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Question: St!. Thomas Aquinas questions!!?
Questions and St!.Thomas Aquinas-

was he religious!? if so, which religion and to which denomination did he belong!?
What important work did he do in his life!?
which book was his final and greatest work!?
Why did Aquinas stop writing!?

Please help anyone who has studied this, thanks!Www@QuestionHome@Com


Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
His two best known works are "Summa Theologica" and "Summa Contra Gentiles"

Aquinas was a deeply religious man, but he was also a philosopher!. "… the believer and the philosopher consider creatures differently!. The philosopher considers what belongs to their proper natures, while the believer considers only what is true of creatures insofar as they are related to God, for example, that they are created by God and are subject to him, and the like!." (Summa contra gentiles, bk II, chap!. 4)

He was quite well known for his writings on Aristotle's work!.

One of the most important things about him, and something that influenced Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr!. and many others, is when he spoke of Natural law and divine!. law!. "Eternal law is the decree of God that governs all creation!. Natural law is the human "participation" in the eternal law and is discovered by reason!." So by reading that, you can see that a human law may not coincide with divine law, so what law would you then follow!? The law of man!? Or the law of god!? Read Martin Luther King Jr's "letter from a Birmingham jail" and you can get a understanding of the importance of Aquinas!.

I am not a big believer in god, but as a philosopher i recognize the importance of much of his work!. One of his important ideas to come out was his "Five Ways!." [five reasons for the existence of god!.

1!. God is simple, without composition of parts, such as body and soul, or matter and form!.
2!. God is perfect, lacking nothing!. That is, God is distinguished from other beings on account of God's complete actuality!.
3!. God is infinite!. That is, God is not infinite in the ways that created beings are physically, intellectually, and emotionally limited!. This infinity is to be distinguished from infinity of size and infinity of number!.
4!. God is immutable, incapable of change on the levels of God's essence and character!.
5!. God is one, without diversification within God's self!. The unity of God is such that God's essence is the same as God's existence!. In Aquinas's words, "in itself the proposition 'God exists' is necessarily true, for in it subject and predicate are the same!."

[the answer under me says he was from England, no, he was an Italian Catholic!.]Www@QuestionHome@Com

Ok the first guy is right about his best known works!. Considering he's a Saint, I would assume he was religious!. He was an RC (Roman Catholic) in England!. I assume he stopped writing cuz he died!. He was also considered a genius!. And dispelled a couple heresies!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Saint Thomas Aquinas, was an Italian Catholic priest in the Dominican Order!.

The works for which he is best-known are the Summa Theologica and the Summa Contra GentilesWww@QuestionHome@Com

http://en!.wikipedia!.org/wiki/Thomas_Aqui!.!.!.Www@QuestionHome@Com