Great Books III Study Questions for Assignment 11

Study Questions for Thomas Aquinas: Faith, Reason, and God's Existence ----THE ANGELIC DOCTOR---- '...his features corresponded with the greatness of his soul. He was of lofty stature and of heavy build, but straight and well proportioned. His complexion was "like the colour of new wheat": his head was large and well shaped, and he was slightly bald. All portraits represent him as noble, meditative, gentle yet b.' --from the Jacques Maritain Center, "Thomas Aquinas"

I. Introductory note from Mr. Douglas Jones "Here are my suggested selections from Aquinas. There are so many interesting things that have to be bypassed that you or your students may find other areas more intriguing given prior discussions. I've selected the four, roughly fifty-page sections below to bring out some of the things Aquinas and other medievals were famous for (arguments for God and the nature of knowledge). I've also picked topics that lead into Reformation topics (habits and grace and law). All of the topics will be a nice foil for future discussions of modernity and postmodernity to follow, especially the material on knowledge. The knowledge will be the toughest reads, but it summarizes much of Aristotle and opposes much later thought. Also, I've included the Pegis introduction (I don't know if you allow secondary readings, but this particular intro just bowled me over when I first read it). Francis Schaeffer and Van Til and other all tend to pitch Aquinas as a conscious synthesizer of paganism and Christianity, but Pegis brings out Aquinas's antithetical direction, especially against Plato. Aquinas fights Plato by taking refuge in Aristotle (a mistake), but he was headed in the right direction. Those medievals who follow Aquinas (such as Scotus and Ockham), will continue Aquinas's antithetical lead and chuck both Plato and Aristotle (never perfectly but again in the right, heroic direction)." II. Background reading on Aquinas' life, work, and influence Please read Schaff's overview of Albertus Magnus, Aquinas's teacher, and of Aquinas himself, in Chapter 13 of The History of the Christian Church, sections 107 and 108. Here also are some further optional readings on the life and influence of Aquinas, one from the Catholic Encycopedia, and one from the Jacques Maritain Center. III. Study questions on the Summa Theologica What are the dates of Aquinas's life? Where did he live and work? Introduction, Page xvi. What are the three particularly significant issues of existence with which Aquinas was involved? Intro, Page xxiii and xxvi. Why is man's soul joined to a material body? Why does man need a body? Sum up Plato's position on matter and the relationship between soul and body, according to part III of the intro, and sum up Aquinas's position. Intro, part IV. How did Aquinas use Aristotle to combat Plato? What is the weakness of Aristotelianism as a weapon against Platonism? Raphael's "The School of Athens" Closeup of Plato and Aristotle More "School of Athens" images Page 9 Why is sacred doctrine nobler than other sicences? To what ultimate end are the ends of all the practical sciences directed? Pages 10-11 What does Aquinas seem to believe wisdom is? Pages 14-15 What is the relationship between faith and reason, according to Aquinas? What is the difference between the authority of Scripture, that of the doctors (teachers) of the church, and that of the pagan philosophers? Pages 16-17 Why is it fitting that Scripture use metaphor? The bottom of Page 16 is an allusion to Aristotle's "Poetics". According to Aristotle, why is man pleased by representations? Page 19 Upon which sense of the words of Scripture can any argument be founded upon? What does "literal sense" mean (see bottom of page)? Pages 21 and 22 In objection 2 and its reply, how does Aquinas deal with Anselm's ontological argument? Pages 25-27 Summarize Aquinas's five arguments for the existence of God.

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