Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas, O.P., was an Italian Dominican friar, Catholic priest, and Doctor of the Church. He was an immensely influential philosopher, theologian, and jurist in the tradition of scholasticism, within which he is also known as the Doctor Angelicus and the Doctor Communis. The name Aquinas identifies his ancestral origins in the county of Aquino in present-day Lazio, where his family held land until 1137...
NationalityItalian
ProfessionTheologian
CountryItaly
philosophical evil catholic
Good can exist without evil, whereas evil cannot exist without good.
catholic danger paved-roads
There being an imminent danger for the faith, prelates must be questioned, even publicly, by their subjects.
christian believe mean
Sacred Scripture, since it has no science above itself, can dispute with one who denies its principles only if the opponent admits some at least of the truths obtained through divine revelation; thus we can argue with heretics from texts in Holy Writ, and against those who deny one article of faith we can argue from another. If our opponent believes nothing of divine revelation, there is no longer any means of proving the articles of faith by reasoning, but only of answering his objections - if he has any - against faith.
angel men illumination
A person is disposed to an act of choice by an angel ... in two ways. Sometimes, a man's understanding is enlightened by an angel to know what is good, but it is not instructed as to the reason why ... But sometimes he is instructed by angelic illumination, both that this act is good and as to the reason why it is good.
mean two done
If a thing can be done adequately by means of one, it is superfluous to do it by means of several; for we observe that nature does not employ two instruments [if] one suffices.
ignorance animal greatness
It is on account neither of God's weakness nor ignorance that evil comes into the world, but rather it is due to the order of his wisdom and the greatness of his goodness that diverse grades of goodness occur in things, many of which would be lacking if no evil were permitted. Indeed, the good of patience would not exist without the evil of persecution; nor the good of preservation of life in a lion if not for the evil of the destruction of the animals on which it lives.
heart opportunity evil
They also have at that critical point of death the opportunity to be converted to God through repentance. And if they are so obstinate that even at the point of death their heart does not draw back from malice, it is possible to make a quite probable judgment that they would never come away from evil.
blessed men baptism
If anyone without the right faith receives Baptism outside the Church, he does not receive it unto salvation ... From the comparison of the Church to Paradise, we learn that men can receive her Baptism even outside her fold, but that out there no one can receive or keep the salvation of the blessed.
fear men despair
When fear is excessive it can make many a man despair.
men giving devotion
Devotion is a certain act of the will by which man gives himself promptly to divine service.
evil catholic purity-and-love
In the realm of evil thoughts none induces to sin as much as do thoughts that concern the pleasure of the flesh.
failing christ humans
Faith will tell us Christ is present, When our human senses fail.
powerful ethos catholic
Hold firmly that our faith is identical with that of the ancients. Deny this, and you dissolve the unity of the Church.
love fear philosophy
Because philosophy arises from awe, a philosopher is bound in his way to be a lover of myths and poetic fables. Poets and philosophers are alike in being big with wonder.