Thomas Aquinas established in Summa Theologica:
- That each human person has an individual soul. This includes both men and women. The possession of a soul confers rights on individuals and means that they should not be made into slaves. This is one of the bases to Western civilization.
- Thomas Aquinas established a Natural Theology about things. He endeavoured to define what things are in themselves and how they relate to God.
- He read the Bible literally, seeking the meaning of each word used in Scripture. He knew Scripture in its entirety.
- Thomas Aquinas went deep into the nature of God: he described the Trinity in a way never preceded nor superseded:
- The Father is existence itself: the principle without principle.
- The Son is begotten of the Father: the principle from a principle.
- The Holy Spirit is the unity of Father and Son, proceeding from the love between them.
The creative power of God is common to the whole Trinity: to the Father is appropriated power – He is the Creator; to the Son is appropriated wisdom – He is the Word; and to the Holy Spirit is appropriated goodness and the giving of life.
Creation had a beginning when the Creator combined form (concept or idea) with matter. Creatio ex nihilo – each creature in its origin was created from nothing.
Acts of creation brought creatures into existence in the beginning. Act is also a participation in God’s existence; God’s Being maintains creatures in being.
Creatures are made of matter. This makes them contingent. It means that they can also cease to be, or cease their existence. The can die.
God knows all that he has created simultaneously and intuitively as he knows his own essence.
If the thought and writings of any one person changed the course of history, it was the thought of Thomas Aquinas. The foundations of Western civilization and Western thought are planted in the writings of this 13th century saint and doctor of the church.
Merry and True 