What do you think?
Rate this book
A Tour of the Summa
This unique synopsis of the Summa Theologica is a complete, chapter-by-chapter restatement of St. Thomas' work, intended to expose readers to the totality of St. Thomas' thought and yet be brief enough to fit into one volume. Author of eleven other books on philosophy, Msgr. Glenn brings to this work—by far his greatest—a lifetime of teaching and writing experience. A masterpiece in its own right.
478 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 1978
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
November 3, 2022
"This book is a turnpike trip through the wide region known as the Summa Theologica of St. Thomas Aquinas. A turnpike is only a ribbon of trail through a territory in which every square mile is filled with sights to see, people to know, and places to visit. But a turnpike trip cannot pause for these interesting and valuable things; it must rush on, content with affording a full length view of the lay of the land in a succession of rewarding glimpses."
These words taken from the preface really say it all. A Tour of the Summa is useful for finding out what exactly is in the Summa and where it may be found: it gives a good idea of the breadth of St. Thomas's thought. The depth, however, as a consequence of the limited page count, is lacking. There are numerous questions that had me curious about how St. Thomas justified his position or what assumptions went into the argument, but much of this is understandably left out; and of course the objections and replies were also cut in the abbreviation process. Still, the book succeeds in its aim and is worth a read if one is looking for a bird's eye view of the contents of the Summa.
These words taken from the preface really say it all. A Tour of the Summa is useful for finding out what exactly is in the Summa and where it may be found: it gives a good idea of the breadth of St. Thomas's thought. The depth, however, as a consequence of the limited page count, is lacking. There are numerous questions that had me curious about how St. Thomas justified his position or what assumptions went into the argument, but much of this is understandably left out; and of course the objections and replies were also cut in the abbreviation process. Still, the book succeeds in its aim and is worth a read if one is looking for a bird's eye view of the contents of the Summa.
December 29, 2025
This book offers a great breakdown of the ideas found in the Summa Theologica. Highly recommend it for anyone who wants to learn about the works of St. Thomas Aquinas or learn more about Catholic teachings. I came out of this book with a better understanding of God and the Catholic Church.
January 1, 2021
While I’ve read commentary on Aquinas before, I found this to be the breath of fresh air that I had been longing for. I’ve always had a hard time getting past the 4 causes, etc. and so just figured Aquinas was “beyond me” and tried other watered down works. That is until on a silent retreat early this year when I randomly picked up another of his works that I read through so fast the director there ended up giving me this book to read next. Now I am hooked! Can’t believe I wasted all those years trying to find easy-to-read alternatives that always fell short. I now own the full Summa and look forward an even deeper study of it, but if you lack time and want a great start into Aquinas, I highly recommend this version.
February 18, 2021
After reading this I can see why the Reformation and the existentialist movement could be considered a necessity. Aquinas and the ensuing scholastics divided Man and God both physically and metaphysically. Whether purgatory, intercession of saints, hierarchy of the church, and/or the domination of the priesthood, there is no room for a personal relationship with Jesus. The worst thing about this is so much of it is cut out of whole cloth. Purgatory and limbo have no justification in scripture, and how can the "saints" be any better than anyone else when we all fall short of the glory of God?
Some of the metaphysical explanations, such as form, matter, and the identity of individual angels is intriguing; but then Aquinas runs of the rails when he tries to actually explain the mysteries of faith; i.e., the Trinity. Gradation of sin is another invention that stands in contradistinction to Bible-based theology. The "level" of sin maybe important to us, and to earthly justice, but not not to God.
I could go on, but I need to go inoculate myself with some Luther and Bonhoeffer.
Some of the metaphysical explanations, such as form, matter, and the identity of individual angels is intriguing; but then Aquinas runs of the rails when he tries to actually explain the mysteries of faith; i.e., the Trinity. Gradation of sin is another invention that stands in contradistinction to Bible-based theology. The "level" of sin maybe important to us, and to earthly justice, but not not to God.
I could go on, but I need to go inoculate myself with some Luther and Bonhoeffer.
July 10, 2021
I cannot comment on the Summa itself or its synopsis herein. I have practically no background on the text so I have no idea if the Monsignor is on point beyond his summation of the Five Ways.
However, readers should be aware the original text here includes a variety of notes from the Monsignor when he wrote the book in the 1950s and early into the year 1960. Almost all of these notes are problematic in light of the reforms of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council that are now a lifetime old… these problems grow a foriorti given it is thus based on the Tridentine catechism and not the Catechism of 1992 that constitutes the religion’s working dogma for over a generation.
However, readers should be aware the original text here includes a variety of notes from the Monsignor when he wrote the book in the 1950s and early into the year 1960. Almost all of these notes are problematic in light of the reforms of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council that are now a lifetime old… these problems grow a foriorti given it is thus based on the Tridentine catechism and not the Catechism of 1992 that constitutes the religion’s working dogma for over a generation.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews