Aquinas, Faith, and Wisdom

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

Thomas Aquinas is one of the foremost theologians and teachers in the Christian tradition. This course offers a theological introduction to the teachings of the Christian faith through Aquinas's writings, covering his principal claims about God, Christ, human beings, and the Church and sacraments. This topical exploration will highlight the interconnectedness of various doctrines and the systematic quality of Aquinas's own teaching, allowing us to engage with the presentation of a coherent Christian worldview. At the same time, the course emphasizes the dynamic relation between these theological topics as reflected in the structure of the Summa theologiae: God as the beginning and end of all creatures; human beings as made to find their fulfillment in God; and Christ the incarnate God as the way of return, mediated through his sacraments and Church. The course approaches these doctrines under the integrative concept "wisdom," following Aquinas's understanding of the theologian's task as one of growing in the wisdom of God. This task, which puts reason at the service of faith, constitutes an intellectual response to the divine calling of human beings to participate in the supernatural life.