CHAPTER XVII

AQUINAS, THE SCHOLAR. 270

The nobility and education. Studies at Cologne and Paris. The distinguished faculty of Paris in his time. _Summa Contra Gentiles_. Pope Leo XIII. and Aquinas' teaching. Foundations of Christian apologetics. Characteristic passages from Aquinas. Necessity for revelation of God's existence. Explanation of Resurrection. Liberty in Aquinas' writings. Greatness of Aquinas and his contemporaries and the subsequent decadence of scholasticism. Contemporary appreciation of St. Thomas. His capacity for work. His sacred poetry.