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
So the pride of man will be brought low, and the loftiness of men will be humbled; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day,
“Here it is as if he concludes the proposition; and it is entirely the same as what was said before, except that something is added about the destruction of idols, so that he alone may be shown to be the highest.”
So mankind will be brought low, and each man humbled; the arrogant will lower their eyes.
“183. Second, as to the lowering of the captives: and man shall be brought down, being in captivity, as to the high ones, and man shall be humbled, as to the powerful, and the eyes of the lofty, as to the glorious ones: neither shall…”
Their roaring is like that of a lion; they roar like young lions. They growl and seize their prey; they carry it away from deliverance.
“201. Their roaring. Here he shows that they are cruel for punishing. And first, as to their vehemence: roaring: they shall walk after the Lord, he shall roar as a lion: because he shall roar, and the children of the sea shall fear (Hos 11:10).”
Make the hearts of this people calloused; deafen their ears and close their eyes.
“228. Second, the acceptance of the sentence is set out. And these are the words of prophet; hence he says: O Lord, from that by which the Gentiles shall come in, strike Israel with blindness (Rom 11:25): blind the heart, inwardly, and make their ears…”
until the LORD has driven men far away and the land is utterly forsaken.
“229 [cont.]. As to the exile of men: and the Lord shall remove men far away: and I will send you, and your mother that bore you, into a strange country, in which you were not born, and there you shall die (Jer 22:26).”
And though a tenth remains in the land, it will be burned again.
“231. Third, as to repeated persecution: and first, he places their small number: and there shall be still a tithing therein, that is, barely a tenth will be left by Titus in the land of Judea, or in the whole world, because of the Jews…”
‘Let us invade Judah, terrorize it, and divide it among ourselves. Then we can install the son of Tabeal over it as king.’
“Rouse it up, like someone resting in sleep, and draw it away, that is, let us draw it into our power. The son of Tabeel, literally, a certain man, or an idol of our god; Tabeel means "God is good."”
and from the abundance of milk they give, he will eat curds; for all who remain in the land will eat curds and honey.
“Second, from the slightness of provisions: butter and honey, because of the lack of bread: they that were fed delicately have died in the streets (Lam 4:5).”
And on that day, in every place that had a thousand vines worth a thousand shekels of silver, only briers and thorns will be found.
“Third, from the scarcity of men. First, in the worthlessness of their property: every place where there were a thousand vines: buy a field for money, and take witnesses, whereas the city is given into the hands of the Chaldeans (Jer 32:25); I passed by…”
Men will go there with bow and arrow, for the land will be covered with briers and thorns.
“In the multitude of thieves: with arrows and with bows, namely, when you flee, they will enter, below: fear, and the pit, and the snare are upon you and upon the inhabitants of the earth (Isa 24:17).”
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…
“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).”
And I will appoint for Myself trustworthy witnesses—Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberekiah.”
“266. And I took unto me. Here the sign is confirmed by testimony; faithful witnesses: in the mouth of two or three witnesses let every word stand (Deut 19:15).”
And I had relations with the prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to a son. The LORD said to me, “Name him Maher-shalal-hash-baz.
“267. And I went to the prophetess. Here it is confirmed by the deed, for sometimes the prophets announced a future thing also by the deed itself, as below: go, and loose the sackcloth from off your loins, and take off your shoes from your…”
Devise a plan, but it will be thwarted; state a proposal, but it will not happen. For God is with us.”
“280. As to counsel: take counsel together, and it shall be defeated: who catches the wise in their craftiness, and scatters the counsel of the wicked (Job 5:13); there is no wisdom, there is no prudence, there is no counsel against the Lord (Prov 21:30).”
And He will be a sanctuary—but to both houses of Israel a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, to the dwellers of Jerusalem a trap and a snare.
“287. And he shall be. Here he sets out the fruit of obedience: sanctification to you, I will make you holy: I am the Lord who sanctify you (Lev 22:9).”
I will wait for the LORD, who is hiding His face from the house of Jacob. I will put my trust in Him.
“Second, the awaiting of what is hidden, and I will wait: but I will look towards the Lord, I will wait for God (Mic 7:7).”
The head is the elder and honorable man, and the tail is the prophet who teaches lies.
“Second, he explains the metaphor: the aged, that teaches lies: and her prophets have daubed them without tempering the mortar, seeing vain things, and divining lies unto them (Ezek 22:28).”
By the wrath of the LORD of Hosts the land is scorched, and the people are fuel for the fire. No man even spares his brother.
“By the wrath of the Lord, which is like fire: his indignation is poured out like fire (Nah 1:6); and the people shall be as fuel for the fire, below: walk in the light of your fire (Isa 50:11); no man shall spare his brother…”
I will send him against a godless nation; I will dispatch him against a people destined for My rage, to take spoils and seize plunder, and to trample them down…
“I will send him to a deceitful nation. Here he describes the one who is deserving of scourges, both as to the fault: a deceitful nation, because it does not keep its promise: all that the Lord has spoken, we will do (Exod 19:8); and…”
The remaining trees of its forests will be so few that a child could count them.
“As to their small number, and they that remain of the trees, for Sennacherib literally fled with few, namely, with ten: you shall remain few in number, who before were as the stars of heaven for multitude (Deut 28:62).”
Though your people, O Israel, be like the sand of the sea, only a remnant will return. Destruction has been decreed, overflowing with righteousness.
“And he confirms the promise: for if your people, O Israel, shall be as the sand of the sea: I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and as the sand that is by the sea shore (Gen 22:17).”
And the LORD of Hosts will brandish a whip against them, as when He struck Midian at the rock of Oreb.
“Third, the ease of punishing, my < . . . > (Judg 7:25); and over the sea, the Red Sea: and he shall lift it up (Exod 14:21–29), against you, first, in the way of Egypt, because you trusted in the Egyptians.”
He will raise a banner for the nations and gather the exiles of Israel; He will collect the scattered of Judah from the four corners of the earth.
“378. And he shall set up. Here he places the manner of liberation, as to the first explanation: a sign, that is, the edict of king Cyrus; the fugitives of Israel, literally, those who went to Ezechias in Jerusalem, and joined themselves to the two…”
who turned the world into a desert and destroyed its cities, who refused to let the captives return to their homes?”
“That made the world a wilderness, exiling men, and destroyed the cities, overturning their governments, that opened not the prison to his prisoners, that they might see light: they spread their terror in the land of the living (Ezek 32:25).”
But you are cast out of your grave like a rejected branch, covered by those slain with the sword, and dumped into a rocky pit like a carcass trampled underfoot.
“Second, they reproach him with the grave he has lost, for he was exhumed by his son, who divided his corpse into two-hundred pieces and bound the pieces to just as many birds gathered from different lands, that he might not rise again: defiled, by…”