John Boyle, Catholic studies professor at the University of St. Thomas, recently spoke with the Catholic Courier about St. Thomas Aquinas and his influence on Catholic thought.
From the story:
John Boyle, professor of Catholic Studies at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota, and author of the recently published Aquinas on Scripture: A Primer, said St. Thomas’ work stands out for its “stunning clarity” and breadth. Others before him, including St. Augustine, had endeavored to explore creation’s order and relationship to God, but scholars of the High Middle Ages were unique in the discipline they applied to their pursuit, Boyle said.
At the same time, they were “bombarded with new knowledge that could have just intellectually … overwhelmed the culture,” Boyle said, as newly translated work from the Greek church fathers, as well as Judaic, Arabic and classical pagan sources, flooded the West, and intellectuals scrambled to make sense of it.