The liberal arts are not the only or even the most important part of liberal education, but they are fundamental. Only thinking which is disciplined, vigorous, and animated by wonder produces knowledge and wisdom.
The highest philosophy is the study of being itself and of the Supreme Being; in this science, reason explores, among other things, what can be known naturally about God. As St. Thomas observed, “almost all of philosophy is directed toward the knowledge of God, and that is why metaphysics, which deals with divine things, is the last part of philosophy to be learned.” This “natural theology” leads, in turn, to the science of theology, which proceeds rationally from revealed principles and illuminates the mind about the truths of Faith. Thus, the entire curriculum at Thomas Aquinas College is ordered to theology, and especially to the works of the Church’s “Universal Doctor," Thomas Aquinas. Similarly, all of St. Thomas’s theology aims ultimately at the highest object of contemplation, the Holy Trinity, the study of which is among the last to be taken up by students at the College.