Theologian · Medieval

St. Thomas Aquinas

1225–1274 · Thomism

Doctor of the Church Latin Thomism · St. Thomas himself

Doctor of the Church (Doctor Angelicus, Doctor Communis), canonized 1323, declared Doctor 1567; commended above all others by Leo XIII (Aeterni Patris) and the Code of Canon Law (can. 252 §3).

Dominican friar and master at Paris, Thomas united Aristotle's philosophy with the Augustinian and Dionysian inheritance in a synthesis of unmatched range and clarity. The Summa Theologiae moves from God and creation, through the human person's return to God in virtue, law and grace, to Christ and the sacraments; the Five Ways, the doctrine of analogy, the real distinction of essence and existence, and the treatise on law are its best-known parts.

Why he matters: The Church has made his thought her own more than any other's: Trent kept the Summa on the altar, Leo XIII commanded his study, and every later school in this list defines itself in relation to him.

School of Thomism · St. Thomas himself

The Summa, the Scripture commentaries and the disputed questions read on their own terms: a theology that begins in wonder, ends in the beatific vision, says more about what God is not than what He is, and treats morality as the pursuit of happiness rather than obedience to rules.

Reading

Summa Theologiae

St. Thomas Aquinas · Start with the Prima Secundae, qq. 1–5 (happiness), then I qq. 1–13.

Journal
Summa Contra Gentiles, Book I

St. Thomas Aquinas · What reason can know of God, argued without appeal to Scripture.

Journal
Aquinas: A Beginner's Guide

Edward Feser · The clearest short introduction to his metaphysics and ethics.

Journal

Documented positions

Where this thinker stands on each dispute the test covers.

Settled teaching Its center Open question Beyond teaching, not condemned Condemned error

God and Being · What is, and whence it is.

Can reason know that God exists? Natural theology

Fideism or agnosticism Natural theology

How is God related to the world? Creation from nothing

Pantheism or emanation Creation from nothing

Is the world governed by purpose? Providence and final causes

Chance and mechanism Providence and final causes

Do natures and essences really exist? Realism

Nominalism Realism

God's essence and His energies Absolute simplicity

Essence–energies distinction Absolute simplicity

How should we speak of God? Cataphatic (analogical) way

Apophatic (negative) way Cataphatic (analogical) way

Is 'being' said of God and of creatures in the same sense? Analogy of being

Analogy of being Univocity of being

How does creation speak of God? Natures studied in their own right

Natures studied in their own right A book of signs and vestiges

Faith, Reason and Truth · How we know, and whom we trust.

Faith and reason: who has the last word? Between

Rationalism Fideism

Where does knowledge begin? Senses and abstraction

Senses and abstraction Illumination and innate ideas

Is truth objective? Objective truth

Relativism and pragmatism Objective truth

Who interprets revelation? Living Tradition and Magisterium

Private judgment Living Tradition and Magisterium

How should Scripture be read? Fundamentalist literalism

Critical reductionism Fundamentalist literalism

What is theology for? A science ordered to knowing

A science ordered to knowing A wisdom ordered to loving

Does doctrine develop? Between

Always the same, in the same words A living development

Are the world's learning and arts a danger or a gift? A gift to be baptized

A danger: Athens has nothing to do with Jerusalem A gift to be baptized

III

The Human Person · Soul, body, freedom and the Fall.

Is there a spiritual soul? Immortal spiritual soul

Mind is brain Immortal spiritual soul

Is the body really you? Body–soul unity

Dualism Body–soul unity

Are you free? Free will

Determinism Free will

How fallen is human nature? Between

Totally depraved Basically good

Does nature desire God? Pure nature

Pure nature Natural desire for the vision of God

The body and its desires Between

Contempt for the flesh Desire as its own law

Person and community Collectivism

Individualism Collectivism

Marriage, sex and the body's meaning Given by nature and grace

Given by nature and grace Defined by consent and identity

What makes you this one and no other? This matter, this body

This matter, this body A positive thisness (haecceity)

What is suffering for? A share in the Cross

An evil to be relieved A share in the Cross

The Moral Life · Law, virtue, conscience and the good.

Is morality objective and knowable? Natural law

Relativism Natural law

Why is the good good? Eternal law (intellectualism)

Divine command (voluntarism) Eternal law (intellectualism)

Are some acts always wrong? Intrinsically evil acts

Consequentialism Intrinsically evil acts

Rules or character? Morality of virtue and beatitude

Morality of obligation Morality of virtue and beatitude

What is conscience? Conscience bound to truth

Autonomous conscience Conscience bound to truth

In doubtful cases Between

Rigorism Laxism

What is happiness? Beatitude in God

Earthly flourishing Beatitude in God

What is heaven's happiness, at its heart? The intellect's vision of God

The intellect's vision of God The will's love and enjoyment of God

Grace and Salvation · How God saves, and whom.

How does grace move the will? Thomist (Bañezian)

Thomist (Bañezian) Molinist

How are we made right with God? Infused, transforming grace

Forensic imputation Infused, transforming grace

What is salvation for? Deification

Pardon and escape Deification

Hell and hope The many are lost

The many are lost All will be saved

Would the Word have become flesh had Adam not sinned? Christ came to redeem sinners

Christ came to redeem sinners Christ was willed first (absolute primacy)

Where does your eye rest in Christ: His divinity or His humanity? The eternal Word made flesh

The eternal Word made flesh The man Jesus of Nazareth

Church and Society · Authority, the state, wealth and the nation.

Church and state Social kingship of Christ

Laicism Social kingship of Christ

Where does authority come from? Authority from God

Social contract Authority from God

Reform or tradition? Guided by tradition

Remake by reason Guided by tradition

The nation and the Church Between

Nation or race first Nation does not matter

May the state restrain false religion? The confessional state: error has no rights

The confessional state: error has no rights Civil liberty for every religion

Which form of government best suits a Christian people? Between

Monarchy and hierarchy Democracy and participation

May a Christian take up the sword? Yes: war can be just and sometimes a duty

Never: the way of the Cross is nonviolence Yes: war can be just and sometimes a duty

VII

Worship, Prayer and the Two Lungs · Liturgy, icons, the Spirit, and the See of Peter.

Icons and images Veneration of images

Iconoclasm Veneration of images

The procession of the Holy Spirit From the Father and the Son (Filioque)

From the Father through the Son From the Father and the Son (Filioque)

The office of Peter Universal and immediate primacy

Conciliarism Universal and immediate primacy

What do the sacraments do? Efficacious ex opere operato

Signs only Efficacious ex opere operato

When the Pope speaks Every word binds

Resist and judge Every word binds

Holy Orders and the Church's constitution A clerical Church

A clerical Church Reformable by the people

What are the Eastern Catholic Churches? Rites of the one Roman Church

Rites of the one Roman Church Sister Churches with their own rights and theology

Contemplation or action? Between

Action: the apostolate and the works of mercy Contemplation: the one thing needful