Last night in class we talked about Saint Thomas Aquinas and his grand synthesis, how he combined Aristotle’s metaphysics with Christian thought. Not only did Aquinas make it possible to believe in both faith and reason, but he also paved the way for the scientific revolution that would follow centuries later.

All week while I was reading about Aquinas, I thought about how such a synthesis would seem unnecessary now. We live in a secular age, with faith on one side and science on the other. The idea of synthesizing the two seems unnecessary at best and preposterous at worst.

When I expressed this idea in class, I was told to “hold that thought.” We’ll get to that in a month or two, the professor said.

I can’t wait.

(Photo: Wikimedia Commons)