Saint Thomas was an Italian philosopher, and theologian. As a Dominican priest; you will see him referred to as the Angelic Doctor. Aquinas is regarded as ‘the greatest figure of scholasticism.’
Scholasticism was the system of philosophy and theology taught in medieval European Universities. The studies were based on Aristotelian logic, and the writings of the early church fathers.
One of Aquinas’ most important achievements was the introduction of the work of Aristotle to Christian western Europe. Aquinas’ works include commentaries on Aristotle as well as the Summa Contra Gentiles and Summa Theologiae.
A summa is a compendium of theology and philosophy used as a textbook in the schools during the Middle Ages.
Saint Thomas Aquinas – His Character revealed
Aquinas was one of those men who was born holy. Even as a child Thomas loved solitude and prayer and the practice of virtue. It is recorded that he was a witty child, and had from the beginning manifested precocious and extraordinary talent and thoughtfulness beyond his years.
At the age of ten Thomas was sent to University. One of the major subjects studied in Universities was rhetoric.
Rhetoric is the art of persuasive speaking or writing which uses speech in such a way that the listener has no option but to agree with the ideas of the speaker. In the same way one might hurry to finish the sentence of another speaker, rhetoric forces the listener or the reader to finish the others thoughts. And not only finish the thoughts but have no option but to agree with them. Rhetoric is a lost art.
At University, Thomas apparently had a hard time from his fellow students who because he rarely spoke, called him ‘the dumb ox’. One day some students excitedly called him to the window to witness a donkey flying. When he ran over and looked out, they fell about laughing at Thomas’ naivety. Thomas is reported to have told them:
“I would prefer to believe a donkey could fly than you would tell a lie.”
Obviously a very intense young man he believed that to lie, deeply offended God.
However when his master of studies at the university discovered Thomas’ knowledge he said:
“We call him the Dumb Ox, but he will give such a bellow in learning as will be heard all over the world.”
Family opposition to the Dominican Order
Thomas went on to teach in the Universities of Rome, Paris, Naples and Bologna. In 1263 he came to London to assist at the general chapter of the Dominican Order.
When Thomas had first wanted to join the Dominican order his family were very much against it and so his two brothers captured him and locked him in the fortress of San Govanni. He was kept there for two years.
Thomas as a young man had dedicated his life to Our Lady and as such wished to keep his purity unstained.
Thomas’ family did everything they could to destroy his vocation. On one occasion his brothers brought a beautiful lady to Thomas’ bedroom and she proceeded to entice him to make love to her. Thomas having difficulty persuading her to leave grabbed a burning brand from the fire and chased her with it. When he was sure she was gone, Thomas knelt down and implored God to grant him integrity of mind and body.
He fell asleep and as he slept, two angels appeared to him. They told him his prayer had been heard. They then girded him around the waist with a pure white girdle, telling him: “We gird thee with the girdle of perpetual virginity” Thomas later told a friend that from that moment on he never experienced the slightest movement of concupiscence.
Floating off the Ground in Ecstasy
Aquinas’ biographers describe him as frequently being in deep meditative prayer. Prayer being the raising of the mind and heart to God. Thomas was often found to be in ecstasy and floating above the ground. On one occasion at Naples in 1273 after Thomas had completed his treatise on the Eucharist, three other priests saw him lifted off the ground and a voice which came from the crucifix on the altar said, “Thou hast written well of me, Thomas; what reward wilt thou have.” Thomas replied, “None other than Thyself, Lord”
Layout of the Summa theological
It is from within Aquinas’ work entitled The ‘Summa theologica’ that we explore these proofs for the existence of God.
Aquinas scientifically arranged his work. Firstly by posing a question. For instance:
“Whether the existence of God is self-evident?” Next he made a numbered list of all the arguments against that question, calling them “objections.” Aquinas’ next paragraph would be sub-headed: “On the Contrary” and would be a short statement of his hypotheses. His next sub-heading would be: “I Answer That: This would be an in-depth but precise answer to the question. Then heading his following paragraphs with “Reply to objection one….two…three” etc. With further precision Aquinas would use logic and rhetoric to overcome all the preceding objections.
The Summa is made up of 38 Treatises, 612 Questions, subdivided into 3120 articles, in which about 10,000 objections are proposed and answered.
Anselm’s Ontological Argument.
Although he did it with such precision Saint Thomas Aquinas was not the first to examine the existence of God.
Anselm was Archbishop of Canterbury and died 21st April, 1109. He put forward an argument for the existence of God in a poem, the ‘Proslogium’. Anselm says:
God is “that then which nothing greater can be thought”
Anselm says that what exists in reality is greater than that which is only in the mind. So since “God is that than which nothing greater can be thought”, He exists in reality. Anselm believed that it was not possible to actually prove through material existence, that there is a God.
The German philosopher, Hegel who died in Berlin in 1831 was fascinated by Anselm’s argument. However back in the 12th century Aquinas was having none of it. He says:
“I answer that, demonstration can be made in two ways: One is through the cause, and is called “a priori,” and this is to argue from what is prior absolutely. The other is through the effect, and is called a demonstration “a posteriori”; this is to argue from what is prior relatively only to us. When an effect is better known to us than its cause, from the effect we proceed to the knowledge of the cause. And from every effect the existence of its proper cause can be demonstrated, so long as its effects are better known to us; because since every effect depends upon its cause, if the effect exists, the cause must pre-exist. Hence the existence of God, in so far as it is not self-evident to us, can be demonstrated from those of His effects which are known to us.” (s.t. Q2.Art 2)
At Mass on the 6th December, 1273. Thomas was in deep meditation and lost in ecstasy. We can only assume that God revealed something important to Thomas for later that day he said he would write no more. When Father Reginald tried to encourage him to continue writing he told him: “I can do no more. Such secrets have been revealed to me that all I have written now appears to be like straw” He did not finish the Summa theologica.
Then Thomas prepared himself for death.
Pope Gregory X, had called a general council at Lyons and commanded Saint Thomas Aquinas to be there. In obedience Thomas set out walking in January 1274 but fell to the ground. Thomas received the sacrament of Extreme Unction.
Thomas died just after midnight on the 7th March in 1274. No modern philosopher can begin to work on the ideas of a Supreme Being without first using Aquinas’ five proofs for the existence of God.
Excerpt from: Existence of God. Aquinas’ Five Proofs.
