Shiloh asked me earlier what I thought of Thomas Aquinas and his philosophy. Well, there is something that I find particularly fascinating about Thomist thought, and that is his use of Aristotle. Lots of theologians and other thinkers have depended on Aristotle, but Thomas wrote at time when Aristotle had just been re-introduced into Europe, and was therefore fairly trendy.
Thomas used Aristotle's distinction between substance and accident to formulate his theology of the Mass. He said that in regards to its accidents (appearance, smell, taste, etc.) the bread does not change, but that its substance becomes that of the body of Christ. Hence the phrase, transubstantiation.
But the interesting thing here is that Thomas used what was effectively cutting-edge science in order to do theology. It would be the same as if someone today were to base a theology of the Lord's Supper on quantum theory. Come to think of it, that would make a fascinating study, though I confess I wouldn't really know where to begin. Maybe I'm not as smart as St Thomas.
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