St thomas aquinas summary biography

At the Council of Trent in the 16th-century, his Summa Theologica was honored with a place of prominence alongside the Bible. Today, Thomas Aquinas is still studied by Bible students and theological scholars of all denominations, including evangelicals. He was a devout believer, uncompromising in his commitment to Jesus Christ, the study of Scripture, and prayer.

St thomas aquinas summary biography

His works are timeless and undeniably worth reading. By Mary Fairchild. Mary Fairchild. Mary Fairchild is a full-time Christian minister, writer, and editor of two Christian anthologies, including "Stories of Calvary. Learn about our Editorial Process. Cite this Article Format. Fairchild, Mary. Biography of Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Angels.

Overview of the United Church of Christ Denomination. Biography of Saint Lucy, Bringer of Light. Young Thomas started his formal education at the age of five and, as he grew older, he was introduced to the many classic philosophers of antiquity. Aristotle, Maimonides, and Averroes would be among the main philosophers who would influence his ideas and beliefs about life and religion.

When Thomas was 19, Aquinas decided to join the newly formed Dominican Order. His family was not pleased with this decision. So while he was traveling, his family had him kidnapped and returned home. When he returned home, he was actually imprisoned for two years. The hope here was that he would eventually renounce his allegiance to the Dominican Order and its belief system.

Eventually he was able to run away and travel to Rome. The school of thought born of the theories of Aquinas is called Thomism. Thomism was rooted in the belief in the notion that truth can be derived from any source. Although Aquinas was intended from a young age to become an abbot, Italian political and papal infighting redirected him to a university in Naples, where his studies, including his earliest encounters with Aristotle, were directed by members of the newly founded Dominican Order, an order of which Aquinas eventually became a member despite prolonged, powerful objections from his family.

Traveling to France in , Aquinas studied under the renowned Aristotelian commentator and fellow Dominican, Albert Magnus. Upon completion of his regency in Paris, Aquinas returned to Italy in , where he was eventually called to Rome, in , by Pope Clement IV to serve as a papal theologian. Following the tradition of the period, Saint Thomas Aquinas was sent to the Abbey of Monte Cassino to train among Benedictine monks when he was just 5 years old.

In Wisdom , Saint Thomas Aquinas is described as "a witty child" who "had received a good soul. Saint Thomas Aquinas remained at the monastery until he was 13 years old, when the political climate forced him to return to Naples. Saint Thomas Aquinas spent the next five years completing his primary education at a Benedictine house in Naples. During those years, he studied Aristotle's work, which would later become a major launching point for Saint Thomas Aquinas's own exploration of philosophy.

At the Benedictine house, which was closely affiliated with the University of Naples, Thomas also developed an interest in more contemporary monastic orders. He was particularly drawn to those that emphasized a life of spiritual service, in contrast with the more traditional views and sheltered lifestyle he'd observed at the Abbey of Monte Cassino.

In , he secretly joined an order of Dominican monks, receiving the habit in When his family found out, they felt so betrayed that he had turned his back on the principles to which they subscribed that they decided to kidnap him. Thomas's family held him captive for an entire year, imprisoned in the fortress of San Giovanni at Rocca Secca.

During this time, they attempted to deprogram Thomas of his new beliefs. Thomas held fast to the ideas he had learned at university, however, and went back to the Dominican order following his release in He was ordained in Cologne, Germany, in , and went on to teach theology at the University of Paris. Consistent with the holy hermit's prediction, Thomas proved an exemplary scholar, though, ironically, his modesty sometimes led his classmates to misperceive him as dim-witted.

After reading Thomas's thesis and thinking it brilliant, his professor, Saint Albert the Great, proclaimed in Thomas's defense, "We call this young man a dumb ox, but his bellowing in doctrine will one day resound throughout the world! After completing his education, Saint Thomas Aquinas devoted himself to a life of traveling, writing, teaching, public speaking and preaching.

Religious institutions and universities alike yearned to benefit from the wisdom of "The Christian Apostle.