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Saint Thomas Aquinas was a theologian and doctor of the Church, and some consider him the world’s smartest man.
Thomas Aquinas was a 12th-century Dominican friar and priest. He was from the county of Aquino in the Kingdom of Sicily, hence the name Thomas of Aquinas. Central to his thought was the Doctrine of Natural Law, which he argued was accessible to human reason, providing a basis for understanding individual rights and moral duties.
Thomas blended Greek philosophy and Christian doctrine by suggesting that rational thinking and the study of nature, like revelation, were valid ways to understand truths pertaining to God.
According to Thomas, God reveals himself through nature, so to study nature is to study God.
Thomas has been described as the most influential thinker of the medieval period
and the greatest of the medieval philosopher theologians. He’s often referred to as the Angelic Doctor due to his extensive writings on angels.
Thomas Aquinas viewed theology as a science by which he meant humanity could study its own experience. The raw data of his field of study consisted of written scripture and traditions of the Catholic Church. Faith and reason, being distinct but related, are the two primary tools for processing the data of theology.
Thomas believed both were necessary for one to obtain true knowledge of God. He's best known for his work in the unfinished Summa Theologica, which, among other topics, he developed a systematic proof for the existence of God. Thomas used his gifts to explain the gospel message to the hearts and minds of ordinary people. Some of the questions he addressed teach us about our everyday lives, such as what brings happiness and why are we here?
Thomas Aquinas identified the goal of human existence as eternal fellowship with God, and this goal was achieved through the beatific vision, in which a person experiences perfect, unending happiness by seeing the essence of God. This vision occurs after death as a gift from God to those who, during their lifetimes, experience salvation and redemption through Jesus Christ. Saint Thomas Aquinas, pray for us.