Saint Thomas Aquinas was educated by Benedictines but eventually chose to join the Dominican order, much to his family's dismay. He continued his education in Paris and Cologne under the tutelage of Albert the Great. During this time, the writings of Aristotle had been rediscovered and were causing ferment in the Christian world of philosophy and theology. Why would a follower of Christ have any interest in the work of an ancient pagan philosopher? Did Aristotle's writings threaten the Church and its mission to spread the word of God?
As I read about Thomas this morning on one of my favorite sites, Universalis, a phrase in Martin Kochanski's short commentary on Thomas caught my attention-"Truth cannot contradict truth: if Aristotle (the great, infallible pagan philosopher) appears to contradict Christianity (which we know by faith to be true), then either Aristotle is wrong or the contradiction is in fact illusory."
This quote reminded me of a conversation I had years ago with my then five-year-old daughter who is now an archeologist. One night, when I climbed the steps to check on her, I found her wide awake, looking at the ceiling and the glow in the dark moon stuck to it.
"What's wrong, honey?" I asked.
She turned her wide eyes toward me and said, "I don't know what to do. I love God, but I love science, too. And the Bible says God made the world in seven days and some people say dinosaurs and people lived at the same time, but science says that isn't true.” She took a deep breath. “I don't know what to pick." Read More