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Angelic Virtues and Demonic Vices: Aquinas's Practical Principles for Reaching Heaven and Avoiding Hell
Are we truly striving for heaven or merely avoiding hell?
The human heart’s greatest longing is to see God as He is. And yet, many people simply want to escape hell’s pain, or even worse, they follow our disordered fallen nature in choosing sinful pleasures. Our Lord said the road to heaven is narrow, but the road to hell is wide (see Matt. 7:13). I s choosing the road to heaven merely wanting to avoid pain, or is it actively pursuing the greatest good beyond imagining?
Do we choose the good because we strive to love God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength, or do we choose the good merely because we fear hell?
God never leaves us alone in these choices. Indeed, He sends us His grace, but—to help us cooperate with that grace and fight valiantly—He also sends spiritual warriors and guides, of whom one of the greatest is Saint Thomas Aquinas.
In Angelic Virtues and Demonic Vices , Saint Thomas guides us on how to pursue our true celestial homeland while avoiding running to a false heaven. He outlines the various vices, and their forty-plus daughters, and details how to conquer them.
After reading this work, you will not only desire to become a saint because you will see how hideous vice truly is but also see how splendid and virtuous living for God is.
The human heart’s greatest longing is to see God as He is. And yet, many people simply want to escape hell’s pain, or even worse, they follow our disordered fallen nature in choosing sinful pleasures. Our Lord said the road to heaven is narrow, but the road to hell is wide (see Matt. 7:13). I s choosing the road to heaven merely wanting to avoid pain, or is it actively pursuing the greatest good beyond imagining?
Do we choose the good because we strive to love God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength, or do we choose the good merely because we fear hell?
God never leaves us alone in these choices. Indeed, He sends us His grace, but—to help us cooperate with that grace and fight valiantly—He also sends spiritual warriors and guides, of whom one of the greatest is Saint Thomas Aquinas.
In Angelic Virtues and Demonic Vices , Saint Thomas guides us on how to pursue our true celestial homeland while avoiding running to a false heaven. He outlines the various vices, and their forty-plus daughters, and details how to conquer them.
After reading this work, you will not only desire to become a saint because you will see how hideous vice truly is but also see how splendid and virtuous living for God is.
- GenresNonfiction
288 pages, Hardcover
Published March 7, 2023
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July 24, 2023
“Humility makes men angels and pride makes angels devils.” - Saint Augustine
Well structured, organized, and dense. Fr. Basil Cole, OP draws from the works of the Angelic Doctor - St. Thomas Aquinas - to lay out the two roads we are to choose from in life; a road of angelic virtues or demonic vices. Reading this book was a real grind for me though. It felt like reading a very “mechanical” research paper. The author does an amazing job at thoroughly explaining what vice and virtue is, how to combat vice, and what it looks like to participate in vice/virtue at the end of each chapter. The book is dense, because there’s so much to process from the wisdom of St. Thomas Aquinas. Unless you’re a Thomist, you might have to read this book a couple times to really let the message of the author sink in, I know I will! If you’re seeking to combat a pesky vice in your life, or want to learn how you can grow in a particular virtue, give this book a read (have pen and paper ready for notes)!
“I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Choose therefore life, that both thou and thy seed may live” (Deut. 30:19)
Well structured, organized, and dense. Fr. Basil Cole, OP draws from the works of the Angelic Doctor - St. Thomas Aquinas - to lay out the two roads we are to choose from in life; a road of angelic virtues or demonic vices. Reading this book was a real grind for me though. It felt like reading a very “mechanical” research paper. The author does an amazing job at thoroughly explaining what vice and virtue is, how to combat vice, and what it looks like to participate in vice/virtue at the end of each chapter. The book is dense, because there’s so much to process from the wisdom of St. Thomas Aquinas. Unless you’re a Thomist, you might have to read this book a couple times to really let the message of the author sink in, I know I will! If you’re seeking to combat a pesky vice in your life, or want to learn how you can grow in a particular virtue, give this book a read (have pen and paper ready for notes)!
“I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Choose therefore life, that both thou and thy seed may live” (Deut. 30:19)
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review