St. Thomas Aquinas is one of the most important saints in the intellectual history of the Church. Born in Italy in 1225, he made his career as a friar, philosopher and theologian, making huge contributions to medieval and contemporary philosophy. An entire school of philosophy, Thomism, owes its name to him; and many who argue on behalf of natural law in today's political discourse appeal to his writings and critiques. His theology, best described in his Summa Theologica, forms the bedrock of Western Christian theology beyond the Holy Bible itself, although the work itself was never even finished! He serves as the patron saint (or at least one of them) to scholars, academics, students and Catholic education. It's hard to document all of the important contributions that St. Thomas Aquinas made throughout his life, but I bring him into my blog today to demonstrate the importance of his educational formation. Many philosophy students and Catholic theologians are aware that St. Thomas Aquinas pulled his philosophy and knowledge from great thinkers who came before him, regardless of background or nationality. He was inspired by Muslims such as Averroës, Jews such as Maimonides, and Ancient Greeks such as Aristotle. In creating works such as Summa Theologica, he drew upon seven important virtues, broken into two different categories: faith, hope, love [theological], prudence, temperance, justice and fortitude [cardinal]. The first category manifests itself directly in God; to us Christians, this is what God is. The second category comes directly from nature, and Man is responsible to uphold these regardless of faith. The cardinal virtues served as an inspiration to drafters of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, most notably Jacques Maritain. St. Thomas Aquinas created a philosophy applicable to both the divine and the worldly, and although his works are long and complex, important highlights of Thomism can be found on Wikipedia, and his entire Summa Theologica can be found at the Catholic Encyclopedia.
Inspiration comes today from St. Thomas Aquinas as we all become enmeshed in the new semester. For all of us in the world who believe in absolute truth, who believe in the pursuit of doing good, and who gain pleasure from constant learning, it is imperative that we never lose this spirit. Remember that we learn to gain skills to fulfill a future job and the tasks of life, but we also seek truth. Truth will not come to us like a bolt of lightning; rather, it comes after a constant quest, each day learning and applying something new to what we already know. Sometimes we learn from our inner circles; other times, the outside world enriches us. Learn, as St. Thomas Aquinas learned and preached, to apply worldly virtues of prudence, temperance, justice and fortitude to your lives, as well as working on the theological virtues to connect with the supernatural. We see faith, hope and love every day; however, the next step is connecting it to something greater than us. These virtues together will build better men and women out of all of us.
In closing, I would like to share a video from Father Robert Barron (his website can be found here). This man is a giant on Catholic theology and a bit of a rock star on the Youtube circuit. It's about seven minutes long, and it neatly ties together parts of Thomism that I haven't really addressed in this entry. Pay attention especially at about 1:30, where he outlines the relationship between philosophical and religious truth. I think this is an outstanding connection, and through reading I want to understand it further. I've also copied a short prayer attributed to St. Thomas Aquinas that captures very well the spirit we should embody when deep in study. I will make a mission to say it a couple times a week: Creator of all things,
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