Thomas Aquinas
V.K. SUBRAMANIAN
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From childhood, Thomas Aquinas (1225 A.D. - 1274 A.D.) was determined to be a monk.
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Thomas Aquinas, the Italian saint, was a philosopher who tried to integrate theology with philosophy, faith with reason and the teachings of Aristotle with the Christian religion.
He held that all living things have souls.
According to Aquinas, philosophy and religion need not be at loggerheads.
Faith and reason were often two paths to the same end. Aristotle, the Greek philosopher, had identified, through reasoning, a Supreme Being whose existence at the beginning of time, set the universe in motion.
Role model
To Aquinas, Aristotle's view fitted in with the Christian faith in God, who created all things.
He reasoned that without God, there could be no universe. "To take away the cause is to take away the effect," he proclaimed.
Aquinas's approach is identical with the Hindu Vedantic view, which considers God as the primal cause of the cosmos.
Aquinas was born in 1225, the son of a nobleman, in Aquino, Italy.
From childhood, he was determined to be a monk, much against the wishes of his family. St. Francis of Assisi was his role model.
At the age of 19, he ran away from home and joined a group of Dominican monks. In 1252, he went to Paris and got a Bachelor's degree in theology from the University of Paris.
In 1258, he was appointed professor of religion in the same university.
Between 1259 and 1273, he wrote his two major works: Summa conta Gentiles and Summa Theologica.
He died in an Italian monastery in 1274, at the age of 49. Aquinas had the humility of Francis of Assisi and the scholarship of St. Augustine.
"Of all the pursuits open to men, the search for wisdom is more perfect, more sublime, more profitable, more full of joy." These words of Aquinas summarise his life and work.
This is an extract from the book The Great Ones by V.K.Subramanian, Abhinav Publications, New Delhi
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