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THOMAS AQUINAS

Dates Lived: 1225-1274

Most important works:

  • Summa Theologica (1274)
  • Summa Contra Gentiles (1264)

Biggest Contributions:

  • Believed that a combination of Faith and Reason led to true knowledge of God
  • Sought rational proofs for the existence of God
  • Greatly influenced the Catholic notions of mortal and venial sins
  • Popularized the rising view of the Lord’s Supper known as “transubstantiation”
  • Apologist for Christianity in a time in which Islam was increasing rapidly

 

Favorite Quotes

“All the efforts of the human mind cannot exhaust the essence of a single fly.”

“The sole way to overcome an adversary of divine truth is from the authority of Scripture.”

“Reason contains certain likenesses of what belongs to faith, and certain preambles to it, as nature is a preamble to grace.”

“In God there is pure truth, with which no falsity or deception can be mingled.”

“If the only way open to us for the knowledge of God were solely that of reason, the human race would remain in the blackest shadows of ignorance.”

“Knowledge must be through faith.”

“All the good that is in a man is due to God.”

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