From the beginning it seemed strange that we could learn from Tomas Akvinski.
He was a medieval saint who allegedly levitated
and had a vision of the Virgin Mary.
He was interested in explaining how angels talk and how they move.
But it still has a meaning for us because it helps us with the problem,
who is still troubled by us:
how can we reconcile religion with science,
and faith with reason.
Aquinas was both a philosopher and a saint.
By refusing to lose faith or thoughtlessly to believe,
has developed a new understanding of reason and its place in human life.
Aquinan’s magnificent benefit was that he taught Western civilizations,
that any man, not just a Christian,
he could have access to the great truths whenever he used it
the greatest gift of God: reason.
Aquinas broke the dead end in Christianity –
the question that non-Christians could have wisdom
and no interest, or even knowledge of Jesus.
Aquinas devoted intelligence.
He opened the Christian mind of understanding humanity
across the ages and continents.
The modern world, if it insists that good ideas can come from any place,
regardless of faith or background, remains extremely important to the Aquinas.
Tomáš Akvinský was born in Italy in 1225 to an aristocratic family.
As a young man, he studied at the University of Naples
and came in contact with the source of knowledge that was just rediscovered at that time –
texts of ancient Greek and Roman authors.
After that, he became a member of the University of Paris
and an extremely prolific writer,
which produced nearly 200 pieces of Christian theology
in less than three decades.
His books had beautiful but special names,
such as the Theological Sum,
and the Sum against the Gentiles.
His devotion to knowledge was such,
that even at the time of his death at age 49,
Aquinas was in the middle of writing an expanded commentary
to Song of Songs.
After his death, he was consecrated in the Catholic Church
and is now a “patron of teachers”.
The Aquinas’ starting point was that they were one of the greatest thinkers of the world
were not Christians,
yet it did not prevent them from having a great insight,
because, as Aquinas has suggested, the world can be exploited
through reason and not only through faith.
To explain how this can work,
Aquinas famously suggested that the universe and all its dynamics
works according to two kinds of laws.
(WORLD) NATURAL LAW (RELIGIOUS) CIVIL LAW
According to the Aquinas, much of the world is governed by the laws of nature.
We can figure out how to melt iron,
build an aqueduct or organize the economy.
And no one relies on believing in God.
Aquinas said that Jesus is at the crossroads to:
“Treat others as you want them to be with you.”
Jesus could have made this idea a particularly memorable formula,
as regards the Aquinas,
but in reality this was the moral basis
in most companies and cases.
How could that be possible?
Well, the reason the Aquinas argued
is that this idea belongs to the natural law and not to the eternal.
Aquinas concluded that in several cases
God works only through eternal law
beyond human reason.
And he quoted prophetic revelations and visits of angels as examples.
However, he assured us that the most useful knowledge
can be found by atheists and secular people,
in the field of natural law.
Aquinian thoughts developed at a time when Islamic culture
went through very similar dilemmas like Christianity
as to how to reconcile reason and faith.
For a long time Islamic Caliphates in Spain, Morocco and Egypt
grew because they were open to knowledge from all over the world,
creating many new scientific ideas and philosophies.
Given the growing influence of fanatical religious leaders
but at the time of the birth of the Aquinas, Islam became more dogmatic and oppressive.
For example, he reacted violently against Muslim philosopher Averroes.
Like the Aquinas, Averroes was greatly influenced by Aristotle
and argued that reason and religion can be merged.
However, caliphates, who have never tried to deviate from the literal words of God,
they made Averroes’s thoughts forbidden
and his books burned.
The Aquinas knew that the Muslim world was increasingly radically rejecting reason
hurt what once was a thriving culture.
And it was thanks to Aquinas’ ideas,
that Christianity did not suffer the same.
While Aquin was a deeply believing man,
provided a philosophical framework for open scientific work.
It reminds us that knowledge can and should come from multiple sources,
from intuition, but also from rationality,
from science, but also from revelation,
from the Gentiles, but also from the monks,
it sounds obvious before we notice how often
was civilization and is still being harmed by people who reject
take this into account.
He was a medieval saint who allegedly levitated
and had a vision of the Virgin Mary.
He was interested in explaining how angels talk and how they move.
But it still has a meaning for us because it helps us with the problem,
who is still troubled by us:
how can we reconcile religion with science,
and faith with reason.
Aquinas was both a philosopher and a saint.
By refusing to lose faith or thoughtlessly to believe,
has developed a new understanding of reason and its place in human life.
Aquinan’s magnificent benefit was that he taught Western civilizations,
that any man, not just a Christian,
he could have access to the great truths whenever he used it
the greatest gift of God: reason.
Aquinas broke the dead end in Christianity –
the question that non-Christians could have wisdom
and no interest, or even knowledge of Jesus.
Aquinas devoted intelligence.
He opened the Christian mind of understanding humanity
across the ages and continents.
The modern world, if it insists that good ideas can come from any place,
regardless of faith or background, remains extremely important to the Aquinas.
Tomáš Akvinský was born in Italy in 1225 to an aristocratic family.
As a young man, he studied at the University of Naples
and came in contact with the source of knowledge that was just rediscovered at that time –
texts of ancient Greek and Roman authors.
After that, he became a member of the University of Paris
and an extremely prolific writer,
which produced nearly 200 pieces of Christian theology
in less than three decades.
His books had beautiful but special names,
such as the Theological Sum,
and the Sum against the Gentiles.
His devotion to knowledge was such,
that even at the time of his death at age 49,
Aquinas was in the middle of writing an expanded commentary
to Song of Songs.
After his death, he was consecrated in the Catholic Church
and is now a “patron of teachers”.
The Aquinas’ starting point was that they were one of the greatest thinkers of the world
were not Christians,
yet it did not prevent them from having a great insight,
because, as Aquinas has suggested, the world can be exploited
through reason and not only through faith.
To explain how this can work,
Aquinas famously suggested that the universe and all its dynamics
works according to two kinds of laws.
(WORLD) NATURAL LAW (RELIGIOUS) CIVIL LAW
According to the Aquinas, much of the world is governed by the laws of nature.
We can figure out how to melt iron,
build an aqueduct or organize the economy.
And no one relies on believing in God.
Aquinas said that Jesus is at the crossroads to:
“Treat others as you want them to be with you.”
Jesus could have made this idea a particularly memorable formula,
as regards the Aquinas,
but in reality this was the moral basis
in most companies and cases.
How could that be possible?
Well, the reason the Aquinas argued
is that this idea belongs to the natural law and not to the eternal.
Aquinas concluded that in several cases
God works only through eternal law
beyond human reason.
And he quoted prophetic revelations and visits of angels as examples.
However, he assured us that the most useful knowledge
can be found by atheists and secular people,
in the field of natural law.
Aquinian thoughts developed at a time when Islamic culture
went through very similar dilemmas like Christianity
as to how to reconcile reason and faith.
For a long time Islamic Caliphates in Spain, Morocco and Egypt
grew because they were open to knowledge from all over the world,
creating many new scientific ideas and philosophies.
Given the growing influence of fanatical religious leaders
but at the time of the birth of the Aquinas, Islam became more dogmatic and oppressive.
For example, he reacted violently against Muslim philosopher Averroes.
Like the Aquinas, Averroes was greatly influenced by Aristotle
and argued that reason and religion can be merged.
However, caliphates, who have never tried to deviate from the literal words of God,
they made Averroes’s thoughts forbidden
and his books burned.
The Aquinas knew that the Muslim world was increasingly radically rejecting reason
hurt what once was a thriving culture.
And it was thanks to Aquinas’ ideas,
that Christianity did not suffer the same.
While Aquin was a deeply believing man,
provided a philosophical framework for open scientific work.
It reminds us that knowledge can and should come from multiple sources,
from intuition, but also from rationality,
from science, but also from revelation,
from the Gentiles, but also from the monks,
it sounds obvious before we notice how often
was civilization and is still being harmed by people who reject
take this into account.
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