Boxed In

606.  Thomas Aquinas (c. 1225-1274)

What would you think of an intellectual who had written volume after huge volume of theology--then claimed at the end of his life that it was all useless and should be burned?  Thomas Aquinas, the most famous theologian of the Middle Ages, did just that.  But his colleagues valued his theology more than he did and preserved it, and for centuries he was the theologian, even though unfinished, was considered the most comprehensive work of Catholic theology, and in it he touched on every subject imaginable--including, naturally, angels, demons, and the afterlife.  Thomas affirmed the belief that each believer has a guardian angel assigned to him.  Thomas must have been fascinated by the angels, for he wrote almost a hundred pages on them--their hierarchy, habits, knowledge, movements, and so on.  Angels, he said, are the highest grade of creation, and they are incorruptible and immortal.  He believed that the stars and planets are moved and guided by them.  In his belief in angels he was deeply influenced by the writings of Pseudo-Dionysius.  Catholic tradition refers to Thomas as the "Angelic Doctor," with Doctor meaning "Teacher."  He did not neglect demons, either.  Demons, he said, are capable of all kinds of harm, even causing impotence in men.  They may appear audibly or visibly to men, or they can speak through the human imagination.  Thomas took witchcraft seriously (as did most people of the Middle Ages)  and believed that woman and men who consorted with demons could do all kinds of harm.  Curiously, for someone who opposed the occult and satanism, Thomas did believe in astrology--at least, he believed that some people might allow themselves to be influenced by the movements of the stars and planets, though it was not inevitable.  Hell, Thomas said, was a real material place, located somewhere in the lowest part to the earth.  To those who thought that perhaps everyone might find salvation, Thomas gave a definite no.  But he also had much to say about heaven.  The chief happiness of the saved person will consist in seeing God.  The human soul, restless on earth, finds rest when it rejoins its Source.