Thomas Aquinas Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Thomas Aquinas - Essay ExampleHe tried to merge the principles of Christianity with Aristotelean philosophy1. Summa Theologica and the Summa contra Gentiles were his greatest works. Because of his great contributions, he was referred to as the Doctor of the Church and was considered the greatest philosopher and theologian.Aquinas was born in Roccasecca in the year 1225 in his fathers castle. He began his education at an early maturate of five years at Monte Cassino. Later he joined the university where he was introduced to Maimonides, Aristotle, and Averroes, all of whom influenced his calling in theology and philosophy. He decided to join the Dominican Order at the age of nineteen, which his family contend fiercely. His brothers later took him back home before he could reach Rome. He has later held a prisoner in his fathers castle for one year for defiance. Theodora tried to persuade him to abandon his mission to no avail. As a result, the sister assisted him to escape in order to save the familys name. On the 7th day of March 1274, he died while commentating on the Songs of Songs.Even though he was a scholastic philosopher, he never considered himself one and would criticize other philosophers and call them pagans. He criticized them for go short of the true and proper wisdom to be found in Christian revelation. For this reason, he unquestionable a lot of respect for Aristotle and always referred to him as the philosopher. His work has had a major influence on Christian theology, particularly for the Catholic Church and extended to the Western philosophy2. He did a lot of scuttlebutt work on Aristotles works which include Metaphysics, Nicomachean ethics and On the Soul.He believed that for the goledge of each truth whatsoever man needs divine help, that the intellect may be moved by God to its act. He also believed that humans possess a unique and natural ability to know very many things without divine intervention from God.