John of St. Thomas Print

Description

John of St. Thomas, O.P., born João Poinsot on 9 July 1589 – 15 June 1644), was a Portuguese Dominican friar, Thomist theologian, and professor of philosophy. He is known for being an early theorist in the field of semiotics. His theological and philosophical writings,are among the best expositions of Thomas Aquinas’s doctrine, of which he is acknowledged to be one of the foremost interpreters.

In 1643 he became royal confessor and councilor to King Phillip IV, a position he only accepted out of obedience.   He was so faithful to the traditions of his order and the principles of the Angelic Doctor that in his last illness he could declare that, in all the thirty years he had devoted to teaching and writing, he had not taught or written anything contrary to St. Thomas. His humility and his devotion to education caused him to refuse many dignities offered him by the Church and his order.