Weekly lessons promise to make the medieval philosopher much more accessible. If this were a class in one of St. Thomas Aquinas’ own classroom, he would have been overwhelmed. But this Aquinas 101 is online, and it’s drawn over 12,000 students in just its first couple of weeks.
“Aquinas 101 enrollment has crossed 12,000 subscribers,” tweeted the Thomistic Institute on Thursday. “Thank you to everyone who has signed up!”
[protected-iframe id=”8e1ba896cddd72bc047147bf97532a53-95521100-92534480″ info=”twsrc%5Etfw” class=”twitter-tweet”]
The course consists of 85 short videos, with accompanying readings and recommended resources and listening, Aleteia explained in an August 23 article. “The idea is that it’ll give you a basic mastery of the essentials of Aquinas,” said Dominican Fr. Gregory Pine, one of the teachers in the course. The videos will introduce St. Thomas and his philosophy and walk viewers through his masterwork, the Summa Theologiae — specifically, through the topics of God and Creation; Principles of the Moral Life; the Virtues, and Christ and the Sacraments.
The course launched on August 26.
“We’re just very delighted to be able to provide something for which there is such an evident desire,” Fr. Pine said Thursday. “It’s very edifying to see that so many people are interested in learning the Catholic intellectual tradition with St. Thomas, and that Aquinas 101 can provide a way in. I think many will find that once you set aside the intimidation factor, Aquinas is a wise guide and an excellent companion for prayer and study.”
He said that about 4,000 people signed up the first day and that interest “proceeds apace.”
