Introduction of Thomas Aquinas
Thomas? Thomas Aquinas (about 1225? 1March 7, 274) is a philosopher and theologian of medieval scholasticism. He introduced reason into theology and demonstrated the theory of "divine monarchy" with "natural law". After his death, he was also called Dr. Angel (angel saint) or Dr. Almighty. He was one of the earliest advocates of natural theology and the founder of Thomas School of Philosophy, which became an important foundation for Catholicism to study philosophy for a long time. His most famous work is The Complete Book of Theology. The Catholic Church considered him the greatest theologian in history and named him one of the 33 holy teachers in the church. Thomas's works are voluminous, with a total of more than 6,543,800 words. There are many philosophical works: Notes on Proverbs, On Existence and Essence, On Principles of Nature, On Truth and Beauchamp; Note "stands for" anti-heresy "and" theology ".
Thomas Aquinas' Philosophical Thought
"The strongest in intelligence and the weakest in feeling."? Thomas? Aquinas (Italian theologian)
Aquinas' philosophy had a great influence on later _ _ _ _ theology, especially Catholicism. Aquinas' thought also had a great influence on western philosophy. He preserved and modified Aristotle's thought. In philosophy, his most important work is The Complete Book of Theology, in which he elaborated his theological system.
Aquinas believes that God's revelation to human beings can be divided into general revelation and special revelation. Universal enlightenment can be obtained by observing the natural order created by God. Such observation can lead to important conclusions through logical thinking, such as recognizing the existence of God. Aquinas also put forward a famous "five ways" to prove the existence of God with five examples.
Although people can understand the existence of God and some things related to God through the logical thinking of general revelation, other knowledge must be learned through special revelation. In Aquinas' view, Jesus Christ showed that the existence of God is a special revelation. And many important theological foundations of _ _ _ _, such as the concept of trinity, also need to be understood through the church and the spread of classics, not just through logical thinking.
In essence, general revelation and special revelation can actually complement each other, not oppose each other.
Aquinas' ethics is based on what he called "the first principle of behavior". In the Encyclopedia of Theology, he explained this way:
"Virtue represents the use of some kind of power. Although people judge the right or wrong of an action by its result, the result of power is only an action. So if power is perfect, it must also depend on its actions. "
Aquinas listed prudence, temperance, justice and perseverance as the four great virtues of human beings. These four virtues are innate, and they are interrelated. However, Aquinas also pointed out three theological virtues: faith, hope and charity. These three theological virtues are supernatural, and they are different from other virtues in goal:
"The goal of God's theological virtue is God itself, and God is the end of all things, beyond the knowledge that our reason can acquire. On the other hand, the goals of wisdom and morality can be understood by human reason. Therefore, theological virtue is very different from morality and wisdom. "
In addition, Aquinas divided the law into four categories: eternal, natural, human and sacred. Eternal law is the basis of God's rule over all living things, and natural law is the part that human beings "participate in" in eternal law, which can be understood through reason. Natural law is also based on his "the first principle of behavior":
"? The basic principle of all laws is that virtue should be advocated and practiced and evil should be avoided. All other principles of natural law are based on this. "
The desire for survival and reproduction is regarded by Aquinas as the basis of human basic (natural) values, from which all human values come. Human law belongs to positive law and can only be applied to human beings. The laws of nature can be applied to government and society. God's law is a revelation from God through the Bible.
Aquinas denied that human beings have any charitable responsibility to animals, because animals do not belong to human beings, otherwise it is illegal to eat them. However, this does not mean that we have the right to abuse them, because "cruel habits may affect the way we treat other humans."
The contribution of Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas' contribution comes from his persistent study. After discovering Aquinas' theological talent, his family sent him to Domingo Theological Seminary for systematic education, and then he went to Paris University for further study. If we only look at Aquinas' appearance, he is definitely not a pleasing bishop. But his good self-cultivation and good temper make people want to get close to him unconsciously. And all this was given to him by the church.
Thomas Aquinas' contribution is only to study theology as a science. He himself was a missionary and devoted himself to his theology all his life. But in his research, he introduced rational thinking into theology. Aquinas thinks that God's revelation can be divided into general revelation and special revelation. General revelation means that you can get the answer through rational logical thinking, while special revelation is not so easy. Special revelation needs opportunities and miracles. Just like the existence of Jesus, it is a special revelation from God to mankind. Jesus not only has human appearance and temperament, but also has divine perfection. He was also the earliest advocate of natural theology.
At the same time, Aquinas also studied philosophical ethics. In his view, all wisdom is acquired through feeling, which is like a revelation from God. If you don't feel it at the beginning, how can the follow-up research continue? In ethics, he adheres to the principle of "behavior first". He believes that virtue is the use of some kind of power, and the result of power is only action.
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