Thomas Aquinas

Thomas Aquinas is a thinker pretty much without peer. His orthodox interpretation of Augustine in the Summa Theologica has been called “the greatest single achievement of Christian  civilization.” But it was also incredibly rebellious: during Thomas’s  life in the 13th century, Catholics were actually banned from commenting  on Augustine’s works under penalty of excommunication.

Rather than wading in over my head, today I’ll tell you a nice story about Thomas Aquinas and some birds.

They  say a grand duke was visiting the future saint in Paris and wanted to  buy him a gift, so the two went for a walk along the Left Bank of the  Seine to pick something out. Before long, they came upon a sort of  sidewalk pet shop selling caged birds, and Thomas said, “You can buy me  all these birds.” The duke happily obliged and asked what he should do  with them — maybe send them back to the convent? “No,” Thomas told him.  “Open the cages.”