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Summa Theologica, Volume 4
"The Summa Theologica is the best-known work of Italian philosopher, scholar, and Dominican friar SAINT THOMAS AQUINAS (1225¿1274), widely considered the Catholic Church¿s greatest theologian. Famously consulted (immediately after the Bible) on religious questions at the Council of Trent, Aquinas¿s masterpiece has been considered a summary of official Church philosophy ever since. Aquinas considers approximately 10,000 questions on Church doctrine covering the roles and nature of God, man, and Jesus, then lays out objections to Church teachings and systematically confronts each, using Biblical verses, theologians, and philosophers to bolster his arguments. In Volume IV, Aquinas ¿ chastity and lust ¿ sobriety and humility ¿ pride ¿ prophecy and Rapture ¿ the passion of Christ ¿ Christ¿s resurrection ¿ the sacraments ¿ and much more. This massive work of scholarship, spanning five volumes, addresses just about every possible query or argument that any believer or atheist could have, and remains essential, more than seven hundred years after it was written, for clergy, religious historians, and serious students of Catholic thought."
- GenresClassics
656 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2007
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11 people want to read
About the author
Thomas Aquinas
2,676 books1,176 followersPhilosophy of Saint Thomas Aquinas, a Dominican friar and theologian of Italy and the most influential thinker of the medieval period, combined doctrine of Aristotle and elements of Neoplatonism, a system that Plotinus and his successors developed and based on that of Plato, within a context of Christian thought; his works include the
Summa contra gentiles
(1259-1264) and the
Summa theologiae
or theologica (1266-1273).
Saint Albertus Magnus taught Saint Thomas Aquinas.
People ably note this priest, sometimes styled of Aquin or Aquino, as a scholastic. The Roman Catholic tradition honors him as a "doctor of the Church."
Aquinas lived at a critical juncture of western culture when the arrival of the Aristotelian corpus in Latin translation reopened the question of the relation between faith and reason, calling into question the modus vivendi that obtained for centuries. This crisis flared just as people founded universities. Thomas after early studies at Montecassino moved to the University of Naples, where he met members of the new Dominican order. At Naples too, Thomas first extended contact with the new learning. He joined the Dominican order and then went north to study with Albertus Magnus, author of a paraphrase of the Aristotelian corpus. Thomas completed his studies at the University of Paris, formed out the monastic schools on the left bank and the cathedral school at Notre Dame. In two stints as a regent master, Thomas defended the mendicant orders and of greater historical importance countered both the interpretations of Averroës of Aristotle and the Franciscan tendency to reject Greek philosophy. The result, a new modus vivendi between faith and philosophy, survived until the rise of the new physics. The Catholic Church over the centuries regularly and consistently reaffirmed the central importance of work of Thomas for understanding its teachings concerning the Christian revelation, and his close textual commentaries on Aristotle represent a cultural resource, now receiving increased recognition.
Saint Albertus Magnus taught Saint Thomas Aquinas.
People ably note this priest, sometimes styled of Aquin or Aquino, as a scholastic. The Roman Catholic tradition honors him as a "doctor of the Church."
Aquinas lived at a critical juncture of western culture when the arrival of the Aristotelian corpus in Latin translation reopened the question of the relation between faith and reason, calling into question the modus vivendi that obtained for centuries. This crisis flared just as people founded universities. Thomas after early studies at Montecassino moved to the University of Naples, where he met members of the new Dominican order. At Naples too, Thomas first extended contact with the new learning. He joined the Dominican order and then went north to study with Albertus Magnus, author of a paraphrase of the Aristotelian corpus. Thomas completed his studies at the University of Paris, formed out the monastic schools on the left bank and the cathedral school at Notre Dame. In two stints as a regent master, Thomas defended the mendicant orders and of greater historical importance countered both the interpretations of Averroës of Aristotle and the Franciscan tendency to reject Greek philosophy. The result, a new modus vivendi between faith and philosophy, survived until the rise of the new physics. The Catholic Church over the centuries regularly and consistently reaffirmed the central importance of work of Thomas for understanding its teachings concerning the Christian revelation, and his close textual commentaries on Aristotle represent a cultural resource, now receiving increased recognition.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
March 13, 2024
Aquinas asserts in this Volume that Jesus loves our nature while hating our crimes against Him thus making us guilty of sin and it is through His grace freely given that can save us from darkness and give us eternal life since the wages of sin is death.
I noticed Aquinas relied on the added later parts of the Book of Mark and the least historical unreliable book in the NT, The Book of Acts, in his defenses of the necessity of the incarnation and the ultimate sacrifice that was necessary for the sins from our guilt given to us by the assuming an imaginary worldviews not tethered to reality. Aquinas uses imaginary certainties derived from presuppositions that are not tethered to evidence beyond saying ‘the Bible says so.’
I knew that Jesus told the condemned man next to him on the cross that he would be with Jesus that day in paradise and from an Epistle of Peter, I also knew Jesus spent the next three days in Hell arguing with the devil over the bones of Moses. What I did not know was how the Church reconciled that paradox. Aquinas tells me that Jesus’ God Head went to paradise while the not God Head went to hell. I’m glad Aquinas cleared that up for me.
Aquinas is seldom redundant between his volumes. He did use the analogy of character was like soldiers for the king and acting in his steed and I’ve heard him say that previously, but that some redundancy can be expected in such a large book as the Summa is expected.
Virtues are habits of simple excellencies according to Aquinas. He still uses Aristotle’s philosophy and his metaphysics as his starting points and Aquinas will often link it through pseudo-Dionysus, but he tended not to cite the ‘commentator’ (Maimonides) hardly at all in this volume. Aquinas will make his abstracts external/internal, simple/complex, particular/universal or for his abstract of justice communitive/distributive then he’ll pick the argument apart to prove his point. He shows the host is real and necessary for venial sins, or baptism for babies, or lay women can’t baptize others if lay men are available, Mary was a perpetual virgin, James the brother of Jesus is a cousin or half-brother and the incarnation was necessary, and answer what happens to unbaptized babies and other pressing questions for those who assume the imaginary problem of sin because of guilt against a Jesus/God (remember, they love you but with conditions).
Aquinas makes guilt any offense to Jesus and a sin and Jesus necessary for that forgiveness of that sin and grace was required after the fall of Adam. There is a circularity to the arguments but the arguments themselves are wonderful to behold and it makes these long books an easy read for me as I just sit back and enjoy the ride (for me, it is a literal ride since I listen to these books on my daily 2 and half hour bike ride on isolated desert paths).
Throughout life I’ve talked to Catholics from time to time about their beliefs and the smarter ones always had slick answers to my questions and now I know those slick answers originate with Thomas Aquinas. These books are must read for Catholics who have read the complete works of Aristotle and the Bible multiple times and want to understand where the beliefs link back too. I am not a Catholic but I do enjoy understanding their best philosophical arguments and Aquinas gives that as well as a reason-based methodology in defense to his brand of faith within his presuppositions.
I’ll note that the previous volume to this series I gave 1 star. I just couldn’t get past Aquinas’ defense of slavery, superstitious belief in demons and devils, women as inferior, genocide of Edomites, and other completely indefensible positions. This volume was less offensive to me than the previous volume and his arguments that the host is the real body of Christ weren’t offensive or monstrous (defending slavery, genocide, misogyny, homophobia makes the person a monster themselves). Go ahead and believe superstitious mythological non-sense while using philosophy and I am willing to hear your arguments and for the most part Aquinas is not offensive in this volume except for his misogyny.
I noticed Aquinas relied on the added later parts of the Book of Mark and the least historical unreliable book in the NT, The Book of Acts, in his defenses of the necessity of the incarnation and the ultimate sacrifice that was necessary for the sins from our guilt given to us by the assuming an imaginary worldviews not tethered to reality. Aquinas uses imaginary certainties derived from presuppositions that are not tethered to evidence beyond saying ‘the Bible says so.’
I knew that Jesus told the condemned man next to him on the cross that he would be with Jesus that day in paradise and from an Epistle of Peter, I also knew Jesus spent the next three days in Hell arguing with the devil over the bones of Moses. What I did not know was how the Church reconciled that paradox. Aquinas tells me that Jesus’ God Head went to paradise while the not God Head went to hell. I’m glad Aquinas cleared that up for me.
Aquinas is seldom redundant between his volumes. He did use the analogy of character was like soldiers for the king and acting in his steed and I’ve heard him say that previously, but that some redundancy can be expected in such a large book as the Summa is expected.
Virtues are habits of simple excellencies according to Aquinas. He still uses Aristotle’s philosophy and his metaphysics as his starting points and Aquinas will often link it through pseudo-Dionysus, but he tended not to cite the ‘commentator’ (Maimonides) hardly at all in this volume. Aquinas will make his abstracts external/internal, simple/complex, particular/universal or for his abstract of justice communitive/distributive then he’ll pick the argument apart to prove his point. He shows the host is real and necessary for venial sins, or baptism for babies, or lay women can’t baptize others if lay men are available, Mary was a perpetual virgin, James the brother of Jesus is a cousin or half-brother and the incarnation was necessary, and answer what happens to unbaptized babies and other pressing questions for those who assume the imaginary problem of sin because of guilt against a Jesus/God (remember, they love you but with conditions).
Aquinas makes guilt any offense to Jesus and a sin and Jesus necessary for that forgiveness of that sin and grace was required after the fall of Adam. There is a circularity to the arguments but the arguments themselves are wonderful to behold and it makes these long books an easy read for me as I just sit back and enjoy the ride (for me, it is a literal ride since I listen to these books on my daily 2 and half hour bike ride on isolated desert paths).
Throughout life I’ve talked to Catholics from time to time about their beliefs and the smarter ones always had slick answers to my questions and now I know those slick answers originate with Thomas Aquinas. These books are must read for Catholics who have read the complete works of Aristotle and the Bible multiple times and want to understand where the beliefs link back too. I am not a Catholic but I do enjoy understanding their best philosophical arguments and Aquinas gives that as well as a reason-based methodology in defense to his brand of faith within his presuppositions.
I’ll note that the previous volume to this series I gave 1 star. I just couldn’t get past Aquinas’ defense of slavery, superstitious belief in demons and devils, women as inferior, genocide of Edomites, and other completely indefensible positions. This volume was less offensive to me than the previous volume and his arguments that the host is the real body of Christ weren’t offensive or monstrous (defending slavery, genocide, misogyny, homophobia makes the person a monster themselves). Go ahead and believe superstitious mythological non-sense while using philosophy and I am willing to hear your arguments and for the most part Aquinas is not offensive in this volume except for his misogyny.
Displaying 1 of 1 review