St. Thomas Aquinas

Aquinas refers to Aristotle as "the Philosopher" in his writings. Aquinas is predominately Aristotelian, but that was not his only influence. Aquinas drew from many different authors, not limiting himself to Aristotle, which is a very good thing. A multitude of influences gives you a wider perspective and not just a replica of Aristotle.

Augustine and Aquinas have a few similarities but they also have differences. First off, they both start with an A; freaky. Secondly, they both believe in God and his power as the supreme being. one of the main differences between these two men is that fact that Augustine relies very much on faith, whereas Aquinas dwells on human reasoning (a central theme to him).

Aquinas is also concerned with beginnings and ends. He reasons that something is predated by something else which causes it to be. But this can't go on backwards forever, so there must be a start, "therefore, there must be a first mover existing above all -- and this we call God." This goes along with human reason because when you think about it how can something go on infinitely back in time. Aquinas, focusing on human reason, must have obviously thought of that in his development of his personal theology.

Aquinas describes rationality as "the distinctive form that intelligence takes in human beings as animals." What separates people from other animals is that the actions of humans are rational. That is what I took it to mean, but then it is said that "reason does not distinguish us from animals; it distinguishes us as animals." At first I thought that my thought was totally wrong then, but then I read into it, and am thinking that it only means that we are still animals. Just because we are rational doesn't separate us from animals, but just other animals besides the animals that we are. Also, rationality is used to reach the end goal of God.

Another idea I found really interesting was imperfection. Whenever we hear about that word today, we automatically give it a bad connotation. But really, it doesn't have to mean that at all. "It can mean 'not as great' by comparison, as in the claim that human beings are imperfect with regard to the angels." It doesn't have to mean faulty or anything bad like that, but it is just saying it is not perfect, which is reserved for the divine.