Thomas Aquinas was an influential Dominican friar, theologian, and philosopher who lived from 1225 to 1274 AD. Thomas Aquinas was born in a town called Roccasecca in Italy. Since Thomas Aquinas followed the scholastic tradition, he obtained knowledge through dialectical reasoning. After studying Aristotelianism and Neo-Platonism, Thomas Aquinas adopted his own theology. Aquinas' underlying theology was the compatibility of faith and reason to prove the existence of God. Thomas Aquinas wrote several works and specifically with his theology in mind he wrote the Summa Theologica and the Summa contra Gentiles. Aquinas' early education was received by Benedictine monks at the Abbey of Monte Cassino. After the oppressed military authority took control of the town of Abbey, he continued his studies at the University of Naples. At university, he learned the philosophy of Aristotle and the recently established Dominican order, which he joined without his family's approval. Aquinas' family was strongly opposed to his desire to join the Dominican order in Rome, to the point of holding him "hostage" for two years in their o...