After reading this paper and searching for more information on the philosophers referenced, I wished I had the good fortune of Thomas Aquinas and had a nighttime visit by Saints Peter and Paul to help me decipher this reading. All of the Latin references made the paper very difficult to comprehend but I did get the gist of the text.
             It is clear that St. Thomas was not searching for information, but for the truth. In doing that he read everything he could. His mind was open. Evidently, he was one of the two most renowned scholars in the Christian community and spent almost fifty years reading and writing almost simultaneously. He was not interested in finding information, he absorbed it and went on to make the most sense of what the most brilliant people he knew of had found in order to work at finding the truth to existence. Where did we come from? What about intelligence? And, the order of things?
             In researching the work of St. Thomas since I found this paper difficult to read, I read of the life of St. Thomas Aquinas, Artistotle, Plato, and most importantly, I read St. Thomas Aquinas' Five Ways. This helped put this paper in more simple terms. Aquinas realized that nothing can move itself, that nothing can be caused by itself, that contingent beings are caused, that perfection is contained in God, that the universe works in such a way that it is designed by an intelligent designer, God. And, Aquinas worked his way to these principles all of his life and studying the works of other philosophers such as Aristotle, Plato, Parmenides, Platinus, Avicenna and Proclus, before he finally rested on the principles outlined in his Five Ways.
             The contributions of Aristotle were very meaningful to Aquinas and his Aquinas' theories became the foundation for the beliefs of the Catholic church. I believe in his teachings, as a Catholic since these were ingrained in me by my parents, school and church. And, I have no more intelli...