was infuriated and held him captive in spite of his betrayal of joining the

Dominicans; however, he remained constant in his beliefs. Thomas Aquinas’s journey through

theology and philosophy helped shaped the community of academics tremendously. Thomas’s

works were extremely controversial during his time period and caused mass tensions because he

was beginning to ask and answer questions on a level that put God and reason into the same

plane. Today, Thomas is recognized by his monumental works in both theology and philosophy.

By striving to understand the deepest meaning of God and defying all odds ultimately made him

one of the most renowned philosophers and theologians of the Middle Ages and of all time. By

continuing his exploration in philosophy and theology, he created influential works ultimately

establishing ideals that, at the time were controversial, but brought the Church and reason

together.

According to legend, Thomas of Aquinas was destined to be great before he had even left

his mother’s womb. “The birth and future of Thomas were divinely foretold through the mouth

of a holy man of that neighborhood, one of a number of hermits living in the hills of Roccasecca,

and a famous man in those partsi.” According to The Life of Saint Thomas Aquinas, the neighbor
 Paige 2

felt “inspired by God” to tell Theodora of the good newsii. Thomas’s uncle was the abbot of

Monte Casino when he was born in 1225iii. Due to his uncle being a powerful leader, it provoked

his parents to aspire for their son to follow in his uncle’s footsteps and ultimately the destiny that

was already set for Thomas. When he was five years old, he received lessons from the

Benedictine monks of Monte Casino. “He was thus early noted as being meditative and devoted

to prayer, and his preceptor was surprised at hearing that child asked frequently: What is

God?iv.” Thomas began exhibiting odd curiosities that were ironically foreshadowing his life.

His parents moved Thomas to “further his studies at the University of Naples while he was still a

teenagerv.” He encountered a new group of monks known as the Dominicans who were vigorous

in their beliefs of the Bible and lived an extreme life of poverty. At the age of nineteen, Thomas

decided he did not want to simply settle for an easy lifestyle of the Benedictine Order and

become abbot in Monte Casino like his parents anticipated; instead, he told his family that he

was going to join the Dominicans. As a result of betraying his family in a feudal house, his

mother and father abducted him in order to convince him not to join the Dominicansvi. While he

was in captivity, his family attempted to shatter his ambition of joining the Dominicans by

sending in a prostitute into his cell. After his secret release by his mother, Thomas was still

passionate about joining the Dominicans and, immediately after, fled to Rome and then to Paris

in order to achieve and live his purpose fully.

Upon fleeing his captivity to Rome in 1245, he remained steadfast in his goal to rejoice

with the Dominicans. Subsequently, he then studied in Paris in 1245 and then in Cologne in

1248vii. “From Paris he was sent to Cologne, where that great teacher the lord brother Albert the

German directed a flourishing school of philosophy and theologyviii.” Albert the Great had an

enormous impact on Thomas in that he pushed him to his limits, and after receiving his Master of
 Paige 3

Theology, Thomas surpassed him and his colleagues intellectually. After receiving his

credentials, he moved back to Italy and taught from 1259-1268ix. During his last two years

teaching in Italy, he began writing the famous Summa Theologiae in 1267. In 1268, Thomas

transferred to Paris, France to teach and then again, in 1272 to teach at his former university in

Naples. There he wrote the “Commentaries on Aristotle’s Metaphysics, Posterior Analytics,

Politics and finished Ethicsx”. In addition, while in Naples, he finished writing Summa

Theologiae and then was summoned to come to the Council of Lyons which was the union of

Eastern and Western Churchxi. “[Pope] Gregory [X], of course, required Thomas to attend the

Council as an outstanding theologian, but in particular he needed his help with regard to the

Greeks; against whose errors Thomas had written a book which he was now told to bring with

himxii.” On the way to the Council, Thomas encountered an illness that ultimately led him to his

deathbed before arriving to his destination. Many people felt sorrow for a man whose mind was

brilliant and whose soul was radiant. One of the most influential people of the Middle Ages who

effected the scholasticism of philosophy and theology in great universities was inevitably

Thomas Aquinasxiii. Even to this today in the twenty first century, Thomas Aquinas would be

remembered.

Thomas Aquinas was consistent in his beliefs for God but constantly cultivated his

knowledge in order to discover a firm reason that proved God’s existence as opposed to the

infamous Aristotle. During Thomas’s time, he provoked many controversies between God and

science. Aristotle argued that God was on the outside of the world and was the one who put

things into motion; however, he argued that God was not filled with love, compassion and

empathy. Aristotle believed in metaphysics, reason and science. His rival at the time was Plato

who believed the exact opposite causing an early controversy. Through both of these
 Paige 4

philosophers and many other thinkers to come, scholasticism was born. “Medieval scholasticism

is marked by synthetic and systematic thought in all disciplines, the creation of general

syllabuses including everything a student needed to know, organized in coherent form xiv.” People

were beginning to escape from their traditions and focusing more on methods of acquiring

knowledge which birthed scholasticismxv. Aristotle raised questions about God’s existence and

arguments for his divinity. Scholasticism challenged people to engage in scholarly

considerations, but ultimately caused an astounding realization that there were more than the

firm beliefs instilled within them by the Church. Thomas Aquinas argued for the Church and for

God’s divinity finally challenging not only Aristotle’s ideas, but also his successors.

New translations of lost pieces of Aristotle’s works were now in circulation due to a man

named Averroesxvi. Averroes was a Muslim philosopher who favored Aristotle as opposed to

most of his country. Averroes not only translated Aristotle’s works, but he also wrote his own

commentaries on Aristotle too. Through Averroes, Thomas was able to study both Aristotle’s

works and commentaries; however, it is also evident that Thomas studied Averroes’s

commentaries as well. Thomas’s teacher, Albert the Great, was unfavorable to Averroes’s

because he thought he changed some of Aristotle’s works through translation because he was

from a country that opposed Aristotlexvii. However, “Like Albert, Thomas was confident that

faith and reason were ultimately compatiblexviii.” “Without this new acquaintance [of the Arabs]

with Aristotle, the amalgam that is scholasticism could not have been producedxix.” Thomas

particularly favored the new blend and liked Averroes’s argument because it was centered on

rationality and the logical reasoning behind Godxx. Thomas Aquinas was immerged in the

teachings of Aristotle through Averroes, who both had a vast influence on him, but still managed

to articulate his own independent beliefs that would be carried throughout the world.
 Paige 5

In the middle ages, not many people could take in consideration the Church and reason

being of equal balance which is exactly what Thomas Aquinas did. During his time, many people

disagreed with his beliefs. Two types of people existed—people on the right and people on the

left. People on the left advocated for science and reason because only through knowledge would

advancement occur. They believed theology would crimple their work. The people of the right,

did not agree with any of Aristotle’s teachings because they denounced Godxxi. Many of those

same people, including Franciscans, also disagreed with Aquinas because he studied and wrote

commentaries based on the “evil” Aristotlexxii. Aristotle’s books were banned in many Christian,

Jewish and Arabian placesxxiii. Even people of the Church who were Christians believed that by

implementing a reason for God’s existence essentially meant that a person never had faith to

begin with. Thomas argued that his foundation, God, was strong and his existence could be

proved through reason; however, not because he did not believe in God, but because he wanted

others to. Thomas had an incredible way of corresponding his beliefs in God with evidence of

reason which is precisely why he was called to the Second Council of Lyons by Gregory X to

mediate. Although Thomas Aquinas had many oppressors, he remained steadfast in his beliefs

that both reason and the Church could coexist and, through his faith, is now one of the most

notable philosophers and theologians.

Thomas Aquinas fulfilled the hermit’s premonition of his life, not by becoming abbot of

Monte Casino, but by critically analyzing his own beliefs and articulating new ideas that placed a

loving God in coexistence with reason, science and intellect. He was versatile because he moved

around Europe learning, studying, writing and teaching all while consistently thinking about his

devotion to God and placing his beliefs in the hands of reason to exemplify God’s existence.

During Thomas Aquinas’s life, he received both praise and opposition based on his beliefs. Some
 Paige 6

people commended him for his capability to pair the Church and reason together; however, many

also condemned his philosophical thinking precisely because he was influenced by Aristotle

therefore associating him with denouncing God. Thomas was greatly influenced by

scholasticism, Aristotle, Averroes and Albert the Great. Pope Gregory X acknowledged

Thomas’s beliefs and requested his presence at the Second Council of Lyons to support his

argument that the Holy Spirit descends through the Father and the Son. On the way to the

Council, Thomas fell ill and died; however, undoubtedly his legacy proceeded him and his time.

Thomas Aquinas is known today for bringing both the Church and reason together by merging

theology and philosophy together ultimately creating a new way of understanding God’s

existence through his discovery of evidence.

 Paige 7

Works Cited

Berrigan, Joseph R. Medieval Intellectual History: A Primer. Coronado Press, 1974. Print.

Bokenkotter, Thomas S. A Concise History of the Catholic Church. Revised and Expanded ed.
New York: Doubleday, 2005. Print.

Chenu, Marie-Dominique. Aquinas and His Role in Theology. Collegeville, Minn: Liturgical
Press, 2002. Print.

Colish, Marcia L. Medieval Foundations of the Western Intellectual Traditions. Yale University
Press, 1963. Print.

Davies, Brian. The Thought of Thomas Aquinas. Clarendon Press, 2009. Print.

Foster, Kenelm. The Life of Saint Thomas Aquinas: Biographical Documents. Longmans, Green,
1959. Print.

Heer, Friedrich. The Medieval World Europe 1100–1350. Phoenix Giant, 1998. Print.

Kennedy, Daniel. “St. Thomas Aquinas.” The Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 14, New York:
Robert Appleton Company, 1912. Web. 1 April 2018.

Pieper, Josef. Scholasticism: Personalities and Problems of Medieval Philosophy. St.

Augustine’s Press, 2001. Print.

Rausch, Thomas P. Catholicism in the Third Millennium. Second ed. The Liturgical Press, 2003.
Print.

Reeves, Ryan, director. Thomas Aquinas (Part 1). Youtube, Gordon-Cornwell Theological
Seminary, 29 Apr. 2015, www.youtube.com/watch?v=xri0AMiAKIo.

Steenberghen, Fernand van. The Philosophical Movement in the Thirteenth Century. Nelson,
1965.

i
Kenelm Foster, The Life of Saint Thomas Aquinas: Biographical Documents (Longmans,
 Paige 8

Green, 1959), 25.

ii
Kenelm Foster, 26.
iii
Ryan Reeves, Thomas Aquinas (Part 1). (Youtube Gordon-Cornwell Theological
Seminary)
iv
Daniel Kennedy, St. Thomas Aquinas: The Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 14, (New York:
Robert Appleton Company, 1912)
v
Brian Davies, The Thought of Thomas Aquinas. (Clarendon Press, 2009), 23.
vi
Ryan Reeves, Thomas Aquinas (Part 1). (Youtube, Gordon-Cornwell Theological
Seminary)
vii
Marie-Dominique Chenu, Aquinas and His Role in Theology. (Collegeville, Minn: Liturgical
Press, 2002), 140.
viii
Kenelm Foster, 31.
ix
Marie-Dominique Chenu, 141.
x
Kenelm Foster, 24.
xi
Marie-Dominique Chenu, 142.
xii
Kenelm Foster, 54
xiii
Thomas P. Rausch, Catholicism in the Third Millennium. (The Liturgical Press, 2003), 7.
xiv
Marcia L. Colish, Medieval Foundations of the Western Intellectual Traditions. (Yale
University Press), 265.
xv
Marcia L. Colish, 273.
xvi
Fernand van Steenberghen, The Philosophical Movement in the Thirteenth Century. (Nelson,
1956), 42.
xvii
Fernand van Steenberghen, 78.
xviii
Thomas S. Bokenkotter, A Concise History of the Catholic Church. (Revised and Expanded
ed. New York: Doubleday, 2005), 164.
xix
Joseph R. Berrigan, Medieval Intellectual History: A Primer. (Coronado Press, 1974), 84.
xx
Josef Pieper, Scholasticism: Personalities and Problems of Medieval Philosophy. (St.
Augustine’s Press, 2001), Print. 108
xxi
Friedrich Heer, The Medieval World Europe 1100–1350. (Phoenix Giant, 1998) 267
xxii
Friedrich Heer, 268.
xxiii
Josef Pieper, 107