Thomas Aquinas
1225 – 1274 · Roccasecca (Italy) — Paris — Naples
Dominican, Doctor of the Church
Awaiting theological review
In one sentence
A Dominican friar who wrote the great synthesis of faith and reason, the Summa Theologiae.
Why this person matters
His clarity and method made him the Church's model teacher of theology.
Against his family's wishes he joined the Dominicans.
He studied under Albert the Great and taught in Paris and Italy.
Towards the end of his life he stopped writing after an experience at Mass, saying his work seemed like straw compared to what he had seen.
Key ideas
- Grace does not destroy nature but perfects it
- Five ways towards the existence of God
Why they still matter
Leo XIII's Aeterni Patris (1879) proposed his thought as a model for Catholic study.
Before
- Dominic de Guzmánc. 1170 – 1221
Contemporary
- Albert the Greatc. 1200 – 1280
After
- Catherine of Siena1347 – 1380
- Summa Theologiae
- Summa contra Gentiles
- Eucharistic hymns for Corpus Christi
- Historical context
- Early Christian source
Statements are labelled by source. Early Christian sources are named where known; dates before the 4th century are often approximate.