This Italian/Sicilian born Saint was once nicknamed "The Dumb Ox" by the people around him. He was certainly not "dumb" but his large size, awkward manner, and taciturn ways. He ended up being one of Christianity's most respected philosophers. "The Summa Theologica" was a famous work of his where he pretty much laid out the Theology of the Catholic Church in a rather scientific, methodical way. He also promoted Scholasticism which was influential in the philosophy of the Western World in general. "The Summa Theologica" had many interesting takes on the Christian religion. One of my favorites is that after the final judgment, God will restore our bodies in their perfect state. That's nothing new in Christianity but he also mentions that no matter how old one was when they died, everyone will be about 30 years old- and single. I say single because in Roman Catholic Theology, marriage is a worldly institution and won't exist in the "next world". The concept of "soul mates" is not generally accepted in Catholicism. When he died he was frustrated since he realized that God is not something one can fully describe in human words.
Now I'm not one who likes to diagnose the dead, especially those who lived in the thirteenth century, therefore I will say that we will never know if he was somewhere on the Autistic spectrum or not. He did however seem to show some traits of Autism- and no, I'm not just saying this just because he was a well regarded intellectual. What makes him relevant to me in the context of this blog is that he was someone who appeared to be slow witted (and maybe he was I never met him so I don't know), yet he became one of the most famous theologians and philosophers in Western Christianity. I say Western since he was more controversial in the Eastern Churches. Personally, I find a lot of his work complicated and time consuming to digest. There are a few areas where I may disagree with him but I'm not even sure since what was written in the thirteenth century and translated many times can easily be taken out of context. Some of his teachings can come off as rather cold and stern but he was supposedly a gentle soul on a personal level.
Another thing to remember when judging the work of someone who is long dead. It is easy for one to learn about them and decide if you like or dislike them, but many times the fans and foes of a past thinker can easily put their own spin on things. In other words his works are complicated. Many times a contemporary teacher will try to translate things to concepts the average lay person can understand. This is great but in the process they can unwittingly inject their own biases and make the person out to whatever they want them to be. Abraham Lincoln is an example, both "conservatives" and "liberals" seem to like claiming him as one of their own.
For more facts on this guy (St. Thomas Aquinas) go here: http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=2530
Now I'm not one who likes to diagnose the dead, especially those who lived in the thirteenth century, therefore I will say that we will never know if he was somewhere on the Autistic spectrum or not. He did however seem to show some traits of Autism- and no, I'm not just saying this just because he was a well regarded intellectual. What makes him relevant to me in the context of this blog is that he was someone who appeared to be slow witted (and maybe he was I never met him so I don't know), yet he became one of the most famous theologians and philosophers in Western Christianity. I say Western since he was more controversial in the Eastern Churches. Personally, I find a lot of his work complicated and time consuming to digest. There are a few areas where I may disagree with him but I'm not even sure since what was written in the thirteenth century and translated many times can easily be taken out of context. Some of his teachings can come off as rather cold and stern but he was supposedly a gentle soul on a personal level.
Another thing to remember when judging the work of someone who is long dead. It is easy for one to learn about them and decide if you like or dislike them, but many times the fans and foes of a past thinker can easily put their own spin on things. In other words his works are complicated. Many times a contemporary teacher will try to translate things to concepts the average lay person can understand. This is great but in the process they can unwittingly inject their own biases and make the person out to whatever they want them to be. Abraham Lincoln is an example, both "conservatives" and "liberals" seem to like claiming him as one of their own.
For more facts on this guy (St. Thomas Aquinas) go here: http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=2530
