Aquinas: Dumb Ox, Chesterton, chaps 1-2 Chesterton opens his biography apologetically, saying it is really only a brief

introduction. He compares Aquinas with St Francis, contrasting them some, but saying that they are more alike than the modern mind realizes. Moderns fawn over Francis because he bears the best of romanticism in his love of nature. But they dont realize that he was as orthodox as ever. Chesterton claims that a renaissance of love for Aquinas will soon begin because he exhibits the best qualities of empirical reasoning (although Chesterton doesnt use that phrase) and humanism. Aquinas great work was to reconcile religion and reason. He claims that both Aquinas and Francis were in the most exact sense of the term, Humanists; because they were insisting on the immense importance of the human being in the theological scheme of things. Upon realizing this modernists will hastily begin to adorn his statue with all the faded garlands of progress, to present him as a man in advance of his age, which is always supposed to mean in agreement with our age They will discover his attraction, and somewhat hastily assume that he was like themselves, because he was attractive. Ouch. Further, Chesterton points out the cultural and historical milieu and how it influenced Aquinas. He was born shortly after Dominic and Francis. They both founded orders and Chesterton draws comparisons between them. Aquinas family tried to get him to become an abbot at the local monastery, but he refused the comfortable life. Rather he joined the Dominicans whose attitude Chesterton captures in the following tale about their founder: the Pope pointed to his gorgeous Papal Palace and said, Peter can no longer say Silver and gold have I none ; and the Spanish Friar answered, No, and neither can he now say, Rise and walk. Again, ouch. It is good to see Chestertons ability to confront Rome here, but that seems to be his limit. It is fair to say that Chesterton really and truly considers Aquinas, Francis, and Dominic as saints. Nonetheless, it is Chestertons respect for Aquinas that led him to this subject and that makes the book worthy reading.