Saint Andrew’s Episcopal Church
Lake Worth, Florida
The Feast of Saint Thomas Aquinas [January 28, 2006]
Canon Richard T. Nolan
“WHY COMMEMORATE THE REV. DR. THOMAS D’AQUINO, O.P.1 [c.1225-1274]? ”
[address on St. Thomas - including the primary reasons for the existence of several Christian theologies and their implications for churchgoers not particularly interested in theology]
During my nearly four decades as a philosophy and religion professor, I often referred to the four foundational thinkers – or pillars – of Western Civilizations: Plato (428-347 B.C.E.)2, Aristotle (384-322 B.C.E.), Augustine (354-430 C.E.), and, Aquinas (c.1225-1274 C.E.)3. For all intents and purposes, numerous scholars have been adaptations of these four. Aquinas was undoubtedly the greatest theologian of the high middle Ages (1050-1400), and, next to Augustine, perhaps the greatest theologian in the history of Western Christianity.
Thomas (or Tommaso) was born into the noble, Italian Aquino (Aquinas) family about 1225. Educated under Benedictine and Dominican monks and at the universities of Naples, Paris, and Cologne, he received a doctorate in theology at the prestigious University of Paris and taught there until 1259. During his early student days, he was nicknamed “The Dumb Ox,” based on his quiet, slow moving manner and impressions that he was unintelligent. Some of his contemporaries noted that Thomas was obese and dark-complexioned, with a large head and receding hairline. In any case, his manners always showed his aristocratic breeding; he was described as refined, sociable, good-natured, and prayerful. His personal tastes were simple. After entering the new Dominican Order (1244) and establishing himself as a credentialed academic during an age of intellectual upheaval, he became an outstanding scholar and teacher. In argument, he maintained self-control and won over opponents by his personality and great learning. His associates were especially impressed by his power of memory. When absorbed in thought, he often forgot his surroundings.
Aquinas focused on harmonizing the newly rediscovered teachings of Aristotle with Christian theology. One might say that he “baptized” Aristotle’s philosophy, although Thomas felt free to make corrections. Even today, his extensive writings continue to exercise profound influence on Christian thought and philosophy. He was considered a bold thinker, even a “radical” for his day, and aspects of his thought were at one time condemned by church authorities. Aquinas's insistence that the Christian scholar must be prepared to meet other scholars on their own ground, to become familiar with their viewpoints, to argue from their premises, has been among his permanent and valuable contributions to the evolution of Christian thought. He had great respect for Jewish and Islamic thinking. (After my concluding words tonight, I have listed several websites that contain information about his life and writings.)
Thomas died in 1274, in his forties, and almost fifty years later was canonized a Saint; he is often referred to as the Angelic Doctor and Universal Teacher to the Church. His brilliant, comprehensive scholarship that embraced the whole life of the Church eventually earned special church-wide respect in the field of Roman Catholic learning. The ecclesiastical law of the Catholic Church, revised in 19184, states that students for the priesthood are to study at least two years of philosophy and four of theology “following the teaching of St. Thomas.”The category “Thomist” has been applied to his thought and to his followers, who may differ a bit in their “Thomisms.” Pope John Paul II was very much a Thomist, and Pope Benedict is a mix of Augustinian and Thomistic thought. On January 28, 1369, his remains were transferred to a basilica in Toulouse in southern France, this date chosen for his feast day.
Episcopalians have not only inherited scholarly insights from Aquinas, but also his several eucharistic hymns, including the words to tonight’s hymn at the offertory “O saving Victim, opening wide.” (310). Additional hymns are “Humbly I adore thee” (314), “Zion, praise thy Savior” (320) and “Now my tongue, the mystery telling” (329-331). As well, Thomas wrote the Prayer Book collect “Of the Holy Eucharist” (pp. 201 and 252) and a prayer “After Receiving Communion” (p. 834). We have been touched by his greatness.
A major weakness in Aquinas’s thought is, as with many other scholars in most fields of study, his belief that his starting points or assumptions (that is, his self-evident ideas taken for granted), were impartial, objective, and without error or bias. As he developed with logical rigor his comprehensive system built on those assumptions, he seemed sure that he was reaching absolute and certain Truths. Instead, he developed a remarkable worldview, an image of the universe and humanity, a “school of thought,” dependent on the accuracy of what he had initially taken for granted. And therein rests the big problem for him and so many others. Many of Thomas’s starting points were fallible; even at their best, they were conditioned by his culture, his human limitations, and his most fundamental, unverified personal outlook. He took to his formulations and explanations, as we all do, a context, a particular intellectual outlook with a personal set of emotions. Furthermore, with no knowledge of biblical languages5, always working from Latin texts and a minimal knowledge of history, Aquinas’s own context was unable to perceive the Hebraic worldviews necessary for reliable scholarly work on the convictions embedded in the Bible; in other words, he tried to understand the Jewish mind of Christ within an Aristotelian framework.
As his system evolved, Thomas established teachings rejected by other Christian schools of thought then and now. For example, according to Thomas, slavery is acceptable; heretics should be put to death; in his own words, "As regards the individual nature, woman is defective and misbegotten….”; evil demons cohabit with witches; an important benefit of salvation for the Righteous is the opportunity to watch the Unfaithful being tortured in hell; the bread and wine of the Holy Communion actually become in substance (though not appearance) the body and blood of Jesus Christ (i.e., transubstantiation), and so on.
Then, why do we honor him today, if so many of his perceptions and interpretations are quite limited and questionable? We must remember that historical luminaries of the Christian community serve for us as inspiring examples of particular qualities. According to an Episcopal document (Lesser Feasts and Fasts), "Christians have since ancient times honored men and women whose lives represent heroic commitment to Christ... [We] are not dealing primarily with absolutes of perfection but human lives, in all their diversity, open to the motions of the Holy Spirit. Many a holy life, when carefully examined, will reveal flaws or the bias of a particular moment in history or ecclesial perspective. ... And what, in one age, was taken as virtue may at another time seem misguided." I do not think that the choice to honor Thomas Aquinas has been ill advised.
Tonight’s reading from Matthew (appointed for the Feast of St. Thomas) warns that the good and bad will be separated from within the church at the last judgment, and the unrighteous will be punished. Clearly, Thomas was a righteous individual. The reference to a scribe reminds us that a specially trained Hebrew writer or scribe was to study, interpret, and transmit the will of God as conveyed in the Bible. For Matthew, scribes following Christ were to not only preserve the tradition, but also to bring out new realities come to life in the Gospel. The process of reinterpreting Jesus’ ministry has continued ever since among Christian scholars and preachers. We try to enable the old to be said today in new circumstances and with new scholarly insights and tools. Aquinas clearly was an exemplary scribe, given the perceptions and tools available to him. Whatever his deficiencies were, as the Feast’s collect noted, Thomas was a man of singular learning and holiness, a disciplined, thoughtful scholar – a model especially for those of us immersed in philosophy and theology.
We are apt to fail, as many are doing today6 , whenever human beings assume that their starting points or assumptions(that is, our self-evident ideas taken for granted), are impartial, objective, and without any error or bias. We may indeed develop sophisticated schools of thought, but we can never attain God-like knowledge, understanding, or certainty. This is why “agreeing to differ” has been at the heart of traditional Anglicanism as it originated three centuries after Aquinas. Being well-disposed to scholarly diversity while finding our unity in corporate acts of worship is a quality of intellectual and heartfelt humility before God.
On this Feast of St. Thomas Aquinas, may you and I, whether or not interested in theology, renew our reverence for scholarly efforts to understand the will of God as it affects the Church and influences our personal lives! May we be inspired to gain knowledge about what we do here tonight in prayer! May we uphold the Anglican way of agreeing to differ among well-founded schools of thought! May we accept the Holy Spirit’s nurture whenever we unite for worship! Though imperfect, may you and I at all times process toward Righteousness in both heart and mind – as did The Reverend Doctor Tommaso d’Aquino, O.P.! Amen.
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LINKS TO RESOURCES RELATED TO SAINT THOMAS AQUINAS
http://www.homestead.com/philofreligion/files/Aquinashandout.html
http://www.ccel.org/a/aquinas/
http://www.home.duq.edu/~bonin/thomasbibliography.html
http://www.op.org/domcentral/study/TA.htm
http://www.thomistica.net/thomistica/
THE COLLECT
Almighty God, you have enriched your Church with the singular learning and holiness of your servant Thomas Aquinas: Enlighten us more and more, we pray, by the disciplined thinking and teaching of Christian scholars, and deepen our devotion by the example of saintly lives; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
THE GOSPEL - Matthew 13:47-52
Jesus told his disciples, "The kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and caught fish of every kind; when it was full, they drew it ashore, sat down, and put the good into baskets but threw out the bad. So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
"Have you understood all this?" They answered, "Yes." And he said to them, "Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a household who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old."
Benozzo Gozzoli. section from Triumph of St. Thomas Aquinas. 1471. Musee du Louvre, Paris.
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(1) O.P. normally follows a Dominican’s name, in that the Dominican Order is the “Order of Preachers” From the beginning of the Dominicans, St. Dominic, the founder, established it "for preaching and the salvation of souls." Members were sent out to share the Good News of Christ wherever people were searching for meaning and truth.
(2) B.C.E. (Before the Common Era) is frequently used today instead of B.C. (Before Christ); C.E. (the Common Era) is substituted for A.D. (Anno Domini the year of Our Lord).
(3) Thomas’ birth year may have been 1227 or 1225. C. immediately before a year indicates circa, Latin for “approximately.”
(4) Whether this requirement remains in 2006 is uncertain to me.
(5) Hebrew, Aramaic, and Koine Greek
(6) For example: biblical literalists; fundamentalists; “preservers” who resist new, researched information; counterfeit Anglicans who reject “agreeing to differ” within the traditional, broad Anglican spectrum of belief and practice
