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"Thomas understands theology as a unified science. The contemporary student of theology is normally introduced to a compartmentalized approach to revelation: one that encourages a separation of dogma from Scripture, morality from dogma, and spirituality from the rule of faith. For Aquinas, all of theology is unified under a common object: God. Furthermore, Thomas assures us that the principles of this sacred science are more certain than any human science, since they derive their certitude from the light of divine truth, not from the insight of a particular theologian." -- Joseph R. Upton
Ralph McInerny
on Saint Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) lived at a critical juncture of western
culture when the arrival of the Aristotelian corpus in Latin translation reopened
the question of the relation between faith and reason, calling into question
the modus vivendi that had obtained for centuries. This crisis flared up just
as universities were being founded. Thomas, after early studies at Montecassino,
moved on to the University of Naples, where he met members of the new Dominican
Order. It was at Naples too that Thomas had his first extended contact with
the new learning. When he joined the Dominican Order he went north to study
with Albertus Magnus, author of a paraphrase of the Aristotelian corpus. Thomas
completed his studies at the University of Paris, which had been formed out
of the monastic schools on the Left Bank and the cathedral school at Notre Dame.
In two stints as a regent master Thomas defended the mendicant orders and, of
greater historical importance, countered both the Averroistic interpretations
of Aristotle and the Franciscan tendency to reject Greek philosophy. The result
was a new modus vivendi between faith and philosophy which survived until the
rise of the new physics. Thomas's theological writings became regulative of
the Catholic Church and his close textual commentaries on Aristotle represent
a cultural resource which is now receiving increased recognition.
Ralph McInerny on Charles De Koninck: Man of Faith, Philosopher of Science
An Introduction to Metaphysics by Ralph McInerny
Aristotelian Thomism
'St. Thomas would find the contemporary fragmentation of theological
inquiry "very odd" and "would be repelled by the cacophony of
competing truth claims advanced by point-of-view theologians claiming hegemonic
expertise in one or another theological discipline" [Romanus Cessario,
A Short History of Thomism, p.9]. Interestingly, this fragmentation
has recently been on display in the academic reviews, even the sympathetic ones,
of Joseph Ratzinger's Jesus of Nazareth (Doubleday, 2007). Reviewers
strain to classify this remarkable work, which combines, in the manner of the
Summa Theologiae, scriptural exegesis, rabbinic and patristic commentaries
on various parts of Scripture, insight into Jewish, Greek, and Roman history
and culture, the history of Catholic doctrine, metaphysics, moral theory, philosophical
anthropology, and the fruits of thousands of hours of mental and contemplative
prayer. "After all," they protest in effect, "no one can be an
up-to-date expert in all the relevant sub-disciplines, and so this must be some
sort of 'popular' or 'catechetical' tract rather than a serious work of theology."
'Something has surely gone amiss when the very idea of an integrated theoretical
and practical wisdom baffles many of the 'scientific' theologians of our day.
And, mutatis mutandis, the same sort of fragmentation and loss of direction
afflict philosophy, too, as a contemporary academic discipline. In fact, to
my mind one of the most destructive effects of academic fragmentation among
Catholic thinkers is the sharp dichotomy many presuppose between being a philosopher
and being a theologian and between the academic disciplines of philosophy and
systematic theology. In short, we need St. Thomas now more than ever, both for
his teaching and for his method.' -- Alfred
J. Freddoso
The University
of Notre Dame
Thomistic Institute
2004 St. Thomas Aquinas and the Natural Law
2003 Ethics Without God?
1999 Fides et Ratio
1998 Science, Philosophy, and Theology
1997 Science, Philosophy, and Theology
