Thomas More

Paper Summary:

Thomas More is a figure greatly revered both by historians and the religious world. This paper examines these things in light of his contributions to Christianity and the development of the Catholic Church during its most volatile period. It affirms More's convictions as "the king's good servant, but God's first".

From the Paper:

"History will remember Sir Thomas More as many things. He was a major renaissance figure and author and a successful businessman, diplomat and royal secretary. He was a close friend of King Henry VIII and a valued and trusted advisor. He was devoutly religious and fiercely loyal to the Catholic Church, at a time when the church was under great scrutiny. He was also a family man, with four children of his own and several, which he adopted. He was a man in transition, part modern, part medieval. In fact, much of his life was characterized by these conflicts. Most importantly, however, Thomas More was a Christian, martyred in 1535 and canonized Saint Thomas More by Pope Pius in 1935, more than 40 years later. He has been placed in the same boat as the great passive revolutionaries, like Jesus and Gandhi. At the unveiling of a statue dedicated to More, placed on the banks of the Thames in London, in 1969, the Cardinal Archbishop of Canterbury said: "He believed that the Christian Church is a divine society wider than states and nations, and that duty to king yields place to duty to God." This belief in the church and God characterized More's life and motivated all his actions. However the time in which he lived and its humanistic tradition also influenced More to some degree and his career and works demonstrate how that influenced changed over time, as he deserts humanism to fully defend his church latter in life."

More papers on Thomas More:

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• Book Review # 112693 : "Thomas More"
• Book Review # 129135 : "The Fatal Flaw in Thomas More's 'Utopia'."
• Analytical Essay # 5552 : "A Biography of Sir Thomas More"

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