Voices and influences
Thomas Aquinas
He wrote the most careful theology of the Middle Ages, then saw something of God and called all of it straw.
Summary
This site quotes Thomas Aquinas 295 times across 17 books, and lists 0 works.
- Lived died 1274.
- Quoted here most in Isaiah: 111 of 295.
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Thomas Aquinas
- Lived
- died 1274
- Tradition
- Patristic
5 of 295 quotations
Own words
Quoted at 50 words or fewer, because Thomas Aquinas's works are in copyright.
Next he sets forth the manner; hence he says, "Their fatness." Fatness in Scripture is sometimes taken in a good sense, sometimes in a bad sense. In a good sense, insofar as it signifies devotion of mind: Ps. 62: "Let my soul be filled as …
Psalms 17:10 They have closed their callous hearts; their mouths speak with arrogance. BSB
"They surrounded me." Here the necessity of deliverance is set forth. And first he shows the magnitude of deliverance. Second, the prayer he pours forth to God in tribulation. Third, he sets forth the hearing of his prayer, "he heard." Note that these three -- …
Psalms 18:4 The cords of death encompassed me; the torrents of chaos overwhelmed me. BSB
Next he applies the remedy, namely of divine help. Where first he proposes the remedy. Second he explains it. He says therefore, "Within myself." Another reading has, "From myself my soul was disturbed." The first is better; as if to say: what is the reason, …
Psalms 42:6 O my God, my soul despairs within me. Therefore I remember You from the land of Jordan and the peaks of Hermon— even from Mount Mizar. BSB
"Therefore we will not fear." Ps. 26: "The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?" As if to say: I will fear no one. And rightly, because he himself is "our God, a refuge and strength, a helper in the tribulations …
Psalms 46:2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth is transformed and the mountains are toppled into the depths of the seas, BSB
Fourth, in the fear of their enemies, for they will tend the mountains and abandon the plains: and as for the hills: and all her cities shall be wastes (Jer 49:13), and: you endeavor to lay hold on the height of the hill (Jer 49:16).
Isaiah 7:25 For fear of the briers and thorns, you will no longer traverse the hills once tilled by the hoe; they will become places for oxen to graze and sheep to trample. BSB
Influence, on the record
This site quotes Thomas Aquinas 295 times across 17 books.
This site’s own count of what it does with the voice
The life, in order
The life told as one accountfrom this site's record
Thomas was born about 1225 at Roccasecca, between Rome and Naples, the youngest son of the count of Aquino. His family sent him at five to the great Benedictine abbey of Monte Cassino, expecting him eventually to be its abbot — a rich and respectable position for a younger son. He studied at Naples instead, met the Dominicans, and joined them. The Dominicans were beggars. His family reacted by having him kidnapped on the road and held in the family castle for about a year. His brothers, according to the early accounts, put a prostitute in his room to break his resolve; he drove her out with a burning stick. His mother finally let him go. He went north to Cologne and Paris and studied under Albert the Great. He was large and silent, and the other students called him the dumb ox. Albert told them that the bellowing of this ox would be heard around the world. He taught at Paris, at the papal court, at Naples. He wrote at enormous speed, sometimes dictating to several secretaries at once on different subjects. The project of his life was to show that reason and revelation do not contradict each other. The works of Aristotle had recently come back into Europe through Arabic and Greek translations, and they looked dangerous — a complete, powerful account of the world built without Scripture. Some churchmen wanted them banned. Thomas took them up instead and argued that truth found by reason and truth given by revelation come from the same God, and cannot finally conflict. Grace, he wrote, does not destroy nature but perfects it. The Summa Theologiae is the result: thousands of questions, each stated, each answered first by the strongest objections against his own position, then decided, then the objections answered one by one. He wrote it, he said, for beginners. He also wrote the Summa Contra Gentiles, and commentaries on most of Aristotle and on much of Scripture — Job, the Psalms, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Matthew, John, and all of Paul. The Eucharistic hymns Pange Lingua and Adoro Te Devote are his. On 6 December 1273, while saying Mass at Naples, something happened to him. He stopped writing. His secretary Reginald pressed him to finish the Summa, and Thomas answered: I cannot, because everything I have written seems like straw to me compared to what I have seen. He never wrote another line. The Summa is unfinished. He died on 7 March 1274 at the abbey of Fossanova, on the road to a church council, about forty-nine years old. Sources: Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae and Summa Contra Gentiles; William of Tocco, Vita Sancti Thomae Aquinatis; G. K. Chesterton, St. Thomas Aquinas; Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church, vol. V.
295 quotations across 17 books
Where this voice is quoted
And again: “I will put My trust in Him.” And once again: “Here am I, and the children God has given Me.”
“133. – Then when he says, and again, he shows that Christ Himself depends on the Father by the fact that He says, I will put my trust in him: 'In you, Lord, have I hoped; let me never be confounded' (Ps. 30:2).”
Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you hear His voice,
“170. – Having proved that Christ is greater than Moses, the Apostle now concludes that Christ is more deserving of our obedience. He does this by the authority of David the prophet in Psalm 94.”
do not harden your hearts, as you did in the rebellion, in the day of testing in the wilderness,
“175. – Therefore, if that is the benefit, here is the admonition, harden not your hearts. For a hard heart smacks of evil. That is hard which does not yield, but resists and does not receive an impression.”
Therefore I was angry with that generation, and I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known My ways.’
“181. – Then (v. 10b) he describes the punishment for their sin. For which cause, i.e., for which sin, I was provoked, i.e., outraged: not that there is anger in God except metaphorically, because He punishes as one in anger does.”
Since, then, it remains for some to enter His rest, and since those who formerly heard the good news did not enter because of their disobedience, God again designated a…
“Therefore, he extracts two things: one is well known, namely, that the ancestral fathers did not enter; the other is that during the time of David there remained another rest to be given.”
For it is clear that our Lord descended from Judah, a tribe as to which Moses said nothing about priests.
“357. – Then he explains what he had said, saying, It is evident that our Lord descended from Judah: 'The lion of the tribe of Judah has conquered' (Rev. 5:5). In connection with that tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning priests.”
But because Jesus lives forever, He has a permanent priesthood.
“368. – He shows that he is the true priest, because the others were prevented by death from continuing, because all must die. Hence, when Aaron died, Eleazar succeeded, as is clear from Numbers (20:28) and so on.”
In the same way, he sprinkled with blood the tabernacle and all the vessels used in worship.
“458. – Then when he says, the tabernacle also and all the vessels used in worship, in the same way he sprinkled with blood, he describes the consecration of the tabernacle.”
According to the law, in fact, nearly everything must be purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
“460. – Then (v. 22) he continues with other cleansings in the Law. But cleansings were of two kinds: one from bodily stain, as leprosy, the other from spiritual, namely sin.”
because by a single offering He has made perfect for all time those who are being sanctified.
“499. – Then (v. 14) he gives the reason why He sits as Lord and not as a minister similar to the priests of the Old Testament, who could not take away sin by one sacrifice and, consequently, had to offer many others frequently: 'Every…”
Now those who say such things show that they are seeking a country of their own.
“597. – Then (v. 14) he shows that this confession pertains to hope. For one is a guest and a stranger, unless he is outside his country and going to it.”
If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return.
“598. – But because someone might say that it is true that they were pilgrims in the land of the Philistines and Canaanites, among whom they dwelt, but they intended to return to the land they had left; he rejected this when he says, If…”
By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites and gave instructions about his bones.
“609. – Then (v. 22) he continues with the example of Joseph's faith and mentions two things which are stated in the last chapter of Genesis, where he said to his brothers (v.”
No discipline seems enjoyable at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it yields a harvest of righteousness and peace to those who have been trained by it.
“681. – He continues: All discipline [chastisement] seems painful rather than pleasant; later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness [justice] to those who have been trained by it. This is the third reason, which is drawn from the benefit of the correction.”
Make straight paths for your feet, so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.
“685. – Then (v. 13) he rebukes the sin of transgression. Now that sin is a kind of obliqueness and curvature.”
The sight was so terrifying that even Moses said, “I am trembling with fear.”
“703. – From all this he draws the conclusion, namely, that they were terrifying things, because not even the beasts were spared; hence he says, and so terrible was the sight.”
Therefore, since we are receiving an unshakable kingdom, let us be filled with gratitude, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe.
“722. – Then when he says, Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, he reaches the main conclusion.”
So we say with confidence: “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?”
“And what shall we say? The words of Ps. 117 (v. 6): 'The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid; what can man do to me.'”
And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate, to sanctify the people by His own blood.
“Wherefore, Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people by his own blood, suffered outside the gate. He adapts what was prefigured in the New Testament to the figure of the Old Testament, so that there might be agreement between them.”
equip you with every good thing to do His will. And may He accomplish in us what is pleasing in His sight through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever…
“Then he adds his petition when he says, May he equip [fit] you with everything good. For the human will, since it is the inclination of reason, is the principle of human acts, as heaviness is the principle of downward movement of heavy bodies; hence…”
Be aware that our brother Timothy has been released. If he arrives soon, I will come with him to see you.
“Then he recommends the one through whom he writes, saying, You should understand that our brother Timothy has been released, namely, from prison, where he was with the Apostle.”
Greet all your leaders and all the saints. Those from Italy send you greetings.
“Then he gives the greeting: first, he asks them to greet the others, saying, Greet all your prelates, i.e., the apostles still living, and all the saints, namely, the other disciples.”