Aquinas and incest?

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monina

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My brother and I are having an ongoing discussion regarding our Faith. He has long ago succumbed to the culture of the day and become a relativist.

He told me that Thomas Aquinas believed
that incest, if it preserved the integrity of the sex act (fertilization)
was better than contraception.

Is this correct? Does anyone have a rebuttal to this?

Thank you.
 
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monina:
He told me that Thomas Aquinas believed
that incest, if it preserved the integrity of the sex act (fertilization)
was better than contraception. .
Click to expand...
It would seem to me that incest by definition would NOT preserve the integrity of the sex act.

And everyone quotes Aquinas to prove everything. Ask your brother to prove that Aquinas said that.
 
We had a “did Aquinas say that” thread a couple months ago that sent me looking into his writings, where I found something interesting. Aquinas would frequently set up a “straw-man” argument, which he would then rebut. However, if someone quotes only from the straw-man argument, it can be made to look as if Aquinas was postulating some pretty wild things.

I agree with bengeorge. If anyone says that Aquinas said anything, the first thing to do is make that person provide chapter and verse where Aquinas said it.

DaveBj
 
Thanks for your replies.

I do intend to ask my brother to provide the source for his Aquinas quotation.

monina
 
Your brother is probably referring to this statement in the Summa Theologica:
Whether the unnatural vice is the greatest sin among the species of lust?

Therefore, since by the unnatural vices man transgresses that which has been determined by nature with regard to the use of venereal actions, it follows that in this matter this sin is gravest of all. After it comes incest, which, as stated above, is contrary to the natural respect which we owe persons related to us.
Click to expand...
So, St. Thomas believes “unnatural vice” to be worse than incest. However, this cannot be assumed to include contraception, as contraception is not mentioned directly in the Summa.
 
Does unnatural vice refer to homosexuality? Or “onanism”?
 
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