Thomas Aquinas argued that rational thought could support Christian beliefs through five philosophical arguments for God's existence. He synthesized classical philosophy with Christian theology and developed the concept of natural law, which held that reason could be used to understand principles of just conduct that are inherent in human nature as designed by God. Aquinas' work was influential in establishing that philosophy and theology could work together within medieval universities, where clergy taught diverse subjects and new ideas emerged, though faith and reason remained in some tension.

1. 12/9/15 Bell Ringer
Who or what am I?
1. I belong to a religious order but live & work
with the general public.
2. I am a place called Palestine
3. I killed millions of people in Europe
4. I am the long series of wars between
Christians and Muslims
5. I am religious ideas that oppose accepted
church teachings

2. Objective & Standard
I can evaluate Thomas Aquina’s philosophy.
I can explain how developments in medieval English law
and constitutional documents such as the Magna Carta
led to the rise of modern democracy
• 7.36 Conduct a short research project explaining the significance of
developments in medieval English legal and constitutional practices and their
importance in the rise of modern democratic thought and representative
institutions including trial by jury, the common law, Magna Carta, parliament,
habeas corpus, and an independent judiciary in England.
• 7.39 Explain the importance of the Catholic church as a political, intellectual,
and aesthetic institution, including founding of universities, political and
spiritual roles of the clergy, creation of monastic and mendicant religious
orders, preservation of the Latin language and religious texts, Thomas
Aquinas’s synthesis of classical philosophy with Christian theology and the
concept of “natural law.”

4. Schools Days…
• Many of the earliest universities were built by
the church. Go Monks!!
• Most teachers were part of the clergy, but
taught various subjects…with that came new
ideas
• There were 2 conflicting processes of thought:
REASON (philosophy) & FAITH (theology)
• Some scholars begin to question if the 2 can
work together…

5. Thomas Aquinas
• As a teacher at the University of Paris, Aquinas argued that
rational thought could be used to support Christian beliefs.
• 5 point argument:
1) observing movement in the world as proof of God, the "Immovable
Motor"
2) observing cause and effect and identifying God as the cause of
everything;
3) concluding that the impermanent nature of beings proves the
existence of a necessary being, God, who originates only from within
himself;
4) noticing varying levels of human perfection and determining that a
supreme, perfect being must therefore exist;
5) knowing that natural beings could not have intelligence without it
being granted to them it by God.

6. Natural Law
• The most universal was natural law
– this is the law that governed how
the world operated and taught
people to live the way God wanted.
• Classically, natural law refers to the
use of reason to analyze human
nature — both social and personal
— and deduce binding rules of
moral behavior from it
• Thomas Aquinas actually identified 3 different
types of laws: natural, positive, and eternal.

7. Write 3 Down!
• Take 3 minutes and write 3 facts about what
we just discussed.
Go!