Teachers and Learners · Week 3 · Grades 9–12
Guided Notes: St. Thomas Aquinas
- Name
- Date
- Class
Follow along as your teacher presents. Fill in each section when its slide is on the screen.
St. Thomas Aquinas
A new order and an old philosopher
Thomas was born about blank 1 at Roccasecca, between Rome and Naples, into a noble family with plans for him. Schooled from about age five at the Benedictine abbey of Monte Cassino, he was expected to rise there.
At the University of Naples he met two things that changed his life: the works of Aristotle and the blank 2, a young order of begging, preaching friars. He joined them in 1244.
His family had him seized on the road and held him for about a year. He would not yield. Freed, he studied in Paris and Cologne under St. Albert the Great, then taught blank 3 at the University of Paris.
A life in the thirteenth century
Write what happened at each point.
| When | What happened |
|---|---|
| c. 1225 | Write your answer |
| 1244 | Write your answer |
| 1245 | Write your answer |
| 1256 | Write your answer |
| c. 1265 | Write your answer |
| 1273 | Write your answer |
| 1274 | Write your answer |
| 1323 | Write your answer |
Faith, reason and straw
Many Christians feared blank 4, a pagan thinker whose works were read alongside commentaries by Muslim and Jewish scholars. Thomas studied them all with respect and kept whatever he judged true.
He argued that faith and reason cannot finally contradict each other, because the God who reveals is the God who made the human mind. Reason can reach some truths about God. Others, like the blank 5, are known only because God has revealed them. In his words, “grace does not destroy nature but perfects it.”
After an experience at Mass on December 6, blank 6, he stopped writing. He told his secretary that all he had written seemed like straw beside what he had seen.
Apply it
A classmate says, “You have to pick: science or faith.” Which reply fits Thomas’s view? Circle one.
- A Faith wins, so scientific evidence can be ignored
- B Science wins, so faith is only a private feeling
- C They never touch, so neither can inform the other
- D Both seek truth from one God, so neither need be feared
Why is that the right answer?
Inside one article of the Summa
Write one detail for each card.
| Card | The detail |
|---|---|
| 1. The question | Write your answer |
| 2. The objections | Write your answer |
| 3. On the contrary | Write your answer |
| 4. I answer that | Write your answer |
| 5. The replies | Write your answer |
Apply it
You are about to reply to a post you strongly disagree with. What would Thomas’s method require first? Circle one.
- A Stating the other view so well its author would agree
- B Finding the weakest line in the post and quoting it
- C Counting how many people already share your view
- D Staying silent, since arguing is always uncharitable
Why is that the right answer?
Take a side
AI tools can now produce an answer to almost any question in seconds. Does that make the slow work of study and reasoning, the work Thomas gave his life to, less necessary or more necessary?
My side: ☐ Less necessary ☐ More necessary
- Thomas dictated, borrowed and built on others’ work. Is using a tool to find answers any different?
- Can you judge whether an answer is true if you have never reasoned through the question yourself?
- Thomas distinguished knowing a conclusion from understanding why it is true. Does that distinction matter?
- His study ended in silence and awe before God. Can an instant answer lead there?
My strongest reason, with evidence from the slides:
The best argument for the other side, and my response:
Virtues Thomas lived
For each virtue, write how the saint lived it and one way you can practice it.
| Virtue | How the saint lived it | How I can practice it |
|---|---|---|
| Studiousness | Write your answer | Write your answer |
| Intellectual charity | Write your answer | Write your answer |
| Humility | Write your answer | Write your answer |
Let us pray
God of truth, source of faith and of reason,
give us minds that seek you honestly and hearts humble enough to adore you.
Teach us to argue with charity and to rest in silence before you.
St. Thomas Aquinas, pray for us.
Amen.
My own prayer or intention:
Well done
In 1879 Pope Leo XIII urged the whole Church to study Thomas, and in 1880 named him patron of Catholic schools. His feast is January 28.
One thing I learned today:
One question I still have:
How could the example of St. Thomas Aquinas shape the way I live, online and offline?
Challenge: Pick one question you would normally hand to a search engine or an AI tool. Reason it through on paper first, objections included, and only then check your answer.