Thomas Aquinas

Thomas Aquinas (, ; ; – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican friar and priest, an influential philosopher and theologian, and a jurist in the tradition of scholasticism from the county of Aquino in the Kingdom of Sicily.

Thomas was a prominent proponent of natural theology and the father of a school of thought (encompassing both theology and philosophy) known as Thomism. He argued that God is the source of the light of natural reason and the light of faith. He embraced several ideas put forward by Aristotle and attempted to synthesize Aristotelian philosophy with the principles of Christianity. He has been described as "the most influential thinker of the medieval period" and "the greatest of the medieval philosopher-theologians". According to the English philosopher Anthony Kenny, Thomas was "one of the greatest philosophers of the Western world".

Thomas's best-known works are the unfinished ''Summa Theologica'', or ''Summa Theologiae'' (1265–1274), the ''Disputed Questions on Truth'' (1256–1259) and the ''Summa contra Gentiles'' (1259–1265). His commentaries on Christian Scripture and on Aristotle also form an important part of his body of work. He is also notable for his Eucharistic hymns, which form a part of the Church's liturgy.

As a Doctor of the Church, Thomas Aquinas is considered one of the Catholic Church's greatest theologians and philosophers. He is known in Catholic theology as the ("Angelic Doctor", with the title "doctor" meaning "teacher"), and the ("Universal Doctor"). In 1999, John Paul II added a new title to these traditional ones: ("Doctor of Humanity/Humaneness"). Provided by Wikipedia