1. Saint Thomas Aquinas Essay
Saint Thomas Aquinas
I chose to write about Saint Thomas Aquinas because I have heard of his life and found it
interesting. There was also a large pool of knowledge to research from, about Saint
Thomas Aquinas. I also knew he is called Doctor of the church and I wanted to learn more about
that. I was interested in Saint Thomas Aquinas because he was misunderstood by his peers and was
also called "the Dumb Ox". I wanted to understand how someone can be so misunderstood stood
and be a brilliant philosopher. After reading about him I realize he was truly a humble being who did
not need to prove himself to anyone. His love of God came first in his life. He was able to overcome
the obstacles in his life and pursue his dream...show more content...
His parents sent him to a monastery when he was five years old to study and learn. His teachers
were surprised by how quickly he learned and his great faith. But when Thomas announced that he
wanted to become a Dominican, his family tried to stop him. His brothers captured him and locked
him up in a castle. His mother, sister and brothers kept him there for two years. Finally, they
changed their minds, and at last Thomas was allowed to join the Dominicans. Even there though, he
still had some trouble. Thomas was a very big man with a kind and humble manner. Because he
didn't talk very much, everyone thought he was stupid. They called him 'the ox.' But when they
heard him preach everyone realized how wise and pious he really was. After he became a priest,
Thomas studied in
Paris and then taught at universities in many cities of Europe. He wrote more than 40 books and
several beautiful hymns. All of his work praises God and has helped many people understand their
faith better. At the end of his life, Saint Thomas stopped writing. He had a vision of
Heaven and decided that compared to the great glory of God, his writing was 'like straw.'
Three months later, on his way to see the Pope, he died. He is now in Heaven, and after a lifetime
of studying and writing about God, he is in the presence of God. He was born in Italy in 1225, the
son of a count. When he was five years old, his parents send him to study with the
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2. Thomas Aquinas
8. Thomas Aquinas on the four parts of law Thomas Aquinas argues that the natural law is a
universal law, which morally binds all human beings. It is based on reason and the purpose is to
promote common good. Aquinas wants to focus on the good over the evil, which is where the
natural or moral law comes into place. Further, the natural law goes hand in hand with the eternal
law. Aquinas divides his definition of law into four parts: reason, the general good, legitimate
authority, and promulgated. The first part, ordinance of reason, refers to the fact that there
should be reason behind doing something otherwise it makes no sense. If a law were enforced
without reason, no one would follow it because it would make no sense. A law needs to be
reasonable to be a law; otherwise no one would follow the law. The second part, the general good,
refers to the fact that something is not a genuine law unless it really does promote the general
good. There is a difference between a rule and a law; according to Aquinas, something is not a law
unless it is really for the sake of the good. Therefore, According to Aquinas, if a law does not
enforce the better, it should not be a law....show more content...
For instance, someone who properly is the right sort of person to be in charge of the community
should be the one with the legitimate authority to put the law into place. If you do not have a
legitimate authority, the law cannot be enforced since this authority figure needs to be someone who
is in a proper state to enforce the law. Therefore, a legitimate authority is needed to enforce a
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3. St. Thomas Aquinas Essay
St. Thomas Aquinas, was a Dominican monk, who generally one of the greatest Scholastic writers of
all times. He used ancient philosophy to prove religious propositions. One of the ancient
philosophers that St. Thomas Aquinas used to prove religious facts was Aristotle. One of the
greatest works that Aristotle did was to prove that god really exists. St. Thomas Aquinas used the
forms that Aristotle and Plato used to prove the same philosophical question, does god really exist?
St. Thomas Aquinas, first started by stating, is the existence of God self–evident.
Here he states that God because he is self–evident, he ahs his own existence. But since we don't
know the true essence of God, this proposition is not self–evident to us. For us to...show more
content...
Here, Aquinas tries to prove that if there is no first efficient cause there wont be no last efficient
cause. Aquinas says that if it is possible to never come to an end in efficient causes there won't be
no first efficient cause and there won't be know end or intermediate effect. Aquinas states that
this is false. So we have to admit that the first efficient cause is God. The third way is derived
form the possible and the necessary. Aquinas begins by saying that if something does not come to
an end there would nothing to follow it. If something does not exist at one point in time nothing
existed. Aquinas says this is not true because if at one point nothing existed nothing could begin
to exist. Not all beings are possible but we just need but we need something to exist before any
beings could exist. Therefore, for a being to exist it has to have necessity through itself and causing
other to have their own necessity. This being is God. In the fourth way, Aquinas, tries to prove the
existence of God through the grades of perfection found in things. Aquinas says that there has to be
a reality that causes all things to exists, to be good, and have their own perfection. This reality is
called God. For example, fire is the hottest thing you can find, therefore, fire is the source of all hot
things. The firth and final way, Aquinas, uses the governance of all things. Aquinas says that beings
that are not
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4. St. Thomas Aquinas Essay
Owen Zimmermann11–20–11
Mrs.DonofreeRel. Pd. B
St. Thomas Aquinas
Saint Thomas Aquinas was a philosopher, theologian, Doctor of the Catholic Church, and is the
patron saint of Catholic Universities, colleges, and schools. He was born in Rocca Secca, Italy, in
1225 and was born into a wealthy family. He even was related to the kings of Aragon, Castile, and
France. His journey into Catholic beliefs seemed predestined, for he was told when he was a young
child that he would become a friar and no one would be equal to him. He started his questioning of
faith and religion when he was a youngster, frequently asking his teachers, "What is God?" Saint
Thomas was a panentheist, meaning that he arrives through logical argument at...show more content...
4) Therefore, there must be an uncaused first cause called God. The third manner of Aquinas'
support of God was that there are two types of beings, contingent beings (humans) and a necessary
being (God). Saint Thomas believed that this necessary being (God), was necessary for the
contingent beings (humans), to exist and without God, we humans would not exist. The easiest way
to explain this very confusing subject would be as follows: 1) Contingent beings are caused. 2) Not
every being can be contingent. 3) There must exist a being that is necessary to cause contingent
beings. 4) This necessary being is God. Saint Thomas Aquinas' fourth argument of the presence of
God came from his observations of the quality of objects. For example one may say that of two
paintings one is more beautiful than the other. So for these two objects, one has a greater degree of
beauty than the next. This is referred to as degrees or graduation of a quality. From this fact
Aquinas concluded that for any given quality (e.g. goodness, beauty, knowledge) there must be a
perfect standard by which all such qualities are measured. These perfections are contained and
reflected in God. God is the ultimate and everything is insufficient compared to His greatness. The
final way that Saint Thomas Aquinas speaks of God's existence has to do with the observable
universe and the order of nature. Aquinas states that common sense tells us that the universe works
in such a way, that
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5. Aquinas First Way
Philosophy 2010
Essay 2
October 20th 2017
Aquinas's First Way
When it comes to studying St. Thomas Aquinas, one of his main philosophies were the five ways.
The five ways are claims and conclusions based on Aquinas's beliefs. Aquinas theory is broken into
premises and a conclusion. In Aquinas's first way he explains how whatever is moved must be
moved by another, meaning that something must come from something before, and before that.
Aquinas believed that nothing could go on for infinity without no "first mover". Aquinas continues
his explanation when he says "This Cannot go on for infinity, because then there would be no first
mover" (textbook). Aquinas concludes that the first initial mover was God.
In Aquinas's first way he states that
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