St. Thomas Aquinas

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philjane

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Somebody told an acquaintance of mine that St. Thomas Aquinas said that “Women did not have souls”. This person is on a mission to prove that the saint did not say this. Does anybody have any more information on this. We know that he said that woman was a defective male seed & this person accepts that. Any help that you can give me on this will be appreciated. Thank you in advance for your replies.
 
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philjane:
Somebody told an acquaintance of mine that St. Thomas Aquinas said that “Women did not have souls”. This person is on a mission to prove that the saint did not say this. Does anybody have any more information on this. We know that he said that woman was a defective male seed & this person accepts that. Any help that you can give me on this will be appreciated. Thank you in advance for your replies.
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If St. Thomas did not think that women have souls then he couldn’t have written as he did about them often occupying higher places in Heaven than men. 😉 This article should help you in your discussion:

firstthings.com/ftissues/ft9912/opinion/mgeorge.html
 
“Prima in duas: in prima determinat principium peccati in primis parentibus; in secunda autem principium quo contra peccatum juvabantur, circa medium 33 dist., ibi: et quidem secundum animam rationalis fuit homo. Prima in tres: in prima determinat tentationem hostis, qui fuit principium peccati exterius; in secunda inquirit quod fuit principium intrinsecum, 22 dist., ibi: hic videtur diligenter investigandum. Item inquirit de permissione divina, quae fuit causa sine qua non, 23 dist., ibi: praeterea quaeri solet. Prima in duas: in prima determinat modum et ordinem tentationis; in secunda ex modo tentationis concludit gravitatem culpae, ibi: porro sciendum est duas esse species tentationis. Circa primum tria facit: primo ostendit motivum ad tentandum; secundo tentationis ordinem, ibi: unde et mulierem tentavit; tertio tentationis formam, ibi: tentatio autem hoc modo facta est.”

Scriptum super Sententiis

I’d say that pretty much sums it up - St. Thomas most certainly believed women have souls.

God Bless,
RyanL
 
philjane:

NewAdvent.org(woman)

Hence follows in the first place, woman’s claim to the possession of full and complete human nature, and thus, to complete equality in moral value and position as compared with man before the Creator.

Firstly, it insults Mary the Mother of God, and Christ, that Jesus would be born to a souless being, even considering every plant and animal has one.

I think these people delight more in seeing others run around looking for information rather than being interested in an answer.
If he claims to be Christian, then he should practice his religion rather than feigning to be one. If he’s not then we understand.

Since that person makes the claim, ask him to prove it.

Andy
 
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philjane:
Somebody told an acquaintance of mine that St. Thomas Aquinas said that “Women did not have souls”. This person is on a mission to prove that the saint did not say this. Does anybody have any more information on this. We know that he said that woman was a defective male seed & this person accepts that. Any help that you can give me on this will be appreciated. Thank you in advance for your replies.
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That sounds more like some types of gnosticism than St. Thomas Aquinas.

There’s a good chance that the confusion stems from the last verse in the apocryphal gnostic Gospel of Thomas. Verse 114 of the Coptic manuscript reads:
Simon Peter said to them, “Make Mary leave us, for females don’t deserve life.”
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Jesus said, "Look, I will guide her to make her male, so that she too may become a living spirit resembling you males. For every female who makes herself male will enter the domain of heaven.
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This translation is from the Jesus Seminar folks, so no one can accuse me of getting this from a conservative biased source.

I can see where someone could make the error of thinking the Gospel of Thomas is connected with St. Thomas Aquinas.

What gets me is women like Elaine Pagels who argue that this particular gospel carries the same (or more) weight as the cannoninical Gospels.
 
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Lapsed:
What gets me is women like Elaine Pagels who argue that this particular gospel carries the same (or more) weight as the cannoninical Gospels.
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Does Elaine Pagels think that the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John carry any weight? Isn’t that really the gist of the argument of the folks that would include the Gospel of Thomas in the canon of scripture - that the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and Thomas are all merely works of men that need to be cleansed of outdated ideas. (And guess who is qualified to do that cleansing … :rolleyes: )
 
That would imply they’d be no women in heaven; which of course is a contrdiction in terms.
 
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Lapsed:
That sounds more like some types of gnosticism than St. Thomas Aquinas.

There’s a good chance that the confusion stems from the last verse in the apocryphal gnostic Gospel of Thomas. Verse 114 of the Coptic manuscript reads:

This translation is from the Jesus Seminar folks, so no one can accuse me of getting this from a conservative biased source.

I can see where someone could make the error of thinking the Gospel of Thomas is connected with St. Thomas Aquinas.

What gets me is women like Elaine Pagels who argue that this particular gospel carries the same (or more) weight as the cannoninical Gospels.
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Excellent observation!! I’ve always found it extremely ironic that eco-feminists just love the Gnostic Gospel of Thomas!! Who needs those darn canonical gospels when you can have the one with such pro-femi ideas such as “Women must first become men before attaining salvation.” 😉
 
Peace be with you!

Your friend shouldn’t even have to prove anything. The other person is the one that made the claim–the burden of proof is on them. Your friend simply needs to tell them that St. Thomas Aquinas did NOT say that and that the person needs to produce a source in which it quotes St. Thomas as saying that.

In Christ,
Rand
 
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