Thomas Aquinas Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Thomas Aquinas - Essay Example He tried to merge the principles of Christianity with Aristotelian philosophy1. Summa Theologica and the Summa contra Gentiles were his greatest works. Because of his great contributions, he was referred to as the Doctor of the Church and was considered the greatest philosopher and theologian. Aquinas was born in Roccasecca in the year 1225 in his father’s castle. He began his education at an early age of five years at Monte Cassino. Later he joined the university where he was introduced to Maimonides, Aristotle, and Averroes, all of whom influenced his career in theology and philosophy. He decided to join the Dominican Order at the age of nineteen, which his family opposed fiercely. His brothers later took him back home before he could reach Rome. He has later held a prisoner in his father’s castle for one year for defiance. Theodora tried to persuade him to abandon his mission to no avail. As a result, the sister assisted him to escape in order to save the family’s name. On the 7th day of March 1274, he died while commentating on the Songs of Songs. Even though he was a scholastic philosopher, he never considered himself one and would criticize other philosophers and call them pagans. He criticized them for "falling short of the true and proper wisdom to be found in Christian revelation." For this reason, he developed a lot of respect for Aristotle and always referred to him as â€Å"the philosopher†. His work has had a major influence on Christian theology, particularly for the Catholic Church and extended to the Western philosophy2. He did a lot of commentary work on Aristotle’s works which include; Metaphysics, Nicomachean ethics and On the Soul. He believed "that for the knowledge of any truth whatsoever man needs divine help, that the intellect may be moved by God to its act.† He also believed that humans possess a unique and natural ability to know very many things without divine intervention from God.

Galileo's Distinction Between Science and Religion Essay

Galileo's Distinction Between Science and Religion - Essay Example He talks of the need for such a distinction in the light of the events that had led him to be at the centre of a controversy regarding the position of the celestial bodies in relation to the earth. Many were of the opinion that his views contradicted those of the Bible. According to the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, these times followed eras where science and theology existed together in harmony (Sickler). This harmony however, tilted the balance in favor of theology and the scriptures on more occasions than not. This led to the stunted development of science in many ways. It is such a scenario that Galileo critiques in his letter and he also comments on the vested interests that had started to operate the forces of the church. He thus, takes the social and material conditions of the church into account while talking about the conflict that had developed between science and religion during his times. While evaluating Galileo’s position, thus, one also has to keep in min d the historical aspects of the seventeenth century. Galileo’s main objection against the intermingling of the interests of science and religion lay in the fact that most of the people who would sit in judgment over the work of a scientist were not qualified to do so. Galileo’s objections are thus, rooted in an urge to allocate duties and functions in a society to the people who are most worthy for it. The ones who accuse Galileo of blasphemy are the ones that do not possess any knowledge of how to assess a book of science. According to Galileo, such people are likely to condemn a work of science â€Å"without understanding it, weighing it, or so much as reading it† (Galilei, 87). Such people are not capable of judging anything but matters that relate strictly to theology. As such, a divide should be effected between science and religion, according to the letter to the Duchess from Galileo. Galileo thus, is one of the first to argue for the introduction of speci alization in different fields. The humanist spirit of the times in which Galileo lived was one of the reasons as to why he argued for the separation of the sciences from religion. Science for Galileo was a field that had endless possibilities that could be exploited to a great extent. Religion, on the other hand was a strict set of rules that prevented this very mobility that was a part of the scientific project of the Renaissance. This was probably why Galileo wanted a separation between the two areas- it would lead to greater freedom for the scientists. They could also assume greater power in the working of the society and thus, be able to assume a position that was similar in the power that it wielded, to the church. An urge to improve one’s position not just in a spiritual sense but also in the monetary and materialist sense was something that the humanist spirit taught people to possess. The letter emphasizes the need for people who were a part of the church to understan d their sphere of work and not act as a result of their vested interests. Galileo talks of how Copernicus was understood during his own times. However, in the seventeenth century, theologians had started to take advantage of certain circumstances and had started to condemn Copernicus without so much as understanding the theories that were discovered and advanced by this scientist and theologian. Religion was something that the church derived from the bible and its teachings. Galileo debates the literal understandings of religion that were endorsed by the church. The word of God, according to Galileo, cannot be understood in a literal way and thus, much of the meaning of