750 Years of Saint Thomas Aquinas: Celebrating His Life and Legacy

 
This year marks the 750th anniversary of Saint Thomas Aquinas' passing, a milestone commemorating the profound impact of the Angelic Doctor. Father Serge-Thomas Bonino, president of the Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas, delves into Aquinas' life—a journey of intellectual pursuit and deep faith. From his early years in Roccasecca to his final days at the Abbey of Fossanova, Aquinas' pursuit of God shaped his teachings, leaving a legacy that continues to inspire and guide the Catholic faith. Join us in exploring the lasting influence of his "living Thomism," his role as the Universal Doctor, and how his teachings remain vital in contemporary theological education, especially at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas (the Angelicum). This commemoration is a testament to Aquinas' enduring relevance as a model of Christian life and a beacon of faith and reason.

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[tpoz]

Saint Thomas Aquinas is a great man for all seasons and my patron saint.

[supErchalo]

To complement what Mr. Franssen said, faith is not ignorance, it is an act of understanding. Faith, intelligence and will are related and pursue divine grace as St. Thomas Aquinas put it.

[victoriadriscoll]

St Thomas Aquinas pray for Peace in our troubled World. Amen 🙏🙏🙏

[lloydpatrick]

Praise the Lord God our Father. Lord show us your mercy and heal our ailments. Protect us against Corona virus pandemic. For our family and near and dear ones. For our spiritual and temporal wants. St Thomas Aquinas pray for us

[timhaley]

Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274 C.E.) was an "Italian philosopher and theologian, whose works have made him the most important figure in Scholastic philosophy and one of the leading Roman Catholic 1256 Aquinas was awarded a doctorate in theology and appointed professor of philosophy at the University of Paris. Pope Alexander IV (reigned 1254-1261) summoned him to Rome in 1259, where he acted as adviser and lecturer to the papal in the 13th century the major works of Aristotle were made available in a Latin translation."(Microsoft Encarta Reference Library 2005)


Aristotle’s great scheme was a child of philosophy, not science, teaching that the earth was at the center of everything and that it was surrounded by some 50 crystalline spheres (that he believed made up the universe), whereby all the heavenly bodies, including the sun, were encased, "frozen", non-moving, and that only the earth suffered decay, while all the stars and moons could never decay or change.


A moving earth as stated later by Italian astronomer Galileo (1564-1642 C.E.), he felt, would violate common sense. The earth-centered, or geocentric, view of the universe was adopted by the ancient Greeks and made famous by the philosopher Aristotle (384-322 B.C.E.) and the astronomer-astrologer Ptolemy (second century C.E.)


Aristotle also rejected the idea of a void, or space, believing that a moving earth would be subject to friction and would grind to a halt without the application of constant force. Because Aristotle’s concept seemed logical within the framework of existing knowledge, it endured in its basic form for almost 2, 000 years, which Thomas Aquinas struggled for five years to fuse Aristotle’s philosophy with church teaching.


By the time of Galileo in the 17th century, says Wade Rowland in his book Galileo’s Mistake, “the hybridized Aristotle in the theology of Aquinas had become bedrock dogma of the Church of Rome”, that "earth was the center of the universe".


Keep in mind, too, that in those days there was no scientific community as such. Education was largely in the hands of the church. The authority on religion and science was often one and the same. It was only by the 18th century, that scientists were accepting that the idea of the stars and planets hanging in a void, or upon "nothing".(see Job 26:7)


By allowing Greek philosophy to influence its theology, the Catholic church bowed to tradition rather than follow the teachings of the Bible. All of this calls to mind the Biblical warning: “Look out that no one takes you captive by means of the philosophy and empty deception according to human tradition, according to the elementary things of the world and not according to Christ.”(Colossians 2:8)


Even today, many in Christendom, in Catholicism, continue to embrace theories and philosophies that contradict the Bible. One example is Darwin’s theory of evolution, which the Catholic church accepts, whereby the Pontifical Academy of Sciences said some 40 years ago:


"We are convinced that masses of evidence render the application of the concept of evolution to man and the other primates beyond serious dispute", accepting evolution in place of the Genesis account of creation. In making this substitution, the churches have, in effect, made Darwin a modern-day Aristotle and evolution an article of faith.


So, where can "the truth" be found, whereby traditions and philosophy of men are rejected ?(see Matt 15:7-9) Isaiah 2:2, 3 gives the answer, saying: "In the final part of the days (that began in 1914, when Jesus was crowned king of God's Kingdom, Dan 7:13, 14; Rev 6:1, 2), the mountain of the house of Jehovah will become firmly established above the top of the mountains, and it will be raised up above the hills, and to it all the nations will stream."


"And many peoples will go and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of Jehovah, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will instruct us about his ways, and we will walk in his paths.” For law will go out of (symbolic) Zion, and the word of Jehovah out of (symbolic) Jerusalem."

[johnpro]

people need to look out for themselves..celestial people are having too much fun to care what we are doing back on earth ..amen

[RPlavo]

For trads STA Is more important than Jesus and Scripture