Saint Thomas Aquinas

1225-1274

- A n Italian scholastic philosopher

- Generally acclaimed as the greatest Theologian of the Roman Catholic Church.

-referred as the Angelic Doctor

*His teachings are mainly embodied in his two monumental works:

a. The summa Theologica

b. Summa Contra Gentiles

* He followed fundamentally the teachings of his great predecessor, Aristotle (“The Philosopher”)

* He saw and subscribed to the vision of Aristotle who relied immensely on natural powers of human reason and experience in search for goodness and truth.

• He proclaimed the supremacy of reason and every man and maintain that man will know the truth by the application of truth.

*Although, he emphasized that there are some truths which cannot be explained and known by simply the human reason alone and which can be perceived only with the old of the light of divine revelation which emanate from God, who is truth itself

CONCEPT OF GOD

by Aristotle

Man can know and validly prove God’s existence by reasoning (conclusions of Aristotle’s arguments).Thus, by said arguments, we can arrive at the knowledge of God as the “Prime Mover”,

the “First cause”, the “Perfect Good”. The “Final cause and Good of all Things”

Aquinas upheld these arguments as valid and true and adopted these proof sin his Quinque Viae (Five ways) to prove God’s Existence. Yet, he saw that they do not reveal the nature of God.

Philosophy of Happiness

-He taught that man naturally longs for perfection and happiness and this personal longing can be realized with the full development of all man’s endowments – rational, moral, emotional, social, physical and intellectual.

-He saw the highest perfection and happiness possible to man beyond his temporal life, because the immortality of the human soul.

* The perfect happiness which all men seek can be found in God, according to St. Thomas Aquinas.

THE UNIVERSAL MAN OF ARISTOTLE

The end- product of the aforedescribed all-rounded and total development of man.

• In the transcendental vision of Aquinas and in accordance with the teachings of Christian faith and teaching, man, in his present state of existence of Earth, is mortal, imperfect, finite and transitory with the

attainments of his supreme purposeand union with God, he transcends to immortality of the human soul.

THE TRANSFORMING POWER OF LOVE

The transformation described is also suggested in Plato’s Theory of Imitation of the Divine Model, The Good. By perfect imitation of the Good, by constantly being good and doing good, we become and eventually identify ourselves with the Good.

It is also implied in the First Epistle of the St. John, chapter four and verse eight that reveals God as LOVE, then by loving we are likened to God who is love, and if we love perfectly and constantly, we identify ourselves with love.

This transformation by love elevates US to the rank of divinity as children of God, as revealed in an unparalleled passage of St. Paul.

TRANSFORMATION AND TRANSCENDENCE

Aquinas links the aforedescribed transformation with the power of transcendence in man

Man has the unique power to change himself and the things around him for the better indeed, in accordance with his urge to be perfect and happy, he can improve and even perfect himself; and what is still more marvelous is that he can even transcend himself.

BEYOND THE UNIVERSAL – THE TRANSCENDENTAL

• Aquinas defined Trascendental as a description of the man who has attained union with God.

• Transcending the universal man of Aristotle as to perfection and destiny, the aforedescribed man of Aquinas is aptly called the Transcendental man.

• Transcendent Humanism – mentioned in the encyclical Progressio Popularum to signify the highest stage of man’s perfection attainable through man’s union with the all- Perfect Being, God.

TRANSCENDENTAL

– came from the Latin word transcendere, which means to transcend, go beyond, soar above, surpass.

Thus, the universal man of Aristotle who is perfect in his own right, is still imperfect in comparison with the transcendental man of Aquinas.

PERFECTION BY PARTICIPATION

We speak of the transcendental man as absolutely perfect but only insofar as he participates in the Absolutely Absolute Perfection of God,

In his monumental work, The Summa Theologica. Aquinas dealt with the question whether man or a higher being can raise man to the level of the infinitely perfect.

He answered saying that neither man by his natural powers alone nor a higher being such an angel can effectuate said elevation or transformation. Between the finite creature and the infinite creator lies an infinite Gap which can be bridged only by an infinite power, aptly called and indentified with LOVE because it unites and bespeaks of the nature of God.

BEYOND CONTRADICTION – UNION

Contradiction occurs only in the field of disclosure, between two absolutely opposed terms or propositions; it does not occur in the real world of things. Between two realities such as between Man and God there can never be a contradiction.

THE TRANSCENDENTAL – GOLDEN MEAN BETWEEN MAN AND GOD

Finite

transcendental

infinite

In the order of being and perfection, the

transcendental man is above the finite but below the

infinite. Thus the transcendental man strikes the golden

middle note in the harmony of the finite and the infinite.

MAN, LOVE AND DESTINY

Man with his natural powers alone cannot attain a

supernatural destiny. To actually reach his supernatural

destiny he should be elevated and empowered by

supernatural grace by the power of love.