Enquiring into Aquinas

There is no doubt that Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) is one of the most influential Christian thinkers.

The foremost Roman Catholic theologian, he is considered the patron saint of Catholic schools. So why should Evangelical Protestants pay him any attention?

Big vision

Thomas Aquinas was a theologian with big vision. He held together faith and reason and wrote extensively (the print edition of his collected works runs to 20,000 pages). Thomas Aquinas, revered by the Roman Catholic Church, has also influenced many Protestant apologists such as Norman Geisler, R.C. Sproul, William Lane Craig, and John Gerstner.

It is worth noting that while Aquinas was a Roman Catholic this was centuries before the Reformation and the Council of Trent. The Catholicism of Thomas did not include the immaculate conception of Mary or the infallibility of the Pope. It did include a devout commitment to the authority of God’s word and desire for faithful exposition. So it should not surprise us that we can all learn from Thomas Aquinas.

Natural reason

Aquinas had a positive view of natural reason. What that means is that he thought the pagan philosophy of the Greeks could help us understand truth about God. The most influential of these philosophers would be Aristotle. Aquinas found ways to argue for the existence of God in the work of this pagan philosopher. He also demonstrated an approach to apologetics that could take into account the views of opponents and the evidence from science. It reflected the conviction that ‘all truth is God’s truth.’ Sometimes it can pay to read or listen to the non-Christians in their own words before we make our response. Aquinas did that.

His most famous work is an overview of theology called the Summa Theologica. It is so long he never actually got to finish it. But a less-known earlier work is the Summa Contra Gentiles. This was his training manual to help missionaries reach Muslims. Aquinas uses arguments based on natural reason, rather than on the Bible alone, to engage and persuade pagan people.

Reaching Muslims

In the opening of the Summa Contra Gentiles Aquinas writes: ‘Against the Jews we are able to argue by means of the Old Testament, while with heretics we are able to argue by means of the New Testament. But the Muslims and the pagans accept neither the one nor the other. We must, therefore, have recourse to the natural reason, to which all men are forced to give their assent.’ Many would still say this is risky – could we compromise or distort our faith to make it understandable to a non-believer?

Martin Luther would have warned us away from Thomas Aquinas. For Luther the stuff of such theology was the very thing that had got the Church into such a mess. He dismissed Aquinas as someone who had never understood the gospel and as for the philosopher Aristotle, Luther described him as an ‘urchin who must be put in the pig-sty’, his influence on theology ‘torn out by the roots.’ Luther had a way with words. Aquinas understood the problem. He taught that reason had limits. Reason can’t produce faith, but it can lead us to faith. While reason does not create faith, it can sustain faith and help us understand our theology. This is helpful advice for apologetics. Reason and faith need not be in tension but can serve each other.

A word for today

Despite the dangers, Thomas Aquinas cannot be dismissed. He offers great ideas, arguments and application of the Christian worldview to matters like science, ethics and warfare. Some of his arguments continue to be read and discussed in school curriculums up and down our land. Of course, Luther’s scorn is also worth listening to – apologetics can use natural reason, but should never be subservient to it. The great mind of Thomas Aquinas provides a model for faith and reason in harmony.

Also, Thomas Aquinas was known for terrible handwriting. Copies of his work in his own hand still exist. They are almost illegible. For some odd reason I find this fact quite encouraging!