Thomas Aquinas affirmed intrinsically in the teachings of the Catholic Church. Born in Italy in 1225 to a noble family, Thomas was one of at least nine children. He was a very cultured man, he began his education at the Abbey of Montecassino, then moving on to the University of Naples. Thomas had a strong faith in God and aspired to demonstrate the reality of God. During his lifetime, Thomas Aquinas produced numerous works on the subject, the most notable of which were the Summa contra Gentiles and the Summa Theologica. A great theologian and philosopher leaves us as a legacy, often compared to Aristotle. “Much of Thomas's personal studies were concerned with the 'exposition,' as he called it, of the works of Aristotle. Having undertaken what would become the Summa Theologica, he clearly found Aristotle's De Anima very useful in his theological accounts of the soul. (Kerr 27) His life lasted forty-nine years and in that time he produced over sixty works. “Aquinas wrote tirelessly throughout much of his life, producing works that believers call inspired: De Principiis Naturae (On the Principle of Nature), De Ente et Essentia (On Being and Essence), and his commentaries on Aristotle's Physics , to Metaphysics, to De Anima and Nicomachean Ethics. His Summa contra Gentiles is a work of apologetics, and his major work, Summa Theologica, presents reasoned arguments for the faith; within Roman Catholicism it is considered a quasi-sacred text.” (Porter 62) The Summa Contra Gentiles states: “We must therefore first of all show that every agent intends an end by his action. “ (Pegis 429) Aquinas reiterates what Aristotle had stated about the beginning of Metaphysics. Thomas Aquinas states that truth is the end or purpose of the universe because the end of... middle of paper..., having grown up in the Catholic church, I believe in the teachings of St. Thomas, I was taught them for a lifetime. Works Cited: Kennedy, Daniel. "St. Thomas Aquinas." The Catholic Encyclopedia. vol. 14. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. July 24, 2011 12. Kerr, Fergus. Thomas Aquinas: a very brief introduction. Oxford University Press, USA, 2009. 19, 27, 29 102. PrintPegis, Anton C. Introduction to St. Thomas. New York, NY: Random House, 1948. 26-27, 429. Print.Porter, Burton F. What the Tortoise Taught Us: The History of Philosophy. Plymouth, UK: Rowman & Littlefield Pub Inc, 2010. 62-65. Print.Strathern, Paul. Thomas Aquinas in 90 minutes. Chicago: Ivan R. Dee, 1998. 7. Print.Wolff, Robert Paul. Ten great works of philosophy. New York, NY: The Penguin Group, 1969. 97. Print.