The medieval church

Thomas Aquinas

1225 to 1274 · Italy

Thomas Aquinas (1225 to 1274) was an Italian Dominican friar and the most influential theologian of the medieval church. Nicknamed the dumb ox by classmates for his quiet bulk, he became the towering mind of scholasticism, showing how reason and faith belong together. His unfinished masterwork, the Summa Theologiae, still anchors Catholic theology, and his Five Ways argue from the world to the existence of God.

Life and context

Aquinas was born around 1225 near Aquino, Italy, into a noble family who opposed his joining the new Dominican order and, by one account, confined him for a year to change his mind. He studied under Albert the Great and taught in Paris and Italy at a moment when the newly recovered works of Aristotle were unsettling Christian scholars. Aquinas took up the challenge and produced a vast synthesis of philosophy and theology.

What he taught and wrote

His great works are the Summa contra Gentiles and the Summa Theologiae (1265 to 1274), left unfinished at his death. In it he set out the Five Ways, five arguments reasoning from the world to the existence of God, and treated nearly every question of Christian doctrine and ethics with care. He also wrote luminous Eucharistic hymns. After a profound experience during Mass in December 1273 he stopped writing, saying that all he had written seemed ‘like straw’ compared with what he had seen. He died in 1274 on the way to the Council of Lyon, and was later named a Doctor of the Church.

What his witness points us to

Aquinas believed that reason and faith cannot finally conflict, because both come from God, so honest thinking is a friend of belief, not its enemy. Yet his own life ends with a warning against pride: even the greatest theology is straw beside actually knowing Christ. The mind is meant to lead us to worship.

Frequently asked questions

Who was Thomas Aquinas?

Thomas Aquinas (1225 to 1274) was an Italian Dominican friar and the leading theologian of the medieval church. He is best known for the Summa Theologiae and for showing how reason and Christian faith belong together.

What are the Five Ways of Aquinas?

The Five Ways are five arguments in the Summa Theologiae that reason from features of the world (such as motion, causation, and design) to the existence of God as their ultimate source.

What is the Summa Theologiae?

The Summa Theologiae is Aquinas's vast, systematic treatment of Christian theology and ethics, written from 1265 to 1274 and left unfinished. It remains a foundational text of Catholic thought.