Christian History Home > Issue 73 > Aquinas for President?
Aquinas for President?
His views on government, law, and economics would shake the system.
David Lawrence and Elesha Coffman | posted 1/01/2002 12:00AM
Like Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas considered all areas of thought his province. As a result, he became unquestionably the most systematic political philosopher of the Middle Ages, as well as an original legal theorist and an unconventional economist.
Government, Aquinas taught, is the result of sin and is necessary to mitigate its consequences. Political organization is natural to fallen man and necessary for his development. Even though the church is superior to the state, and the greater purpose of man is eternal life, the temporal world is important, and peace and order, leading to temporal happiness, can be preserved through the state.
While sin necessitates government, law undergirds it. Specifically, Aquinas defined four types of law.
Eternal law, which governs the universe, comes from the eternal and immutable decrees of God. Natural law, which enables people of reason to understand eternal law, is also ordained of God, but unlike the secret decrees of God, it is perceptible through reason. ... To view this item, you must be a member of ChristianHistory.net.
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