Lenzy Cornatzer
Professor O’Neil
Introduction to Philosophy
Philosophy Engagement Paper
December 15, 2014

For many Christians understanding the early church philosophers is not something that is done on a regular basis. Philosophy is a discipline that studies and researches different topics like justice, morality, religion and reality. There are three branches of philosophy that are accepted, natural philosophy, moral philosophy and metaphysical philosophy. Philosophy is a system of principles for guidance. So how do philosophy and the Christian life intersect? One of the ways to understand that is to look at the early church philosophers that have shaped our knowledge and understanding of the scriptures. In the following paragraphs we will examine the philosopher Thomas Aquinas. Thomas had a way of understanding God that you may or may not agree with but hopefully will learn about him in the paragraphs ahead. Thomas Aquinas was an Italian Dominican theologian and philosopher that is believed by many to be one of the most influential thinkers of Scholasticism and is also know as the father of the Thomistic school of theology. Thomas Aquinas was born in the year 1225 in Roccasecca, in the Kingdom of Sicily also know as present day Italy. He combined the theological principles with the principles of reason and he is ranked by many as one of the most influential thinkers of medieval Scholasticism. Thomas was the son Landulf of Aquino and is believed to be born in his father’s castle. At the age of five Thomas began his education at Monte Cassino to train among Benedictine monks. He remained there until he was around the age of 13 when political tempers began to flare and that forced him to move to Naples. It was while he was studying at the Benedictine house in Naples that he was introduced to the work of Aristotle, Averroes and Maimondies, all of these philosophers made a great influence on his theological philosophy. In 1245 Aquinas was asked to be part of the Dominican religious and he accepted against his families will. By doing this he choose to live a life of poverty instead of doing what his family would have wanted and that was to join forces with the Benedictines. As a result of that decision his family kidnapped him and kept him a hostage at castle that he was born in for many years. During those years his family did their best to convince him that he needed to go a different route but he would not budge from his original plan. During his imprisonment, Aquinas prayed and did lots of writing. Around 1248 his family released him and he was free to go. It was then that he traveled to the Dominican novitiate at Paris to study under Albert of Lauingen, also know as Albert the Great. Albert was highly intelligent in the matters of theology and he influenced Aquinas in the practice of the synthesis of ideas and materials. Some of his studies during this time included what are now referred to Pseudo-Dionysius. One of the assignments given to Aquinas by Albert was to lecture in the Libri Qua-tuor Sententiarum written by Peter Lombard. Aquinas had commentaries on what is also called Four Books of Sentences, his commentaries ended up being some of his best work in the early years. Aquinas went on the publish a lot of his work while he was in Paris. In 1272 Aquinas returned to Naples, where he founded a Studium Generale, also know as a medieval university. Thomas Aquinas died roughly at the age of 49 in 1274. He is believed to have died in a monastery in Fossanova, near Sonnino. The Catholic Church canonized him and he was declared a saint by Pope John XXII and given the title of “Doctor of Angelicas.” Over his life Aquinas wrote many different works. Most of his works represent different questions and arguments more than likely presented as lectures to some of his students. The Summa contra Gentiles, also known as the Summa contra Gentes and the Summa Theologica are some of his best work. Both are believed to written towards the end of his life. The Summa contra Gentiles intended purpose was to be a missionary journal or handbook while the Summa Theologica was to help people understand the Christian faith to students. In this book Aquinas’s desire is to get rid of useless arguments and really address the most important issues. One of the things that you will find in the Summa contra Gentiles is that it is very apologetic in nature, basically for the purpose of defending the Christian truth in hostile situations. It is believed by some that it was intended for missionary journeys to help in defending the faith. The writings of Aquinas were extremely popular from the time they were first composed. Manuscripts of his work were copied and circulated way before the invention of the printing press. Aquinas, like many other theologians or philosophers today had a desire to be understood, but his concepts were not always easy to wrap your arms around. There were and still are many critics that try to understand and explain his theology; one estimate cites some 6000 commentaries on his works. The Catholic Church has praised Aquinas for his body of work and specifically the different doctrines and forming them into one whole. Pope John Paul II declared that one of Aquinas's greatest qualities was that "he had a great respect for the visible world because it is the work”. The question now is are there specifics about his life and teachings that are good or has his writing created more problems than benefits. In the following chapters we will examine some specifics of his writings. Thomas Aquinas, is viewed by the Catholic Church as a Saint, but the question is do all Christians hold the same view. I believe that Thomas Aquinas provides both benefit and burden to our cause. There are a number of things about Thomas Aquinas to recognize. The first thing I have noticed is that he was viewed by leaders of his time and even now as someone who has paved the way for others to follow especially in the area of Apologetics. Aquinas was really before his time when it came to defending the faith. Because of his contributions generations past and present now have a roadmap to seeing God’s word (the Bible) clearly communicated and defended. Secondly, Aquinas had a desire to form a way of thinking that was for everyone to embrace and understand. Even though there were many that applauded him he also was like any other thinker or philosopher in the fact that he had a list of critics who disagree with some of the specifics of his system of thinking. He had many critics, which included Philosophers such as Immanuel Kant and Karl Barth. While Barth agreed with him on many things he did disagree with him on the Proof of Necessary Being. While some may disagree with features of his system, very few before him had developed a defense as complete as his. Aquinas was truly a pioneer in this and because of his work it has opened the door for others to take a stand and defend what they believe too. Thirdly, Aquinas addressed the different challenges of intellect and reason within the church of his day and time. As we all know that no matter what denomination you are a part of there will always be differences. In our world today we disagree over church government, gifts of the Spirit and what color the carpet should be. The early church had their issues too and Aquinas was able to address things like pietism and fideism. Many of Thomas’s attempts to prove God’s existence have led others to expand their way of thinking. I would suggest that he is best known for his five ways of proving the existence of God, which is found in his most famous work Summa Theologica. The first argument was The Proof of motion. Things are put into motion by something else. In other words there must not be an initial unmoved mover, which would be God. The second argument was The Proof of efficient Cause. What this means is that all things have an instant or immediate cause. The immediate cause cannot go back infinitely, so the only explanation is an uncaused cause. Thirdly, there is The Proof of necessary being. He says that it is not necessary for any particular thing to exist. Aquinas believed that anything that was possible did not exist without they’re being an essence for them to exist. He believed that God was the unmoved mover and the one who made these exist. Fourth, there was Degrees of perfection. Thomas thought that things in our world had degrees of perfection. To him these different degrees gave the implication that there was a maximum degree of perfection. The max perfection could only be God. The fifth and final one was The evidence of order. The things that we have in this world have order to them; to Thomas even unintelligent things fell under this proof. He believed that all things had to have someone or something intelligent direct it. Aquinas believed this was God. He did not believe that things just happen by chance. I believe that Thomas Aquinas had a great influence on our culture as it is today. As stated before I believe that Thomas Aquinas was a true pioneer in the fact that he would challenge the different ideas of his time. While there is plenty that I would not agree with him on I can certainly appreciate what he had done for the movement of the Gospel. I believe people like Thomas Aquinas are still need today and trust and hope that the longer we wait upon the Lord that we would respond to our convictions just as Mr. Aquinas did. One thing is for certain and that is that this was a man that stood firm on his personal convictions. He was not willing to budge from them, and that is admirable. Thomas Aquinas believed in natural theology which means that God’s revelation will come through the means of creation. This reminds me of what we find in Romans 1: 20, For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. The Apostle Paul mentions here that there are invisible qualities of God’s power that have been seen by all mankind. It seems to me that Aquinas had a grasp of that you can see that in his work. I would also thank him for his actions in defending his convictions. You can also see this played out in Psalm 19 which says, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. 2 Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge.” Its interesting from these few verses we can see that our God is awesome, creative and wise. He has the ability to do all things from the beginning to the end. These verses speak to this glory being shown in all aspects of who He is. One of the issues we have in our world today is that we make excuses for why we don’t believe in the existence of God. This I believe is what Thomas Aquinas was talking about. Even today we hear people say that they don’t believe that God existed. There has always been people that will refute the existence of God going all the way back to the beginning. One example of this occurred a number of years ago when some Soviet astronauts came back from spending a short time in space. When Yuri Gagarin stepped off the shuttle he told reporters that he did not see God so he must not exist. His view of this is pretty normal to lots of people. You hear people say all the time that there is no God or even recently we have heard some say that God is dead. What we find in these Scriptures is something completely different. Something that I believe had a great influence on Thomas Aquinas and his five proofs. Another thing that often arises when we discuss the existence of God is the amount of questions that people have. We live in a day and age where there is no absolute truth. People everywhere will keep asking question in the hopes that they can find an answer that we will not have an answer for because most of them don’t want to hear what we have to say. Along with their questions are the accusations of errors found in Scripture. The issue with this is its premise, but in most cases the opposite is true. Over the last number of years the Bible has been proven to be true and the Bible is still a number one best seller. I am grateful for the work of people like Thomas Aquinas. Philosophers like him have challenged our thoughts for years. The advantage we have today is the accessibility of the written word of God. I do believe that Thomas was right for the most part but my hope is that in the future because of all the work done since then we can use his work as a road map to defend the existence of God to anyone who would hear us. In the end the message of Christ is all that matters. In my experience I have found that there are plenty of people who will embrace God the creator but struggle with embracing God for their savior. Thomas Aquinas life is a reminder God is the author of life and the creator of the universe and he is the one who puts things in motion and nothing else.

Work Cited
"Bible Gateway Passage: Psalm 19 - New International Version." Bible Gateway. Web. 15 Dec.
"Bible Gateway Passage: Romans 1:20 - New International Version." Bible Gateway. Web. 16 Dec. 2014. .
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