Theologian · Contemporary
Ven. Fulton J. Sheen
1895–1979 · Thomist apologetics; broadcast evangelization
Archbishop; declared Venerable 2012; beatification approved but postponed.
A philosopher trained at Louvain whose doctorate “God and Intelligence in Modern Philosophy” defended Thomist realism against pragmatism and vitalism, and who became the most famous preacher in America through radio (“The Catholic Hour”) and television (“Life Is Worth Living”). He fought communism, psychoanalytic reductionism and the “religion without God,” wrote “Life of Christ” and “Three to Get Married,” and spent a daily holy hour for sixty years.
Why he matters: The model of Catholic apologetics in mass media, converting Clare Boothe Luce, Henry Ford II and many others; his synthesis of Thomism, devotion and wit remains the template for public evangelization.
School of Thomism · Existential Thomism
Gilson and Maritain: Thomas's deepest insight is the act of existing (esse), which distinguishes him from Aristotle and every essentialism; philosophy is to be done historically and in Thomas's own texts, not the commentators'.
Others in this strand: Étienne Gilson, Jacques Maritain
Documented positions
Where this thinker stands on each dispute the test covers.