In the middle of the 13th century, there was a young theology professor at the famous University of Paris. He was nicknamed "The Dumb Cow" because of his silence and meekness. But he was talented and had already emerged at a young age. Some prestigious scholars admired this young man very much. Albert once declared that the voice of "Dumb Cow" would be famous all over the world. Sure enough, the "dumb cow" later became the most famous theologian and scholastic philosopher in the Middle Ages. He was the Italian Thomas Aquinas (1225~1274), the master of medieval Christian scholasticism.
Thomas Aquinas was born into an aristocratic family in Italy. He became a Dominican monk in his youth. He studied at the University of Naples and the University of Paris, following Aristotle. Albert the Great studied and was deeply impressed by it. This became a turning point in his life. Starting in 1257, he taught theology at the University of Paris. He spent 10 years focusing on teaching and writing activities, and was appointed by the Holy See as a theological consultant and lecturer.
At that time, orthodox theologians of the Christian church, such as Anselm, were accustomed to using Plato's transcendental philosophy to elaborate theological doctrines. Facing the increasing rise of nominalist philosophy and Averroism, this ideological system has been unable to adapt to the requirements of the times. Thomas's work was a departure from previous approaches. He first affirmed that theology is a science, which means that God is not only the object of faith, but also the object of intellectual grasp. Then, while affirming the traditional concept of revealed God, Thomas also emphasized the necessity of natural theology, and he himself paid more attention to the study of natural theology issues. Thomas's works extensively used Aristotle's philosophical categories and logical methods to re-demonstrate Christian beliefs and turn it into a completely new system. Thomas had an extremely important influence on the development of Christian thought.
Thomas Aquinas successfully integrated Christian theological thought and Aristotle's philosophy, establishing a huge system of scholastic philosophy. He wrote 18 masterpieces in his life, including the "Summa Theology" and "Summa Philosophy", "On Existence and Essence", "Summa Against Paganism", etc., which are a collection of Christian thoughts.
All the theories of Thomas Aquinas serve the Catholic creed. He clearly stated that philosophy must serve theology. Later, he made a philosophical argument for the highest theological creed of the existence of God. He believed that the existence of God should be understood through God's creation, using the teleology in Aristotle's philosophy. The idealistic thought deduces the existence of God, the creator of all things.
In his book "Summa Theologiae", he believed that the order of the universe is arranged according to a hierarchical ladder, starting from non-living organisms, gradually rising to humans, saints, angels, and the highest is God, each lower level has the purpose of the higher level and strives to achieve this end. So the whole system leans toward God, who is the ultimate purpose of the universe. All knowledge must serve theology, and any knowledge that does not serve the purpose of proving God is sin. Thomas's theology still dominates the ideological system of the Catholic Church to this day. At the end of the 19th century, the Holy See declared Thomas Aquinas's theology to be the highest philosophical authority of the Catholic Church. In today's capitalist world, the so-called neo-Thomism is still popular, which strives to subordinate science to religion and reason to faith.
Thomas Aquinas also strongly advocated the supremacy of the church's power, believing that just as God is higher than man and the soul is higher than the body, the church is higher than the secular state. The pope is the agent of Christ, the political power should be in his hands, the state must obey the church, and the king must obey the pope. He also strongly defended the ruling power of feudal monarchs, believing that monarchy was the best political form, and said that without a ruler to control and guide the people, society would disintegrate.
From the perspective of the immortal soul, Thomas Aquinas vigorously promoted "happiness in the afterlife" and believed that the happiness of earthly life is not the highest happiness. The highest happiness is the contemplation of God, so that the soul can be saved. This can only be done in the afterlife, in the other world, so the struggle for happiness in real life is evil and crime, and the greatest crime is heresy or heresy. All heretics should be burned alive and "destroyed from the face of the world."
After Thomas Aquinas’ all-encompassing system of theological idealism came into being, it was attacked by some orthodox theologians. Three years after his death, the masters of theology in Paris condemned 219 propositions, 12 of which were Thomas's views. In the Middle Ages this was the severest condemnation.
However, the church gave him great support and high reputation during his lifetime, calling him the most glorious "Angelic Doctor". His doctrine soon became the dominant doctrine in the ideological field of Western Europe in the Middle Ages. In 1323, the Pope posthumously named him a "Saint", and in 1567, he was named a "Doctrine". In 1879, Pope Leo XIII issued a bull establishing Thomism as the official theology and philosophy of the Catholic Church. In the 20th century, neo-Thomism was very active in Western intellectual circles.