Around 1200 CE there was a renowned scholar named Albert the Great. Up until that time the thought of Plato had dominated the philosophical and theological world. Oddly enough, the works of Aristotle had been pretty much ignored by scholars. Indeed, they were hardly ever translated from Greek into Latin, French, and German. On the other hand, Arab thinkers such as Avicenna and Averroes, had been studying and translating the works of Aristotle for a number of years immersing themselves in Aristotle’s philosophy and applying it to their own Muslim thought.
Albert thought that a Christian philosophy based on Aristotle’s philosophy might make an excellent way for Christian thinkers to engage with, indeed perhaps even convert, Muslim thinkers to Christianity. Then along came young Thomas Aquinas who signed up to study with Albert, whom I like to call “Big Al”, and he took up the challenge to develop a Christian philosophical theology based on the thought of Aristotle. Aquinas produced many volumes of what we call today “Catholic Theology” even though the distinction between Protestants and Catholics had not yet been developed.
Aquinas’ theology laid the foundation for all subsequent Catholic thought, which was seriously challenged by the Protestant theology developed by Martin Luther and John Calvin a few centuries later. In many ways Aquinas developed Catholic thought quite in accord with the philosophy of Aristotle, but he saw to it that his development thereof coincided with traditional Christian theology as well. The “invention” of British Anglicanism under Henry the Eighth sought to unite these two strands of Christian theology, but only resulted in the Anglican Church.
Aquinas distinguished between “natural theology” and “revealed theology”, the former based on pure human reason and the latter based on faith alone. The church, according to Aquinas, defined and dispensed the latter, while pure philosophical reason was responsible for the former. One of the chief difficulties with which Catholic thought has had to wrestle is the conceptual problems which derive from this sort of bifurcation, whereas Protestant thought has largely relied upon faith and the scripture with which to work out the ramifications of its views.
One place where it is possible to see the clear-cut influence of Aristotle’s philosophy on Thomas’ thought, and thus on Catholic theology, is in relation to our understanding of God. Whereas many if not most Protestant theologians would say that Christian belief is based on faith and/or the Bible, Catholic thinkers argue that it is possible to base Christian belief on pure reason alone. The arguments they use to accomplish this are borrowed directly from Aristotle.
Aquinas offered five proofs of the existence of God based on Aristotle’s thought. The first “proof” is a causal one: God is the first Cause behind all other causes. The second is a proof from motion, all things move from potentiality to actuality, and it is God who accomplishes this. The third proof is that of efficient cause, God is the actual moving force behind all motion. Next, there is the proof from degrees of perfection. God is that which is pure perfection and thus defines all modes of perfection. Finally, there is the proof from the hierarchical order of being, which implies an “ultimate orderer” being, namely God.
Thus, according to Aquinas, we can know that God exists by pure reason alone. But we can only know who God is by the revelation of scripture. We can also know something of God’s nature, according to Aquinas, by means of analogy. That is, by noting the degree to which human beings resemble God’s nature. Thus, Catholic thinkers rely more on the role of human reason than do most Protestant thinkers, all because of the radical reflections of one Albertus Magnus.

The other day I ran into my old and good friend Bobby Burns. I first met Bobby about 20 years ago when we were both attending a Cemetery memorial service for local homeless folks who had died here in Tucson. As we talked, he told me about a manuscript he was writing and his hope that he would not become one of the folks commemorated in this way. He went on to tell me about his recent experience of having, through a strange set of circumstances, become a homeless person himself.
He had come to the Cemetery to honor those who had died anonymously. He said he now felt a special connection to such people and wondered if this would be his own fate. He was calm and focused as we talked about the possibility of having such an ending. We also wondered if we had met or even perhaps known one or more of those being remembered there that day. It was a cold December morning and there were not many folks gathered to honor these “fallen soldiers.”
I mentioned to him that I had recently published a book with University of Arizona Press and would be happy to speak to my editor about his book because it sounded very worthwhile. He agreed to this plan and I did pass his manuscript on to my editor. Happily, the Press not only agreed to publish Bobby’s book Shelter: One Man’s Journey from Homelessness to Hope, but they also agreed to help him promote it. Indeed, they agreed to finance Bobby on a 45-day 10 city bus trip around the country promoting his book. In addition to travelling by bus Bobby slept in homeless shelters all around the country and eventually wrote even more about the experience of being homeless.
Bobby told me he had been in the Navy as a cook for six years and had done tours of service all around both the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. Since being discharged he earned a degree at Arizona State University, but was not able to land the sort of job he had hoped. Things did not go well from there on and he ended up homeless. Eventually Bobby got a fringe job with Pima Community College where he found a friendly home.
Since those days Bobby has worked for Pima Community College in various capacities, mostly as an Academic Advisor and Student Success Counselor. After having earned a Master’s degree at NAU he began working as a motivational speaker throughout Arizona. I asked him to visit several of my classes over the years in order to expose my students to someone who has brought himself up from a very difficult beginning in life to a place of value and inspiration to his young brothers and sisters who have had difficulties, both in the beginning and along the way.
Bobby was very entertaining and motivating in his presentations and my students really took his message and life to heart. Over the years Bobby has continued to grow as a writer, publishing many articles and short books about his life and the lessons he learned along the way. Bobby has been married now for several years and he and his wife have a young teenaged son. He remains an avid sports fan and is always searching for new things to read and from which to learn.
Over the ensuing years Bobby has continued his calling as a writer and a poet, publishing numerous essays and articles in various newspapers and magazines around the country. He has a real knack for focusing and describing what might be considered off-beat topics and people in a clear and stimulating style. I enjoy seeing and talking with Bobby whenever we happen to meet. He is always full of life and not in any way full of himself. He is still writing and publishing his work. Indeed, Bobby was very interested to learn about my blogging experience and now even plans to develop a site of his own.
After visiting with Bobby Burns, I always find myself wondering how many other young folks there are out there who could use a boost of some sort to get them over a temporary snag in their journey. Bobby has always been a real inspiration to many, including myself, to keep on pushing and searching for that one break, that one contact, which might leverage them up the ladder to hope and a more meaningful life.