Great Synthesizer of Scholastic Philosophy, Fusing Aristotelian Philosophy and Christian Theology
Thomas Aquinas (c. 1225–1274) was a medieval Italian theologian and philosopher whose chief work, the Summa Theologica, systematically used the logical and philosophical instruments of Aristotle to argue for the Christian faith, drawing heavily on the commentaries on Aristotle by the Islamic and Jewish philosophers Ibn Rushd, Ibn Sina, and Maimonides. He proposed the "Five Ways" of proving the existence of God (arguing the necessity of God’s existence from motion, causation, contingency, degrees of perfection, and purpose, respectively), seeking to show that reason and faith are not mutually exclusive but that, on the contrary, reason rightly used can itself lead to knowledge of God’s existence — a stance that thereafter became the core authoritative text of the official Catholic philosophy of "scholasticism," profoundly shaping the basic framework of Catholic theological education for centuries.
In his youth Aquinas, being large of frame and taciturn, was mockingly called by his classmates the "Dumb Ox of Sicily," but his teacher Albert the Great foretold, "You call him a dumb ox, but one day the bellow of this ox will resound through the whole world." The prophecy proved remarkably accurate: Aquinas became one of the most influential theological philosophers of the entire Middle Ages.
Legend says that in his later years Aquinas, after a profound mystical experience during Mass, stopped writing the Summa Theologica, saying to his assistant, "All that I have written seems to me like straw compared to what I have seen." This anecdote is often cited to show that even the most rigorous philosophical-theological argument was, in his own eyes, ultimately unable to exhaust the mystery of faith.
Below are how modern works borrow or reinterpret this name or story — not the original material. The two differ, so keep them apart.
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