Thomas Aquinas

Saint

Thomas Aquinas

OP
Saint; Thomas Aquinas; OP
	Panel of a 15th-century altarpiece
Confessor; Doctor of the Church
Born	Tommaso d'Aquino; c. 1225; Roccasecca, Kingdom of Sicily
Died	7 March 1274 (aged 48–49); Fossanova, Papal States
Venerated in	Catholic Church; Anglican Communion; Lutheranism
Canonized	18 July 1323, Avignon, Papal States by Pope John XXII
Major shrine	Church of the Jacobins, Toulouse, France
Feast	28 January, 7 March (pre-1969 Roman calendar/traditional Dominican calendar)
Attributes	The Summa Theologiae, a model church, the sun on the chest of a Dominican friar
Patronage	Academics; against storms; against lightning; apologists; Aquino, Italy; Belcastro, Italy; booksellers; Catholic academies, schools, and universities; chastity; Falena, Italy; learning; pencil makers; philosophers; Saint Philip Neri Seminary; publishers; scholars; students; University of Santo Tomas; Sto. Tomas, Batangas; Mangaldan, Pangasinan; theologians
Other names	Doctor Angelicus (Angelic Doctor); Doctor Communis (Universal Doctor); Doctor Humanitatis (Doctor of Humanity/Humaneness); Bos Mutus (Dumb Ox)
Education
Education	Abbey of Monte Cassino; University of Naples; University of Paris
Philosophical work
Era	Medieval philosophy
Region	Western philosophy
School	Scholasticism; Thomism; Aristotelianism; Theological intellectualism; Moderate realism; Virtue ethics; Natural law; Correspondence theory of truth
Main interests	Metaphysics; Logic; Theology; Mind; Epistemology; Ethics; Politics; Aristotelian theology;
Notable works	Summa Theologiae; Summa contra Gentiles;
Notable ideas	Natural law; Five ways; Analogia entis; Thomistic hylomorphism; Divine simplicity; Essence-existence distinction; Peripatetic axiom; Principle of double effect; Homo unius libri; Infused righteousness; Theological intellectualism; Quiddity; Just price; Determinatio; Actus purus; Actus essendi; Thomistic sacramental theology;

Thomas Aquinas OP (/əˈkwaɪnəs/ ^ⓘ ə-KWY-nəs; Italian: Tommaso d'Aquino, lit. 'Thomas of Aquino'; c. 1225 – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican friar and priest, theologian, and philosopher. He is considered one of the most influential thinkers in the history of Catholic theology and Western philosophy.

Thomas was a proponent of natural theology and the father of a school of thought (encompassing both theology and philosophy) known as Thomism. He argued that God is the source of the light of natural reason and the light of faith. He embraced several ideas put forward by Aristotle and attempted to synthesize Aristotelian philosophy with the principles of Christianity. He has been described as "the most influential thinker of the medieval period" and "the greatest of the medieval philosopher-theologians". Thomas Aquinas's philosophy influenced modern virtue ethics, aesthetics, and cognitive theory. Thomas's best-known works are the unfinished Summa Theologica, or Summa Theologiae (1265–1274), the Disputed Questions on Truth (1256–1259) and the Summa contra Gentiles (1259–1265). His commentaries on Christian Scripture and on Aristotle also form an important part of his body of work. He is also notable for his Eucharistic hymns, which form a part of the Church's liturgy.

As a Doctor of the Church, Thomas is considered one of the Catholic Church's greatest theologians and philosophers. He is known in Catholic theology as the Doctor Angelicus ("Angelic Doctor", with the title "doctor" meaning "teacher"), and the Doctor Communis ("Universal Doctor"). In 1999, Pope John Paul II added a new title to these traditional ones: Doctor Humanitatis ("Doctor of Humanity/Humaneness").