Best version of Saint Thomas Aquinas "SUMMA Theologica."

[Megan7]

What is the best version of the SUMMA? By Saint Thomas Aquinas. For adults.

What other books should I get to help along with it. Please give titles, authors, etc.

How early can one start to read the Summa? At what age, grade? I am thinking of
Junior High School relatives, is that too young, is younger better?

Is there a version for children?

What is a good place to buy these books? A Catholic company or just a secular online company? Prices?

Oh, and by the way, I read a review where the person said that he was wrong regarding the Immaculate Conception, could you please elaborate on this more? Is that true?

Thanks in advance,
Pax

 

[MtnDwellar]

I like the Tour of the Summa found here: catholictheology.info/summa-theologica/index.php

Regarding the Immaculate Conception, the person was probably referring to St. Thomas’ teaching on ensoulment. St. Thomas taught that a fetus was not created with a soul, but that a soul was obtained after conception and before birth. No soul at conception, no original sin at conception, no need for an immaculate conception.

Of course, St. Thomas just moves the point down the road a bit. Mary would still need immaculate ensoulment.

 

[Linusthe2nd]

What is the best version of the SUMMA? By Saint Thomas Aquinas. For adults.

What other books should I get to help along with it. Please give titles, authors, etc.

How early can one start to read the Summa? At what age, grade? I am thinking of
Junior High School relatives, is that too young, is younger better?

Is there a version for children?

What is a good place to buy these books? A Catholic company or just a secular online company? Prices?

Oh, and by the way, I read a review where the person said that he was wrong regarding the Immaculate Conception, could you please elaborate on this more? Is that true?

Thanks in advance,
Pax

I wouldn’t buy a copy of any ot Thomas’ works until you have spent some time in philosophy. Most of his works are available to read on line. Here is a copy of the Summa Theologiae to examine. newadvent.org/summa/

I see no reason why Seniors in high school couldn’t be introduced to philosophy. I would use " Aquinas " by Edward Feser as a start. You can get it on line for about $18. You may be able to check out his works at a local library.

Thomas came to no final conclusion about the Immaculate Conception as far as I know. You must remember that formal Definitions are only made when it becomes necessary.

 

[Elisabeth51]

I wouldn’t buy a copy of any ot Thomas’ works until you have spent some time in philosophy. Most of his works are available to read on line. Here is a copy of the Summa Theologiae to examine. newadvent.org/summa/

I see no reason why Seniors in high school couldn’t be introduced to philosophy. I would use " Aquinas " by Edward Feser as a start. You can get it on line for about $18. You may be able to check out his works at a local library.

Thomas came to no final conclusion about the Immaculate Conception as far as I know. You must remember that formal Definitions are only made when it becomes necessary.

I read it online at the above NewAdvent site. I hope it’s ok, but I have a question about the Summa—I have an aquaintance, formerly friend, who runs to St. Thomas constantly and cites that as his reason for being all intellect and will and not needing emotions (hello Mr. Spock). I may not be looking in the right places, but coming to him from the Bible where it talks about love is not helpful, he just says it doesn’t require he feels anything, there is no feeling attached to love. Am I really supposed to be cold-hearted and lacking in compassion? Maybe I should go back to being Presbyterian. I can understand not being all emotion, we do need logic and intellect, we do have will…but if you don’t feel anything in your heart, how is that real compassion and does St. Thomas really say that? 1 Corinthians 13 says if you do good deeds, but have no love, it’s nothing. That can’t just be a cold act of will without emotion or it would be an empty act for me to hand out food and feel no pity, compassion, love, etc. The other day he saw me in tears and started talking about his problems and why he didn’t have time for me…but he knows all the rules the Catholic church has and thinks he’s right. Probably all I can do is pray for the guy and remember I don’t go to church for the people.

 

[KatrinaR]

Megan7,
May I recommend “My Way of Life: The Summa Simplfied for Everyone” as a first intro (and good Christmas gift) for your relatives? I’m including the Amazon link for convenience, but it is available from Catholic booksellers & catalogs: amazon.com/My-Way-Life-Simplified-Everyone/dp/B0007DPG5Y.

Expanding from that, I have and use regularly Fr. Farrell’s 4-vol. Companion to the Summa.

As for your original query, I use the Blackfriars’ edition/translation of the Summa. I borrow it from my university library. I did see that the 60-volume set + index has been reprinted in a paperback: thomistica.net/news/2007/1/25/blackfriars-translation-of-the-summa-to-be-republished.html. Latin & English + scholarly notes. That can be overwhelming at first, but it is pretty clear when one comes to it with a particular point to look up. Took me a while to be able to feel more comfortable navigating or browsing.

I have worked with high school students (homeschooled or private Catholic school) for consulting/curriculum supplement/tutoring/coaching/etc. For the students who were following my reading list Ancient to Modern, they had some exposure to philosophy & ethics . . . some digest/companions and some passages of original, as from Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics. By the time we got to Aquinas (chronologically), they were given ~10 pages from that edition of the Summa, so we could look closely at the way it was structured, how the specific terms distinguish (glancing over to the original Latin), etc. But then we went to secondary sources for the five proofs of God’s existence, for instance. That worked well, but it took a significant amount of preparatory time for students to be at that point.

I tried injecting short passages from the Summa in a couple of upper-division college literature classes, and it didn’t go over well. It wasn’t the focus of the course; I had just wanted to use those to shed light on the literature and criticism we were studying. We’d have needed more time to lay the groundwork . . .

Thanks for starting this thread, and I look forward to hearing from others.
KR

 

[KatrinaR]

“Mercy as it is here contemplated is said to be a virtue influencing one’s will to have compassion for, and, if possible, to alleviate another’s misfortune.”

Elisabeth51,
I’m travelling today and don’t have my books, but it sounds like you don’t need convincing, just confirmation–and you are familiar with the New Advent site. From the Catholic Encyclopedia entry there on “passions”:

When regulated by reason, and subjected to the control of the will, the passions may be considered good and used as means of acquiring and exercising virtue. Christ Himself, in whom their could be no sin nor shadow of imperfection, admitted their influence, for we read that He was sorrowful even unto death (Mark 14:34), that He wept over Jerusalem (Luke 19:41), and at the tomb of Lazarus He groaned in the spirit, and troubled Himself (John 11:33). St. Paul bids us rejoice with them that rejoice, and weep with them that weep (Romans 12:15). The sensitive is given to man by God, and therefore its acts have to be employed in His service. Fear of death, judgement, and hell prompts one to repentance, and to the first efforts in acquiring virtue. Thoughts of the mercy of God produce hope, gratitude, and correspondence. Reflections on the sufferings of Christ moves to sorrow for sin, and to compassion and love for Him in His sufferings.

The moral virtues are to regulate the passions and employ them as aids in the progress of spiritual life. A just man at times experiences great joy, great hope and confidence, and other feelings in performing duties of piety, and also great sensible sorrow, as well as sorrow of soul, for his sins, and he is thus confirmed in his justice. He can also merit constantly by restraining and purifying his passions. The saints who reached the exalted state of perfection, have retained their capacity for all human emotions and their sensibility has remained subject to the ordinary laws; but in them the love of God has controlled the mental images which excite the passions and directed all their emotions to His active service.

I wish you (and your integrated faculties of the soul!) a happy Thanksgiving and a good Advent season.
KR

 

[Faithdancer]

I read it online at the above NewAdvent site. I hope it’s ok, but I have a question about the Summa—I have an aquaintance, formerly friend, who runs to St. Thomas constantly and cites that as his reason for being all intellect and will and not needing emotions (hello Mr. Spock). I may not be looking in the right places, but coming to him from the Bible where it talks about love is not helpful, he just says it doesn’t require he feels anything, there is no feeling attached to love. Am I really supposed to be cold-hearted and lacking in compassion? Maybe I should go back to being Presbyterian. I can understand not being all emotion, we do need logic and intellect, we do have will…but if you don’t feel anything in your heart, how is that real compassion and does St. Thomas really say that? 1 Corinthians 13 says if you do good deeds, but have no love, it’s nothing. That can’t just be a cold act of will without emotion or it would be an empty act for me to hand out food and feel no pity, compassion, love, etc. The other day he saw me in tears and started talking about his problems and why he didn’t have time for me…but he knows all the rules the Catholic church has and thinks he’s right. Probably all I can do is pray for the guy and remember I don’t go to church for the people.

I’ve been through a large portion of the Summa (we use the version found on New Advent at Holy Apostles) and it sounds like your friend has a faulty understanding of the Summa, to say the least. St. Thomas was profoundly Catholic, full of Christian love and charity, and how anyone could justify being aloof and cold because of the Summa does a great disservice to St. Thomas Aquinas. God is pure love, not disinterested love either, although I can see how a very superficial and flawed understanding of some of the questions in part I might lead one to the conclusion that Thomas is describing disinterest where he is actually simply describing a God who is in complete mastery of Himself, knows and understands Himself perfectly, and loves Himself (the eternal flow of love between the Father and the Son) and all His creation.

Besides, to state the obvious, your friend isn’t God. He is a human being and human beings have a passionable soul. Humans do not become unfeeling automatons but rather experience perfect happiness when granted the beatific vision (i.e. heaven).

 

[Dolezal]

I read it online at the above NewAdvent site. I hope it’s ok, but I have a question about the Summa—I have an aquaintance, formerly friend, who runs to St. Thomas constantly and cites that as his reason for being all intellect and will and not needing emotions (hello Mr. Spock). I may not be looking in the right places, but coming to him from the Bible where it talks about love is not helpful, he just says it doesn’t require he feels anything, there is no feeling attached to love. Am I really supposed to be cold-hearted and lacking in compassion? Maybe I should go back to being Presbyterian. I can understand not being all emotion, we do need logic and intellect, we do have will…but if you don’t feel anything in your heart, how is that real compassion and does St. Thomas really say that? 1 Corinthians 13 says if you do good deeds, but have no love, it’s nothing. That can’t just be a cold act of will without emotion or it would be an empty act for me to hand out food and feel no pity, compassion, love, etc. The other day he saw me in tears and started talking about his problems and why he didn’t have time for me…but he knows all the rules the Catholic church has and thinks he’s right. Probably all I can do is pray for the guy and remember I don’t go to church for the people.

What Faithdancer said.

St. Thomas talks a lot in his works about charity and love of God and neighbor. I happen to be reading his “Explanation of the Lord’s Prayer,” where he says that the imitation of God consists in love:

This love of God must be from the heart. It consists in mercy: “Be ye merciful.” This mercy must likewise come from the heart, and it must be in deed.

We must love our neighbor because we are all brothers, and all men are sons of God, our Father: “For he that loveth not his brother whom he seeth, how can he love God whom he seeth not?”

For a more balanced view of St. Thomas, I highly recommend The Dumb Ox, a short and fun biography of St. Thomas by G.K. Chesterton.

 

[Dolezal]

What is the best version of the SUMMA? By Saint Thomas Aquinas. For adults.

What other books should I get to help along with it. Please give titles, authors, etc.

How early can one start to read the Summa? At what age, grade? I am thinking of
Junior High School relatives, is that too young, is younger better?

Is there a version for children?

What is a good place to buy these books? A Catholic company or just a secular online company? Prices?

Oh, and by the way, I read a review where the person said that he was wrong regarding the Immaculate Conception, could you please elaborate on this more? Is that true?

Thanks in advance,
Pax

I’ve read the Summa of the Summa by Peter Kreeft years ago. You are probably looking for something like that. I’ve given A Shorter Summa as a gift to Protestant friend of mine. Which is a good introduction. But the best version of the Summa is the Summa itself and I do not personally like Peter Kreeft’s writing style. Anything by Fr. Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange is excellent.

I use the Summa as one would use an encyclopaedia, I don’t read it as a book unlike St. Thomas’ other works.

St. Thomas seems to deny the Immaculate Conception in the Summa, but seems to have ended his life believing in the Immaculate Conception. See this blog post.

 

[Linusthe2nd]

I read it online at the above NewAdvent site. I hope it’s ok, but I have a question about the Summa—I have an aquaintance, formerly friend, who runs to St. Thomas constantly and cites that as his reason for being all intellect and will and not needing emotions (hello Mr. Spock). I may not be looking in the right places, but coming to him from the Bible where it talks about love is not helpful, he just says it doesn’t require he feels anything, there is no feeling attached to love. Am I really supposed to be cold-hearted and lacking in compassion? Maybe I should go back to being Presbyterian. I can understand not being all emotion, we do need logic and intellect, we do have will…but if you don’t feel anything in your heart, how is that real compassion and does St. Thomas really say that? 1 Corinthians 13 says if you do good deeds, but have no love, it’s nothing. That can’t just be a cold act of will without emotion or it would be an empty act for me to hand out food and feel no pity, compassion, love, etc. The other day he saw me in tears and started talking about his problems and why he didn’t have time for me…but he knows all the rules the Catholic church has and thinks he’s right. Probably all I can do is pray for the guy and remember I don’t go to church for the people.

It may be helpful to keep in mind that Mother Theresa experienced a Dark Night of the Soul for the last 30 years of her life. She had no spiritual consolations. Most people don’t go through that kind of trial. But the fact that Mother kept on doing God’s will proved that she had great love for God. Jesus himself said " …he who loves me is he who keeps my commandments…) I think a good book for you to read would be the " Sinners Guide " by Venerable Louis of Granada. It is a good introduction to the spiritual life. Not the only one but it helps one see how much Jesus did for us helps us to see how much we should love him. One more thing. You need to have a regular prayer life with frequent reception of the Sacraments. Then ask Jesus not to be so " silent " in his presence, to have compassion for your human weakness.

 

[Elisabeth51]

“Mercy as it is here contemplated is said to be a virtue influencing one’s will to have compassion for, and, if possible, to alleviate another’s misfortune.”

Elisabeth51,
I’m travelling today and don’t have my books, but it sounds like you don’t need convincing, just confirmation–and you are familiar with the New Advent site. From the Catholic Encyclopedia entry there on “passions”:

When regulated by reason, and subjected to the control of the will, the passions may be considered good and used as means of acquiring and exercising virtue. Christ Himself, in whom their could be no sin nor shadow of imperfection, admitted their influence, for we read that He was sorrowful even unto death (Mark 14:34), that He wept over Jerusalem (Luke 19:41), and at the tomb of Lazarus He groaned in the spirit, and troubled Himself (John 11:33). St. Paul bids us rejoice with them that rejoice, and weep with them that weep (Romans 12:15). The sensitive is given to man by God, and therefore its acts have to be employed in His service. Fear of death, judgement, and hell prompts one to repentance, and to the first efforts in acquiring virtue. Thoughts of the mercy of God produce hope, gratitude, and correspondence. Reflections on the sufferings of Christ moves to sorrow for sin, and to compassion and love for Him in His sufferings.

The moral virtues are to regulate the passions and employ them as aids in the progress of spiritual life. A just man at times experiences great joy, great hope and confidence, and other feelings in performing duties of piety, and also great sensible sorrow, as well as sorrow of soul, for his sins, and he is thus confirmed in his justice. He can also merit constantly by restraining and purifying his passions. The saints who reached the exalted state of perfection, have retained their capacity for all human emotions and their sensibility has remained subject to the ordinary laws; but in them the love of God has controlled the mental images which excite the passions and directed all their emotions to His active service.

I wish you (and your integrated faculties of the soul!) a happy Thanksgiving and a good Advent season.
KR

Thank you! Confirmation, yes, I do feel better, I’ll mark this passage

 

[Elisabeth51]

It may be helpful to keep in mind that Mother Theresa experienced a Dark Night of the Soul for the last 30 years of her life. She had no spiritual consolations. Most people don’t go through that kind of trial. But the fact that Mother kept on doing God’s will proved that she had great love for God. Jesus himself said " …he who loves me is he who keeps my commandments…) I think a good book for you to read would be the " Sinners Guide " by Venerable Louis of Granada. It is a good introduction to the spiritual life. Not the only one but it helps one see how much Jesus did for us helps us to see how much we should love him. One more thing. You need to have a regular prayer life with frequent reception of the Sacraments. Then ask Jesus not to be so " silent " in his presence, to have compassion for your human weakness.

Thank you…it has been rough lately in my life and I’ve felt like my prayers are “hitting the ceiling”…I do keep trying though, I know I don’t get to understand everything, but it would be nice to have a break.

 

[Elisabeth51]

I’ve been through a large portion of the Summa (we use the version found on New Advent at Holy Apostles) and it sounds like your friend has a faulty understanding of the Summa, to say the least. St. Thomas was profoundly Catholic, full of Christian love and charity, and how anyone could justify being aloof and cold because of the Summa does a great disservice to St. Thomas Aquinas. God is pure love, not disinterested love either, although I can see how a very superficial and flawed understanding of some of the questions in part I might lead one to the conclusion that Thomas is describing disinterest where he is actually simply describing a God who is in complete mastery of Himself, knows and understands Himself perfectly, and loves Himself (the eternal flow of love between the Father and the Son) and all His creation.

Besides, to state the obvious, your friend isn’t God. He is a human being and human beings have a passionable soul. Humans do not become unfeeling automatons but rather experience perfect happiness when granted the beatific vision (i.e. heaven).

Oh, based on the clarification I’m getting here—he definitely has a faulty understanding and I’m feeling much more clear and confident.

I hate to say it, but I’m pretty sure he’s unfeeling—some of the things he’s said to me, he has been very hurtful and cruel and unapologetic and full of pride—it’s always about him and what someone will think of him and what his plans are, he has said that he doesn’t need feelings and emotions, he has intellect and will…based on what little I know of his upbringing I think his compassion got destroyed long ago. He continues to a lot in the church and for others, but don’t ever be considerate of him or kind to him, he’ll turn into someone else really fast. I feel very sorry for him. I have forgiven him in my heart and do pray for him. His actions were confusing me as they are coming during a very troubling time for me, it only added to what I’m trying to sort out—I know it’s the devil that causes confusion, I was raised in a beautifully unconditionally loving family that was centered around God and the Church…God just seems very distant right now…thanks though for all the clarification on St. Thomas and the passions, very helpful!