Thomas Aquinas emerges as a remarkable figure whose significant literary contributions have had a profound impact on our understanding of religion. Drawing inspiration from both the Greco-Roman philosophical and legal traditions, particularly the influential works of Cicero and the rich Christian tradition, notably Augustine, Aquinas presents a comprehensive and nuanced approach to the multifaceted concept of ‘religion’. While his analysis often situates ‘religion’ within the moral framework of justice, highlighting its inherent concern with the relationship between humanity and the divine, Aquinas goes beyond mere moral principles in his exploration. His aim is to establish a universal understanding of ‘religion’, offering a well-defined definition and presenting a philosophical and theological doctrine. In this paper, we shall first delve into the foundations and underlying principles that shaped Aquinas’s interpretation of religion. Next, we will undertake a thorough examination of religion as a virtue, highlighting Aquinas’s emphasis on its intrinsic connection to justice rather than confining it to the realm of religious sentiment, piety, or devotion. Finally, our research will explore the specific terminologies employed by Aquinas to elucidate the concept of religion, providing a comprehensive and nuanced approach to the ongoing discourse on this topic. Aquinas’s contribution rests in his defence of religion’s inherent public nature, grounded in its anthropological foundation and its virtuous essence.

More from our Archive

• DOI: 10.46222/pharosjot.104.411 2023

  The Use of Smartphones to Communicate the Gospel of Jesus Christ

  Gedala Mulliah Naidoo

• DOI: 10.1002/bco2.265 2023

  Single use flexible ureteroscopes: Current status and future directions

  Patrick Juliebø‐Jones, Eugenio Ventimiglia, Bhaskar K. Somani, Mathias Sørstrand Æsøy, Peder Gjengstø, Christian Beisland, Øyvind Ulvik

• DOI: 10.3390/rel14070852 2023

  Chinese Wu, Ritualists and Shamans: An Ethnological Analysis

  Michael James Winkelman

• DOI: 10.3390/rel14070925 2023

  Liberation Theologies and Their Future: Rethinking Categories and Popular Participation in Liberation

  Joerg Rieger, Priscila Silva

• DOI: 10.3390/rel14070908 2023

  Philosophy and Religion in the Political Thought of Alfarabi

  Ishraq Ali

• DOI: 10.1111/muwo.12470 2023

  Sharing <i>Baraka</i> in an Unexpected Place: The Emergence of <i>Ziyāra</i> Culture Among Sufi and ‘Alawi Muslims in Argentina¹

  Silvia Montenegro

• DOI: 10.3390/rel14070882 2023

  The Multidimensional Measurement of Religious/Spiritual Well-Being: Recent Developments in Scale Validation and Clinical Applications

  Human Friedrich Unterrainer

• DOI: 10.1386/pi_00021_1 2023

  On the history of the university theatre: A reading in the theatrical movement of King Saud University in the period from 1974 to 2000

  Naif Khalaf Althaqeel

• DOI: 10.1386/pi_00020_1 2023

  Muslims and Islam in contemporary British theatre and the image of the ‘British Muslim Self’ in Guleraana Mir’s Coconut

  Önder Çakırtaş

• DOI: 10.1386/pi_00019_1 2023

  Storytelling an eco-Islamic future/past: Oral tradition(s), environmentalism and personal responsibility in the Omani public sphere

  Maria F. Curtis