St. thomas as representive of middle ages.

Hellow friend today we will read about the st. thomas as representive of middle ages.
 
The intellectual traditionof middle ages can be summarised as Scholasticism. It was a grand combinationof Philosophy and Theology.

 Aquinas was a follower of Scholasticism. However,
he gave prominence to Theology than Philosophy. He gave importance to religion,
which according to him was above every other concept. Therefore, Aquinas said
that in case of a conflict between the church and the state, the church should
win. According to Aquinas, Monarchy is the best form of government. However,
the monarch is bound by the laws of land as well as the divine law. He is not
above divine law. These were fundamental characteristics of the middle ages.
Concept of Nature: Aquinas was of the opinion that there is a higher
nature beyond this worldly nature. He differed from Aristotle in this respect. For
Aristotle, this world was final and definite. According to Aquinas, this world is
only superficial and only a passing stage of the life of man.
Nature of man: Aquinas followed the Aristotelian principle that man is a
social animal. Man cannot live without a society around him. Therefore, the state
is something natural to man. It is embedded in his nature. It is not something
artificial. He did not follow the idea that state is the result of fall of man because of his sins.
Nature of Society: The ultimate objective of the state is good life through
co existence and mutual help and service. His idea was similar to the Aristotelian
concept of the purpose of State. The purpose of the State is promotion of good life
and happiness. But there was a fundamental difference between Aristotle and St.
Thomas Aquinas in this respect. Aristotle based his idea on a society which is
purely secular in nature. But according to Thomas Aquinas, the society is one in
which both the secular and spiritual authorities co existed sided by side. That was the need of the times of Aquinas.
Nature of State: Aquinas agreed with Aristotle that man is a social animal.
Man became perfect in the state. The world is not created because of Man’s sin. It
was not created when Man was sent out of the Garden of Eden87. The state is not
the product of human sin. But it is a positive product. It is the embodiment88 of
Reason. The state is necessary to provide the conditions of good life. While saying
this, Aquinas also says that the Church also is necessary to secure the eternal
good89. He says that the Church is the highest human institution. It is not the
rival of the state. But, the Church is the completion and perfection of the State.
The ultimate purpose of the State is to help people to lead a happy and good life.
The state makes them moral in that way. It makes men virtuous. The state was
not a necessary evil the purpose of the State is not just maintenance of law and
order. It is something beyond that. It is a great social organisation which covers
all aspects of life. However, according to St. Thomas Aquinas, the Church is superior to the State.
Classification of Government: Aquinas did not consider any form of
government as truly and absolutely good. It depends on the functions it perform.
It is the question of the level of virtue and goodness promoted by the rule. In the
classification of governments, Aquinas followed Aristotle. He believed in the
normal forms of Monarchy, Aristocracy, and Democracy and their perverted forms.
Functions of Governments: According to Aquinas, a good government is
the one which promotes goodness, happiness and virtue of the people. It must
provide the people with good administration, promote justice, provide good amenities for the citizen and protect the people. The ultimate objective of
government is the promotion of moral welfare of the people. The following is an
enlistment of the functions of a good government as according to St. Thomas
Aquinas: 1. Promote unity. 2. Promote common goodness instead of individual
goodness. 3. To remove hindrances to good life of the citizens. 4. Look after the
poor. 5. Promote right living and virtuous life 6. Promote peace and happiness
and the conditions for the same. 7. Protection and defense of the citizens. 8.
Maintenance of civic amenities like roads and bridges. 9. Maintain a just tax
regime 10. Introduce and maintain a sound system of coinage, weightage and
measures. 11. To reward and promote those who do good.

Concept of Sovereignty: Aquinas’s concept of sovereignty is worth special
mention because he gave importance to the people. He said that from a political
angle of view, the source of sovereignty is the people from the theological point of
view, the source of sovereignty is nothing but God. According to him, sovereignty is indivisible. It is the source of positive law. A sovereign cannot give a bad law.

Concept of supremacy of the Church: According to St. Thomas Aquinas,
the state and the church should work in co operation with each other. However,
the church is supreme over the state. The church has authority in spiritual
matters also while the state has authority only in worldly matters. In the event of
a conflict between the church and the state, the former must prevail. The church
can even excommunicate a prince. The state must work under the guidance of
the church. However, this authority is quite indirect rather than direct. The
interference of the church in the matters of the state should be the minimum.
The ruler is subject to the authority of the State only to a limited extent.
Concept of Faith and Reason: According to Aquinas, faith and reason are
equally important. Both these powers emanate from God. Therefore they are
divine. But out of the two faith is more important. This concept of amalgamation
of both these antagonistic concepts into one is a great achievement of St. Thomas Aquinas.
So friend this is all about the St. thomas as representive of middle ages and thanks for reading.