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Why use a Latin term for a simple turn of phrase like "among other things"? This obscured the meaning for the common reader.
==Biography==
===Early years===
The life of Thomas Aquinas offers many interesting insights into the world of the High Middle Ages. He was born into a family of the south Italian nobility and was through his mother Countess Theadora of Theate related to the Hohenstaufen dynasty of Holy Roman emperors. He was born early in 1225 at his father Count Landulf's castle of Roccasecca in the kingdom of Naples. Landulf's brother, Sinibald, was [[abbot]] of the original [[Rule of St. Benedict|Benedictine ]] [[monastery]] at [[Monte Cassino]], and the family intended Thomas to follow his uncle into that position; this would have been a normal career-path for a younger son of the nobility.
In his fifth year he was sent for his early education to the monastery. However, after studying at the University of Naples, Thomas joined the Dominican order, which along with the Franciscan order represented a revolutionary challenge to the well-established clerical systems of early medieval Europe. This change of heart did not please the family; on the way to Rome, Thomas was seized by his brothers and brought back to his parents at the castle of San Giovanni, where he was held a captive for a year or two to make him relinquish his purpose. According to his earliest biographers, the family even brought a prostitute to tempt him, but he drove her away.
Early in 1274 the Pope directed him to attend the Second Council of Lyons and, though far from well, he undertook the journey. On the way he stopped at the castle of a niece and there became seriously ill. He wished to end his days in a monastery and not being able to reach a house of the Dominicans he was taken to the Cistercians. He died at the monastery of Fossanova, one mile from Sonnino, on [[March 7]], 1274.
Aquinas had made a remarkable impression on all who knew him. He was placed on a level with the [[Apostle Paul]] and [[Augustine of Hippo|Augustine]], receiving the title titles ''doctor angelicus'' ('''''Angelic Doctor) and ''doctor communis'''(Common Doctor).
In 1319, the Roman Catholic Church began investigations preliminary to Aquinas's canonization; on [[July 18]], 1323, he was pronounced a [[saint]] by Pope John XXII at Avignon. At the [[Council of Trent]] only two books were placed on the Altar, the Bible and St. Thomas Aquinas's ''Summa TheologicaTheologiae''.
==Writings==
Orthodox theology has had a complex relationship with Aquinas' work. For a long time, Aquinas and [[Scholasticism|scholastic]] or schoolbook theology was a standard part of the education of Orthodox seminarians. His philosophy found a strong advocate in the person of at least one [[Patriarch of Constantinople]], [[Gennadius Scholarius]].
In the twentieth century, there was a reaction against this "Latin captivity" of the Orthodox theology ([[Florovosky]]), and Orthodox writers have emphasized the otherness of Scholasticism, defining Orthodox theology in contradistinction to it. The criticisms have focused on, ''inter alia''among other things, the theological poverty of Scholasticism, nature, grace, the beatific vision, and Aquinas; defense of the Filioque.
However, more recent scholarship has distinguished between Aquinas and the manner in which his theology was received and altered by the Schoolmen who came after him. Aquinas may be seen as the culmination of patristic tradition, rather than as the initiator of a tradition discontinuous with what came before. [[Vladimir Lossky]], e.g., in praising the existential Thomism of the Catholic philosopher Etienne Gilson, refers to "the authentic Thomism of S. Thomas ..., a thought rich with new perspectives which the philosophical herd, giving in to the natural tendency of the human understanding, was not slow in conceptualizing, and changing into school Thomism, a severe and abstract doctrine, because it has been detached rom its vital source of power." The recent work of Anna Williams and others has pointed to the importance of deification in Aquinas and his similarity with St [[Gregory Palamas]].
Modern readers might also find the method frequently used to reconcile Christian and Aristotelian doctrine rather strenuous. In some cases, the conflict is resolved by showing that a certain term actually has two meanings, the Christian doctrine referring to one meaning, the Aristotelian to the second. Thus, both doctrines can be said to be true. Indeed, noting distinctions is a necessary part of true philosophical inquiry. In most cases, Aquinas finds a reading of the Aristotelian text which might not always satisfy modern scholars of Aristotle but which is a plausible rendering of the Philosopher's meaning and thoroughly Christian.
Many biographies of Aquinas have been written over the centuries, perhaps the most notable is that by [[G. K. Chesterton]].
== References ==
