Untitled

Thomas Aquinas
represents a Christianity that has achieved or accepted full social responsibility for all the great institutions.
Both Christ and culture yet his Christ is above culture and he sees a gulf inbetween
He rejected the secular world. But he is a monk in the church which has become the guardian of culture, the fosterere of learning, the judge of the nations, the protector of the family, the governor of social religion. -(takes culture into the monestary)

synthesizes ethics of culture with the ethics of the gospel.
with our God given reason we discren that there is purpose in our existence and..nothing can put will of man at rest but God
Nature is revalatory of God's purpose for man and of His requriements because All nature is purposive and created by God as reason (that is, Greek and Sristotelian reason, the reason of this culture) understands it,
ME>>can argue God as an apologetic...
"Thomas is a Christian Aristotelian who has reproduced the philosopher’s argument for the superiorority of the contemplative life to the practical but has named the object of intellectual vision God."
!!He has enthroned the monastic life, not as a protest against he corrupt world, but as an effort to rise above the senivle and temporal world to contemplation of unchaning reality.

HappinessCan only gain imperfect hapiness in culture
ultimate happiness is not within the atainment of human possibilities, but it is freely bestowed on men by God through Jesus Christ.

Theological virtues-superb and superhuman commands to love God with all ones heart, soul, mind and strength and to love on?e negibor as one?s self?... However much men may aspire after these theological virtues, the Christlike living,
they can only prepare receptive hearts; they cannot force the gift. And the gift may come to a theif on the cross before it is extended the ascetic monk or righteous citizen.

Lawsynthetic combination in Thomas’ theory of the law. Man cannot live in freedom save under law, that is to say, in culture…. But law must be true law, not derived from the will of the strong but discovered in the nature of things.
Natural Law Sees rule for human social life in the natural law discernable by all reasonable men based on eternal law in mind of God
Culture discerns the rules for culture, because culture is the work of God-given reaon in God-given nature. Yet there is another law besides the law rational men disover and supply.
The divine law revelaed by God through His prophets and above all through his Son is partly coincident with the natural law, and partly transcends it as the law of man’s supernatural life.
Though Shalt not steal is a commandment found both by reason and in revelation; “Sell all that thou hast and give to the poor” is found in the divine law only

It applies to man as one who has had a virtue implanted in him beyond the virtue of honesty, and who has been directed in hope toward a perfection beyond justice in this moral existence.
On this basis Thomas provides not only for defense of the great social institutions, but also for their guidance in accordance with moral principles
Government, state, and political power are provided for because God created social people & society is impossible on the human level without direction in accordance with law.
The church not only directs men to their supernatural end and provices sacramental assistance, but also as custondian of the divine law assists in the ordering of the temporal life; since reason sometimes falls short of its possible performance and requires the gracious assitance of revelation, and...
In Thosmas’ synthesis all thse institutions are so organically related to each other that while each serves a particular end each also serves the others.

When search later history for similar examples of the Christianity of synthesis we are hard put it to find adequate illustration so fthe time. p.138
Me>>>Christians lack of effort in pursuing difficult theological understanding and tasks
More Part III. Synthesis in Question

synthesis is attractive to man's desire for unity what distinguishes the synthesis of Thomas' sort is his concern to discover the bases of right in the given, created nature of man and this world conduct of life among the redeemed cannot fall short of life under law, however high it must rise beyond it the synthesist alone seems to provide for willing and intelligent co-operation of Christians with nonbelievers in carrying on the work of the world, while yet maintaining the distinctiveness of Christian faith and life But must remember it also tells that the gospel promises and requires more than the rational knoweldge of the Creator's plan for the creature and willing obedience to the law of nature demand and asssure. ----VERY EXHAULTED VIEW OF THE LAW AND GOAL OF LOVE culture also indepted to this type whom "have been mediators of Greek wisdom and Roman law to modern culture" Terms/vocab