Sacraments According to St. Thomas Aquinas
Saint Thomas Aquinas (c.1225-1274) was an Italian theologian, one of the foremost Christian philosophers of the Middle Ages. His Summa Theologica (c.1266-1273) was a provincial document of scholastic philosophy. Summa Theologica explored all facets of medieval life, philosophy and theology, political theory, and morality1. The medieval church had a particular interest in the sacraments because they manifest salvation to an individual in a tangible form and tied the individual to the church2. Specifically, I am going to address the importance of the sacraments as defined by Aquinas. According to Aquinas, the number of sacraments should be seven3, since the number of sacraments was not officially acknowledged until the Council of Florence in 1439CE4. The purpose of sacraments is to perfect man according to the law of God and also to remedy against the shortcomings caused by sin, whether original, mortal, or venial sin5. Each of the sacraments corresponds with a particular defect caused by sin6. Baptism confers spiritual life and is intended to remedy against original sin. As a man grows in his spiritual walk with God he needs to be strengthened, whereby, confirmation by the Holy Spirit is given to strengthen man du
During the sacrament of penitence both the sinner and the priest perform ritual duties15. Penance is necessary for sinners because death results from sin and for salvation to occur sins must be removed. The priest operates as Christ's vehicle for salvation, symbolically speaking, and completes the sacramental action of penitence and forgiveness16. Without penance a man who sins cannot be delivered by charity, faith, or mercy. Each of the previous attributes requires either grievances or forgiveness; penance is necessary for salvation if sins are committed17. For man to share in governing the community the sacrament of holy orders is necessary. A holy orders grant priests the ability to offer sacrifice not only for themselves but also for the entire community22. Order is representative of "marriage" between the church and a priest23; furthermore, holy orders is ordained by God to prevent against divisions in the community24. Basically, holy orders create the ability to name church officials. Extreme unction or anointing the sick, as each sacrament has indicated a more Christ like character, anointing the sick is the next plateau in becoming Christ like18. Anointing the sick is performed when an individual stands at the threshold of eternity to cleanse the remainder of sins that weren't removed by penance, namely, venial sins19. Extreme unction is a sign of hope and is performed to keep the ill person involved in readings and prayers20. Aquinas dictates that extreme unction should be last among the sacraments because it is performed at the end of a person's life. Because anointing the sick is usually performed at the end of a person's life it allows the person to become infinitely close to perfection at death just before meeting Christ21. Aquinas argues that baptism was instituted after Christ's Passion, citing Romans 6:3: All we, who are baptized in Christ Jesus, are baptized in His death, etc. Also, the Lo
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Approximate Word count = 1319
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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