Thomas Aquinas: Hero of Christianity

Heroic Acts

St. Thomas Aquinas was a hero of Christianity who understood the evils of Islam very well. He comprehended that Islam appealed to ignorant, carnal, and brutal men and was spread by the sword and brute force, not by the power of arguments or divine grace. In one of his more famous works, Summa Contra Gentiles, Aquinas contrasted the spread of Christianity versus the spread of Islam. He argued the success of Christianity was based on the widespread belief in the miracle of Jesus, whereas Islam is spread through violence and the promise of sensual pleasures of man.

Aquinas wrote

[Mohammed] seduced the people by promises of carnal pleasure to which the concupiscence of flesh goads us. His teaching also contained precepts that were in conformity with his promises, and gave free reign to carnal pleasure. In all this, as is not unexpected; he was obeyed by carnal men. As for proofs of the truth of his doctrine, he brought forward only such as could be grasped by the natural ability of anyone with a modest wisdom.

Aquinas commented that Mohammed forbade his followers from reading the Old and New Testaments as he manipulated them into “fabrications of his own.” Aquinas also concluded, “it is thus clear that those who place any faith in [Mohammed’s] words believe foolishly.”

Aquinas understood Mohammed and the brutality of his followers. “Those who believe in [Mohammed] were brutal men and desert wanderers, utterly ignorant of divine teaching through whose numbers Mohammed forced others to become his followers by the violence of his arms. Nor do divine pronouncements on the part of preceding prophets offer him any witness.”

Bio

St. Thomas Aquinas was a 13th-century scholar, philosopher, and one of the most influential theologians of the Catholic Church. Aquinas was canonized by the church and is considered a model teacher for students going into the priesthood. One of his most famous works, Summa Contra Gentiles, was written in 1259–1265 to aid missionaries in explaining Christianity and defending it against dissenting points of the Islamic doctrine.

Evidence

• Great Leaders’ Comments on Islam »
• Why Thomas Aquinas Distrusted Islam »
• Aquinas got it right 8 centuries ago. Why can’t we? »
• What Saint Thomas Aquinas Says About Mohammed and Islam »
• Aquinas on Islam »
• What did Thomas Aquinas have to say about Islam? »
• Why Thomas Aquinas Distrusted Islam »
• St Thomas Aquinas on Islam »
• Aquinas on Islam »