Reviews (22)

A True Classic
I knew about this book, of course, because I'm an academic, but hadn't read in it since it's out of my field and I'm not religious.
SUPREME EXCELLENCE.
St.Thomas Aquinas has always been a very solid and firm foundation for the Church.I have always loved this Saint from the very first days of becoming a Roman Catholic.I am amazed at the excellence of this work and constantly refer to this work for any of my own personal questions I may have about God.This is an awesome set to own ! I highly recommend to purchase your own set of the Summa. Thanks to God for giving us this wonderful Saint ...........the Great St. Thomas Aquinas.

The foundation of modern Christendom
How can one over-emphasize the role St. Thomas Aquinas 'Summa Theologica' has played in the modern mind, let alone the Christian one?Whether you are Protestant, Catholic, or Orthodox, Thomas' masterwork is a must for anyone who is seriously interested in systematic or historical theology, the history of philosophy or philosophy generally, and anyone who would like to know what one of the most erudite minds in the history of Western Christendom has said on the nature of God, humankind, and everything in between.
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Subjects:  1. Catholic Church    2. Christianity - Catholicism    3. Christianity - History - Catholic    4. Christianity - Theology - Catholic    5. Doctrines    6. Early works to 1800    7. Religion    8. Religion - Classic Works    9. Spirituality - General    10. Theology, Doctrinal    11. Christian theology   

Reviews (7)

Understanding Aquinas clarifies other historical issues
I need not restate the lenghty and obvious praises of previous reviewers, they did an excellent job of summing up the work on the intellectual level.
A good way to say that you read the great Summa
This book was really worth reading.St. Thomas can really get windy in his writing but overall he did provide some good insights.Much of what he writes is (I don't know how else to put it) mental masturbation but it is a good read for the way it thoroughly covers theology.

Massive Summary of Christian Truths
I am a begginer, 22 years old, in the field of christianity. I've been a believer for 4 years now, but up until recently I am developing interest in a more profound study of Christian Faith.
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Subjects:  1. Christianity - Literature    2. Christianity - Theology - Catholic    3. Christianity - Theology - History    4. Christianity - Theology - Systematic    5. Religion    6. Religion - Classic Works    7. Theology    8. Christian theology   

Reviews (3)

Essay: Nature of Man as Viewed by Machiavelli and Aquinas
Editions Used:
High quality writing on these subjects
To my knowledge only a threesome authors-philosophers (Sartre, Nietzsche and Macchiavelli) would have been able as well to tell "useful" words on this combination of topics Aquinas chose. Interesting but hard read
The excerpts of Thomas Aquinas' "Summa Theologica" are well-presented in this book. Aquinas blends together his Christian faith and ancient philosophy, especially Aristotle, to examine questions about law, human nature, faith, politics, and ethics. I read this for a class on political philosophy and found it particularly interesting, a bridge between the ancients (Aristotle, Plato, Sophocles) and the more modern philosophers (Machiavellie, Locke, Hobbes).Read more

Subjects:  1. Law    2. Law and ethics    3. Law and politics    4. Natural law    5. Political aspects    6. Ethics & moral philosophy    7. Jurisprudence & philosophy of law    8. Social & political philosophy   

Subjects:  1. Bible - Commentaries - New Testament    2. Christianity - Theology - General    3. Religion    4. Religion - Commentaries / Reference    5. Religion - Theology    6. Religion / Theology   

Reviews (1)

A Masterpiece. Exhaustive and Complete!
If you enjoy Aristotle and Aquinas and would like to gain a better understanding on Aristotle's work titled "Physics," then this is definitely a book you need to own. While there are literally hundreds of titles in print and out of print (but able to be found) on Aristotle'sphysics, there is no book that matches this one. This is yet anotherexample of the "dumb ox" rising to the occasion again. Aquinastakes Aristotle's "Physics"lecture by lecture (i.e. passage bypassage) and comments on what Aristotle is espousing. This is 638 pages ofgreat detail, philosophy, and comments by one of the greatest philosophersin philosophical history (Aquinas), about one of the greatest philosopher'swork. The work is translated by Blackwell, Spath, and Thirlkel, and has aforward written by one of the most renown Thomistic scholars of our day,namely, Ralph McInerny. The translators have done a wonderful job of takinga difficult topic and language and making it easy to read and simple tofollow. Aquinas breaks down all of Aristotle's arguments, writings,comments, etc. into helpful and easy to understand comments. Furthermore,Aquinas takes words/phrases that are used by Aristotle and explains theircontext, intent, and meaning. Anybody who is familiar with Aquinas knowsthatAquinas can say more in less than most if not all of the greatestphilosophers. Therefore, if you want a commentary that will exhaustivelyexplain Aristotle's "Physics" then look no further. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Aristotle    2. History & Surveys - Medieval    3. Philosophy    4. Physics    5. Religious   

Subjects:  1. Logic    2. Philosophy    3. Philosophy / Logic   

Reviews (5)

ok
I am not crazy about this book simply because it is a Concise translation.Otherwise it is a fine work.If you arent familiar with the scholastic set up or how it works this is probably the work for you, or are a "casual" reader of Thomas perhaps.I cannot quite imagine a casual reader of Thomas but thats ok.I would definitely recomend at least looking at the real thing at least once.The Benziger Bros. edition is probably one of the best, it keeps the scholastic structure that is, I think, so important especially for philosophical work.As someone familiar with medieval scholastic philosophy I could hardly imagine trying to slog through Thomas without the inherent structure to the argument that the scholastic form brings to it which is pretty much the part that gets sacrificed for conciseness in this version.

An Expanded Index
As a research student in philosophy and a Catholic priest I have found this volume invaluable. It sits on my shelf next to my five volume 1950 Leonine edition of the Summa and acts as an expanded index. This is undoubtedly its greatest value: when seeking something in the Summa the ability to lift down this one volume, look for the appropriate text and check a summary of the Questions before turning to the real thing. I would additionally recommend it to all philosophy students and those interested in Catholic Philosophy and Theology as a text which can stand alone and whet the interest in this great thinkers magnum opus.

Thumbnail of the Summa
This is an impressive book.It is a collection of all of the "I answer that" sections of the Summa Theologica.This gives you a supreme one-volume version of Thomas' affirmative thought on Catholic Theology and Philosophy.This is a great "Thumbnail" and "introduction"to the hefty five-volume opus that many people love, but few have read.Read more

Subjects:  1. Christianity - Catholicism    2. Christianity - Theology - Catholic    3. Religion    4. Religion - Classic Works    5. Spirituality - General    6. Christian theology    7. Roman Catholicism, Roman Catholic Church   

Subjects:  1. General    2. History & Surveys - General    3. Philosophy    4. Political    5. Philosophy / General   

Subjects:  1. Bible - Commentaries - New Testament    2. Bible.    3. Commentaries    4. Hebrews    5. N.T.    6. Religion    7. Religion - Commentaries / Reference    8. Theology   

Reviews (2)

Another Great Text from Dumb Ox
As with the other commentaries from Dumb Ox Books, this text contains both the original text from Aristotle, and Aquinas' comments. These two texts are nicely distinguishable for the lay reader (or beginning reader) since Dumb Ox has put Aristotle's work in italics and Aquinas' commentary in normal typed text. A Classic and Accurate Interpretation of the Ethics
Thomas Aquinas was introduced to the "new" Aristotle at the University of Naples and, after becoming a Dominican, studied under Albert the Great at Cologne and edited Albert's commentary on the Ethics of Aristotle. Throughout his career, Thomas exhibits a more-than-ordinary interest in the philosophy of Aristotle and an ever-deeper appreciation of it. Nonetheless, it was relatively late in his short life that he composed a dozen commentaries on Aristotelian works, spurred on, doubtless, by the controversial uses to which Aristotle was put by those in the Faculty of Arts at Paris who are variously called Latin Averroists of Heterodox Aristotelians. These commentaries are among the most careful, helpful, and insightful ever written on the text of Aristotle. It is sometimes mistakenly thought that in them Thomas was somehow "baptizing" Aristotle, wrenching his thought into conformity with Christian doctrine. No one who reads the commentaries could long entertain this libelous view of them. The English translation of the text of Aristotle was made from the Cathala-Spiazzi Latin edition. Some inaccuracies exist; for instance, "ithos" is more correctly translated as "character" and "ethos" should be rendered as simply "habit." Students of Greek should probably have another translation close at hand. At any rate, Aquinas did not impose his own worldview on the Ethics; he used Aristotle to interpret Aristotle (he makes references only to other parts of the Ethics and to other Aristotelian works).His achievement stood as the standard commentary for centuries, and scholars such as Paul Shorey say that it is the least likely "to mislead and confuse the student." ... Read more

Subjects:  1. General    2. Philosophy    3. Ancient Greek & Roman philosophy    4. Ethics & moral philosophy   

Subjects:  1. History & Surveys - Medieval    2. History & Theory - General    3. Philosophy    4. Political   

Reviews (6)

It Makes You Think!
"Summa Contra Gentiles: Book One: God" is St. Thomas Aquinas' work in which he proclaims his philosophy of God.While differing from his Summa Theologica in form, it does bear it some resemblance.It consists of 102 chapters, each of which postulates a particular attribute of God.Each chapter then proves the postulated attribute by the application of philosophical reasoning.Support of authority, Scriptural or otherwise,. is only invoked after the issue has been established. Structure of Summa Contra Gentiles
Thomas Aquinas was an extraordinarily systematic thinker and writer. Because of this, one of the best ways to comprehend "Summa Contra Gentiles" is through consideration of its structure. At the highest level, it consists of 4 books, with the third book in two parts, on account of its length. Reader's Notes
Depending on the reader's preparation, "Summa Contra Gentiles: God" is either completely impenetrable or one of the easier philosophical works to understand.Read more

Subjects:  1. Apologetics    2. Christianity - Catholicism    3. Christianity - Theology - Catholic    4. Christianity - Theology - General    5. Fathers Of The Church (Christianity)    6. History & Surveys - Medieval    7. Religion    8. Religion - Classic Works    9. Christian theology    10. Early Church    11. Other prose: classical, early & medieval   

Reviews (1)

Good footnotes, GREAT theology!
This splendid book takes a slightly different angle than most modern compendiums.While the Summa is most often treated as a philosophical work, St. Thomas Aquinas' title itself, The Summa Theologiae (the summary of theology) shows it to be first and foremost a theological book.With this in mind, Bauerschmidt concentrates on the theological passages of the Summa, with special attention given to Aquinas' Christological understandings.
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Subjects:  1. Catholic Church    2. Christianity - Theology - Systematic    3. Doctrines    4. Religion    5. Religion - Theology    6. Religious    7. Theology, Doctrinal    8. Religion / Christianity / Theology / Systematic    9. Theology: General Studies/Reference, Philosophy   

Subjects:  1. Catholic Church    2. Christianity - General    3. Christianity - History - General    4. Christianity - Theology - Catholic    5. Christianity - Theology - History    6. Doctrines    7. Religion    8. Religion - Theology    9. Theology    10. Christian theology   

Subjects:  1. Christianity    2. Good & Evil    3. Good and evil    4. Philosophy    5. Religion    6. Sin    7. Ethics & moral philosophy    8. Other prose: classical, early & medieval    9. Philosophy of religion    10. Religion & Theology | Theology    11. Religion / Philosophy   

Reviews (4)

Reasonable introduction to the angelic doctor
St Thomas Aquinas's entire corpus is immense and fills several shelves on a bookcase.The Summa Theologica alone is usually contained in three to five massive pages.
St. Thomas for Beginners
The best way to know the thought of a great thinker is to read what he wrote rather than what others wrote about what they think he wrote. For St. Thomas, to learn about the world is to take a peek into the mind of God. The collection of texts in this book give a great sense of what he thought about our world, its structure and our place in it.Just enough to whet your appetite for more.

great Aquinas starting point
This book packs a lot of material.As an anthology, as the other reviewer has ably mentioned, this is wonderful.This book would be extremely useful to the student of Christian theology (Roman Catholic or Protestant) or to the student of historical philosophy.If you are studying the works of Aquinas for history, a few words of caution.A lot of his philosophy is based on Aristotle.If you do not understand basic Aristotle, this can be painful at times. "Actualize" and "potential" and sufficient causes, etc. will appear a lot.If you are unfamiliar with what this terminology means, you will have slow going.This is just a problem with some philosophy.Kant, another member of the big-5 team of greatest philosophers, also suffers from a language barrier to modern readers.But like Kant, you can still get a lot out of it.Read more

Subjects:  1. Christianity - Theology - General    2. History & Surveys - Medieval    3. Individual Theologians And Their Works (General)    4. Medieval Philosophy    5. Philosophy    6. Religion    7. Medieval & Scholastic philosophy    8. Religion & Theology | History of Christianity | Medieval    9. Religion / Theology   

Subjects:  1. Theology    2. Early works to 1800   

Reviews (1)

Excellent Translation
Oesterle's translation of this collection of disputed questions answered by Aquinas is highly readable and makes this text usefully accessible to scholars and students. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. General    2. Religion    3. Religion - Church History    4. Spirituality - General    5. Christian theology   

Reviews (3)

Structure of "Summa Contra Gentiles"
Thomas Aquinas was an extraordinarily systematic thinker and writer. Because of this, one of the best ways to comprehend "Summa Contra Gentiles" is through consideration of its structure. At the highest level, it consists of 4 books, with the third book in two parts, on account of its length. Reader's notes
The first volume of "Summa Contra Gentiles", "God", concerns the existence and nature of God. Although that volume requires the reader to know a certain number of technical philosophical terms, it does not otherwise require of him a great deal of contextual knowledge to appreciate. Excellent Translation
Bourke's translation of this key text of Aquinas is accurate and hightly readable.A valuable resource. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Apologetics    2. Christianity - Theology - Catholic    3. Christianity - Theology - Cosmology    4. Christianity - Theology - General    5. Fathers Of The Church (Christianity)    6. History & Surveys - Medieval    7. Religion    8. Religion - Classic Works    9. Christian theology    10. Early Church    11. Other prose: classical, early & medieval   

Reviews (4)

The One and the many, and the analogicity of Being:
Essence and existence. Aquinas develops Aristotelian metaphysics, the "transcendental" science of being (note that the term 'transcendental' as used by Thomas is quite different than the same term as used by Kant). Thomas' thought is among the densest of all philosophers', and is, for the modern student, perhaps more difficult to grasp than is the work of Kant. A reader unfamiliar with philosophy should not initiate his study with Thomas. For the student [at least] somewhat grounded in existentialist reasoning, this compilation serves as a concise introduction to Thomist metaphysics/ natural theology/ first philosophy. Translated and compiled by professor of philosophy, James F. Anderson, this volume is especially valuable in that Thomas Aquinas' work is so capacious and intimidating that one doesn't otherwise know how to approach it. A deep introduction to Aquinas's metaphysical synthesis
This book harvests Aquinas's finest, clearest and most relevant metaphysical texts--particularly those that better elucidate his original philosophical synthesis--with a focus on three problems: the subject of metaphysics, the analogicity of being, and the most universal determinations of this notion: the "transcendentals." An excellent introduction to the metaphysics of St. Thomas
First, I will simply reiterate what the previous reviewer stated: "The author introduces the reader to the metaphysics of St. Thomas by compiling sources from disparate primary texts." Apparently, no single primary source for Thomas' metaphysics exists. The author has done us a tremendous service in bringing Aquinas' metaphysical teachings together in one volume.Read more

Subjects:  1. Christianity - Theology - General    2. Early works to 1800    3. Fathers Of The Church (Christianity)    4. History & Surveys - Medieval    5. Metaphysics    6. Philosophy    7. Religion    8. Philosophy / Metaphysics