Isaac noted that even early Classical authors could be rancorous: Homer apparently stole part of his work from Suidus and Syagrus. Plutarch intensely disliked Herodotus, Plato and Aristotle spent much of their time warring against each other as well as against other local scholiasts. Josephus was a tool of the Roman state, tuning his writing to support the persecution of Jews and Christians. Thomas Aquinas was regarded by some as one of the dimmer bulbs in the Christian world of the time. He said angels were made of thick air. A contemporary regarded his efforts as “cobwebs of sophistry”, full of “captious logic”.
Friday, September 06, 2019
Tales of the literary life …
… CURIOSITIES OF LITERATURE, VOL 1 – mudpuddle soup.
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Thomas Aquinas said no such thing about angels.
ReplyDelete"Therefore it is unfitting according to the view of Sacred Scripture, that angels should be corporeal. If however, one would wish to examine diligently the words of Sacred Scripture, he will be able to gather from them that angels are immaterial, for Sacred Scripture calls them certain powers."
I also would be curious to know what contemporaries are known to have referred to him. I would also be curious to know where Plato is known to have referred to Aristotle. Parmenides makes an appearance, as do assorted sophists. But Aristotle?
The quotation is from The Treatise on Separate Substances, section 98.
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