010043 SE Thomas Aquinas: The life, work and world of a medieval master and monk (2017S)

Thomas Aquinas is one of the most prominent and influential theologians of Latin Christianity. His oeuvre shaped the development of Catholic theology and the formation of countless students in the modern period more than any other theologian before and after him. By exploring his career as a Dominican monk, university master and papal theologian this course will provide students with an advanced knowledge of Aquinas’ theology within the historical context of its formulation.
The course will pay attention to a number of core Thomist doctrines as enfolded in the famous Summa Theologiae and in other works of Aquinas (e.g. God, Trinity, creation, sin, grace, virtues, Christ, and the sacraments). Besides the theology of Aquinas, the course will also look at the institutional contexts of his career and his thought, such as the young University of Paris, the recently founded Dominican Order and the role of the papal court.
Method: Analysis, interpretation and summary of theological texts and institutional sources; discussion of recent literature and of the main historiography in the related topics.