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
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Approximate Word count = 1319
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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