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
“I will make her a place for owls and for swamplands; I will sweep her away with the broom of destruction,” declares the LORD of Hosts.
“As to it being inhabited by beasts: I will make it a possession for the hedgehog, below: there has the hedgehog had its hole, and brought up its young ones, and has dug round about (Isa 34:15).”
I will break Assyria in My land; I will trample him on My mountain. His yoke will be taken off My people, and his burden removed from their shoulders.”
“Second, the place of destruction: in my land, for the army of Sennacherib was destroyed near Jerusalem, below: and the Lord of hosts shall make . . . in this mountain, a feast of fat things (Isa 25:6).”
The LORD will make Himself known to Egypt, and on that day Egypt will acknowledge the LORD.
“Second, he sets out the manner of their conversion. And first, as to the undertaking of faith: and the Lord shall be known: all shall know me from the least of them even to the greatest, says the Lord (Jer 31:34); second, as to the…”
the LORD had already spoken through Isaiah son of Amoz, saying, “Go, remove the sackcloth from your waist and the sandals from your feet.”
“Second, he sets out the divine command: go, and loose: and Ezechiel shall be unto you for a sign of things to come (Ezek 24:24). Third, the fulfillment of the command: and he did so, below: and I do not resist (Isa 50:5). …”
Then the LORD said, “Just as My servant Isaiah has gone naked and barefoot for three years as a sign and omen against Egypt and Cush,
“And the Lord said. Here the signification of the aforementioned deed is set out. And first, as to the time for which the persecution lasted: three years, signified by the three days in which he went naked: a day for a year I have appointed…”
so the king of Assyria will lead away the captives of Egypt and the exiles of Cush, young and old alike, naked and barefoot, with bared buttocks—to Egypt’s shame.
“Second, as to the author of the destruction: so shall the king be led: in that day shall messengers go forth from my face in ships to destroy the confidence of Ethiopia (Ezek 30:9).”
The watchman replies, “Morning has come, but also the night. If you would inquire, then inquire. Come back yet again.”
“520. Second, the refusal of their petition is set out: and the watchman, namely, God, said: the morning comes, the time of liberation for the Jews, also the night of captivity still remains for the Idumeans: but over them only was spread a heavy night…”
For they flee from the sword—the sword that is drawn—from the bow that is bent, and from the stress of battle.
“And he places the cause of mercy: for they are fled from before the swords, that they might be moved to mercy: at the voice of the horsemen, and the archers, all the city is fled away (Jer 4:29).”
The remaining archers, the warriors of Kedar, will be few.” For the LORD, the God of Israel, has spoken.
“Second, by the Chaldeans: the residue, left behind by the Assyrians, shall be diminished, by the Chaldeans; Cedar, the son of Ishmael; archers, following the art of their father, where it is said of Ishmael that he became an archer (Gen 21:20).”
I will remove you from office, and you will be ousted from your position.
“Third, the punishment of deposition, and I will drive you out from your station: so Solomon cast out Abiathar from being the priest of the Lord (1 Kgs 2:27).”
I will clothe him with your robe and tie your sash around him.
“Second, his consecration: and I will clothe him, for they were consecrated with pontifical garments, as is evident from Leviticus 18, concerning these garments, and Exodus 28. Third, he confers jurisdiction on him: and I will give your power into his hand.”
I will place on his shoulder the key to the house of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open.
“Second, as to the power which he had regarding the temple: and I will lay the key, which was of gold, of the house of David, that is, of the temple, for the building of which David prepared the materials, as is evident from 1…”
In the streets they cry out for wine. All joy turns to gloom; rejoicing is exiled from the land.
“There shall be a crying, of those lamenting over the lack of wine, against fertility: in all vineyards there shall be wailing (Amos 5:17). 572.”
They will be gathered together like prisoners in a pit. They will be confined to a dungeon and punished after many days.
“And they shall be gathered together, at the same time in hell: which was prepared for the devil and his angels (Matt 25:41); as in the gathering of one bundle: bind it into bundles to burn (Matt 13:30), that they may be alike in punishment…”
a spirit of justice to him who sits in judgment, and a strength to those who repel the onslaught at the gate.
“As to the justice of the king: and he, the Lord himself, shall be a spirit of judgment: a king shall reign, and shall be wise: and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth (Jer 23:5).”
Then the word of the LORD to them will become: “Order on order, order on order, line on line, line on line; a little here, a little there,” so that…
“Third, he threatens destruction: and the word shall be to them, that is, they will suffer this punishment for their own words: by your words, I judge you, you wicked servant (Matt 12:37); that they may go, to destruction.”
For you said, “We have made a covenant with death; we have fashioned an agreement with Sheol.
“One in which they trusted, namely, a covenant with idols; hence he places the covenant: we have entered into a league with death, that is, with the devil: will he make a covenant with you, and will you take him to be a servant for…”
So now, do not mock, or your shackles will become heavier. Indeed, I have heard from the Lord GOD of Hosts a decree of destruction against the whole land.
“649. And now do not mock. Here he draws, as a conclusion, sound and wholesome counsel, and first, he prohibits mocking: do not mock; bonds, of captivity: he shall scorn the scorners (Prov 3:34); and he assigns the reason: for I have heard of the…”
For his God instructs and teaches him properly. Surely caraway is not threshed with a sledge, and the wheel of a cart is not rolled over the cumin.
“Second, the discretion of his judgment, for he punishes some in one way and others in a different way, just as a farmer beats out wheat in one way and cumin in another, and he indicates this where it says: for he will instruct him…”
Grain for bread must be ground, but it is not endlessly threshed. Though the wheels of the cart roll over it, the horses do not crush it.
“Third, the ending of punishments as to those who are corrected: but the thrasher shall not thrash it for ever: he that ploughs, should plough in hope, and he that thrashes, in hope to receive fruit (1 Cor 9:10).”
I will camp in a circle around you; I will besiege you with towers and set up siege works against you.
“655. And I will encircle. Here he threatens destruction by the Romans. And concerning this, he sets out four things.”
You will be brought low, you will speak from the ground, and out of the dust your words will be muffled.
“Second, the humiliation of the besieged: you shall be humbled; and the sign of their humiliation, you shall speak out of the earth, that is, just as if you were under the earth, so shall you humbly be heard, bearing the words of the python…”
For when he sees his children around him, the work of My hands, they will honor My name, they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and they will stand…
“His children, the Apostles. 666. Or this may be otherwise explained as concerning the prosperity that was promised to them when Sennacherib or Nabuchodonosor were destroyed: he shall see his children . . .”
But Pharaoh’s protection will become your shame, and the refuge of Egypt’s shade your disgrace.
“And he sets out the effect: and the strength of Pharaoh shall be to your confusion: I will change their glory into shame (Hos 4:7).”
everyone will be put to shame because of a people useless to them. They cannot be of help; they are good for nothing but shame and reproach.”
“And he shows their lack of hope: they were all confounded: put not your trust in princes: in the children of men, in whom there is no salvation (Ps 145:2–3[146:3]).”