St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), a Dominican priest theologian and Aristotelian philosopher, is an intellectual giant both in theology and philosophy. His thinking is known as the thomism in theology and the neo-scholasticism in Philosophy. What makes Aquinas’ thinking so unique is attributed to his abilities to apply authentic Aristotelian paradigm into theology so that faith and reason can dialogue to bring forth both rational and empirical appreciation of faith and other theological concepts. As Angelic Doctor of the Church, he is an intellectual pillar of the Church, and thomistic theological thinking continues to influence theology today.
When the Church’s influence began to wane upon
Renaissance in the 14th century, thomism/neo-scholasticism started
losing its dominant position in the Western intellectual tradition to the rise
of modernism. In this Renaissance-driven modernism, humanism began to walk its
own way. Thus, secularism arose and began to gain its popularity in the Western
intellectual tradition. Then, more and more learned people sought wisdom in
secular humanism rather than in God, while believing that there is no absolute
truth as every truth is relative. Thus, relativism emerged out of evolving
modernism, as opposed to the thomism/neo-scholasticism of St. Thomas Aquinas.
By the time secularism and relativism began to characterize modernism, more and
more learned people sought wisdom in atheistic secular philosophies and heretic
thoughts, such as the pantheism of Baruch Spinoza.
For more than 700
years, ever since Renaissance, the Church has been in battle with the
secularization of humanism and modernism, from which relativism emerged. In
spite of the Church’s efforts, secular modernism remained powerful and kept the
thomism/neo-scholasticism of St. Thomas Aquinas relatively relatively less
influential. So, finally, as communism began to rise out of this evolving trend
of secular modernism with relativism, in the late 19th century, Pope
Leo XIII made notable efforts to revive the St. Thomas Aquinas’ neo-schalastic
thomism. Though their applications are different, Pope St. John Paul II, Pope
Benedict XVI, and Pope Francis are all embrace the thomism in their theological
background. In fact, St. John Paul II’s “Fide
et Ratio” refreshes the thomistic realism dialogue of faith and reason.
So, why the
neo-scholastic thomism of St. Thomas Aquinas today in this post-modernistic
era?
First and foremost, it
is for conversion back to the thomistic way to put reason in dialogue with
faith, so that we find wisdom in God but not worldly secular humanism. It is,
therefore, to recover the original Christian humanism in the context of faith:
the relationship between God and the humans. By returning to the neo-scholastic
thomism, we can recover humility, which is an indispensable virtue to attain
true wisdom through faith in God. This is an important inoculation to one of
the modernistic secular humanism’s pathologies: human arrogance illusion,
rooted in egoistic price.
As modernistic secular
humanism continue to evolve since Renaissance, the humans has fallen into this
illusion: we have become “too smart” to believe in God. As we think we can find
enough wisdom outside the domain of God, such as secularism humanism, we
relativized God and even denied God or regarded God as a mere human construct
and illusion. Remember, Richard Dawkins, Oxford biologist, seemed to have
thought that the humans can outsmart God with science, though he also seemed to
have viewed God as a delusion. Outsmarting God? Rather than God, such a
thinking like Dawkins’ is an illusion, and this is like the human arrogance
symbolized with the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1-9).
Dawkins is a good
example of human arrogance as a result of pursuing wisdom in philosophy and
science away from God, as a result of reason and humanism deviating from faith
in God. And, an end of this deviation is becoming “wise” and arrogant, as a
consequence of pursuing wisdom in a wrong place.
To counter this problem, we need to visit and revisit the neo-schalastic thomisn of St. Thomas Aquinas, in particular, his teaching on humility.
In Summa Theologiae, St. Thomas Aquinas wrote:
Humility
restrains the appetite from aiming at great things against right reason: while
magnanimity urges the mind to great things in accord with right reason. Hence
it is clear that magnanimity is not opposed to humility: indeed they concur in
this, that each is according to right reason. ST II-2 161
Pursuing great things against right reason is what
our ego drives in the context of secular modernism. And this will produce the “wise”
like Richard Dawkins.
Inherently, we have the appetite for great things.
And, St. Ignatius of Loyola would agree, as his lived and let his fellow
Jesuits live with the motto of “Ad
Majorem Dei Gloriam”, not just “Ad Dei Gloriam”. The word, “majorem”, means “greater”.
Ignatius sure had the appetite for great things. But, this appetite was
not directed to satisfy himself but to please God. And, what Aquinas says of
right reason for great things is said so well by St. Ignatius of Loyola: Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam.
In Question 161 in Summa Theologiae,
St. Thomas Aquinas also reminds us that magnanimity is not contrary to
humility, as long as it is with right reason: Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam, as well-said by St. Ignatius of Loyola.
So, St. Thomas Aquinas says that humility safeguards
our inherent appetite for magnanimity going against right reason, preventing us
from falling in a delusion of secular modernism, as Dawkins did. In fact, this is the kind of wisdom that St.
Thomas Aquinas has been exemplified. And this is echoed in Proverbs 11:2:
When
pride comes, disgrace comes; but with the humble is wisdom.
As wisdom is revealed by Christ through his Word and
the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:8) only to the humble but kept away from the
self-righteous and arrogantly wise, as Jesus has indicated:
I
give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have
hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the
childlike. Matthew 11:25
In fact, St. Thomas Aquinas has been known for his
humility. Though his contribution to the Church is enormously great, Aquinas
had never take pride in himself but remained humble to the one, whom he served,
namely God.
The First Reading for his memorial feast Mass on
January 28 (Wisdom 7:7-10, 15-16) reflects the fact that St. Thomas Aquinas was
deeply in love with wisdom, thus, being directed by God, who guide wisdom and
directs those who love wisdom. As such a lover of wisdom, St. Thomas Aquinas
sure is a philosopher but his love of wisdom is a reflection of his humility. The
Responsorial Psalm (Psalm 119:9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14) and the Gospel Reading (Matthew 23:8-12) remind us that humility is indispensable to be benefitted with wisdom
from God, as St. Thomas Aquinas is. The refrain from the Responsorial Psalm, “Lord, teach me your statutes”(Psalm
119:12) must be a prayer that Aquinas prayed everyday, and God revealed wisdom
to him for this humble prayer from his heart.
In response to his humility, God revealed wisdom to
St. Thomas Aquinas. Thus, his teaching reflects this wisdom from God. And his
humility enabled Aquinas to make such great contributions to the Church as his
pursuit of appetite for great things with right reason, resulting in
magnanimity. The quality and volume of his works, fitting for the title of
Angelic Doctor of the Church, sure is this magnanimity, echoed by what St.
Ignatius of Loyola called “magis”. And, as reflected in his teaching,
neo-scholastic thomism, based upon humility, we can stay closer to God and draw
deeper understanding of God in the context of our faith with reason.
As we are still affected by secular modernism, resulting in so many problems, we need to consult St. Thomas Aquinas for inoculation. And, he calls us to be humble for wisdom revealed by God. Then, we let our faith and reason dialogue to let this humility-based wisdom work for our appetite for great things in magnanimity. Of course, it is not for us but Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam, as St. Ignatius of Loyola knows.
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