Oh, Tommy, how you irk me...

                SO.  Since this is about the twentieth time I've had to read stuff by Thomas Aquinas and had to write something about it, I've come to the conclusion that he must have at least SOME importance in the history of the world.  If not, then our education system is pretty messed up...

                ANYWAY.  Thomas Aquinas was an Italian noble who disappointed his parents HARDCORE when he decided to become a Dominican monk instead of a Benedictine one.  (This would be sort of like if your parents wanted you to go to Harvard but you ended up at Concordia...Just kidding...) The theology that he developed combined what he found in the Bible with the philosophy of Aristotle, whose works were being seen more and more often in Latin.  He had definite opinions about how a Christian should live their life.  Tom was a pretty reasonable guy, and he liked for things to fit nicely into boxes and used rational thinking to defend his arguments.  He also used an incredibly annoying pattern of writing for addressing different issues that came up in his life.  But as irritating as his style is, it is easily recognizable, probably because it's so difficult to forget how much you hate it (and NO, that does not mean that it has a catchy tune like Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance").

                One of the questions that Thomas Aquinas has gotten hung up on is "whether the active life is more excellent than the contemplative" (Q. 183, a.1).  Basically, some people were saying that the active life IS more excellent than the contemplative life, and Tom was not happy about that.  So, using reason and some wisdom from Aristotle, he argues that people who make claims like that are stupid.  He gives eight different reasons for this, including the fact that the contemplative life suits intellectuals and people who are concerned with the "internals" more than "externals."  He also says that the contemplative life is more continuous than the active life, and it just so happens to be more delightful (in Tommy's opinion).  He goes on to list several more very reasonable ways in which the contemplative life is better than the active life.  And I guess someone decided once that he presents a very good argument because, like I said before, they make us read this guy's stuff over and over and over.

                I'm not sure that I completely agree with Thomas' arguments in this passage.  He is very rational, of course, but I don't think he was thinking about the big picture of what faith in Christ can look like when lived out to the fullest.  It's very important to spend time in the Word and to enjoy alone time with God in order to grow and restore ourselves, but if that's all we're doing, then we are not fulfilling our true purpose.  God wants ALL of his people to come to know him, and one of the ways that He can use us on this earth is through our actions.  James 2:14-25 is all about how if we really have faith, we will show it through our actions, not because we have to, but because we WANT to.    So the active life wouldn't be BAD, not if it was an expression of our faith.  I think maybe you need both sides, and that Tommy just likes to argue.