Book(s) on St. Thomas Aquinas's "Summa Theologica"

[oremosjuntos]

Hello everyone! I wanted to get an opinion on which book is best for me to look at as an intro to “Summa Theologica”. I would like to learn more on St. Thomas’s proofs on the existence of God, but of course not through the original texts because the volumes are dense and want to understand the essence of it if I ever do look at it.

 

[landon13]

Read The One a Minute Aquinas by Kevin Vost. This is an excellent intro to Aquinas for anyone and everyone who wants to start studying one of the greatest minds of the Church. Peter Kreeft also has a few books on Aquinas as well.

 

[oremosjuntos]

Read The One a Minute Aquinas by Kevin Vost. This is an excellent intro to Aquinas for anyone and everyone who wants to start studying one of the greatest minds of the Church. Peter Kreeft also has a few books on Aquinas as well.

Thanks landon13. It is very appreciated. I actually was interested after my Philosophy professor mentioned St. Thomas Aquinas in class one day and he told me about those texts. I go to a once Catholic college and it’s now become and independent, private college with “Catholic tradition” which is sad. In other words, it is no longer faithful to Catholic magisterium and it’s lamentable. But anyways, I will get to looking for those texts.

 

[polytropos]

Edward Feser’s Aquinas is a very readable introduction. Feser has a very good feel for the nuances of the arguments, what the common objections are, etc. He also maintains a blog with a number of supplementary topics relevant to Aquinas’s metaphysics.

 

[ccmnxc]

I would second the recommendation of polytropos regarding Feser’s Aquinas, especially if you are primarily interested in the proofs.
If you are more interested in the Summa in general, Fr. Brian Davies has a book coming out in July that I would recommend taking a look at. He knows his stuff.

 

[thomas_yo]

Edward Feser’s book is an excellent intro as has been noted. I would also recommend Aristotle for Everybody: Difficult Thought Made Easy, by Mortimer J. Adler.

To get very far with Aquinas, one needs background in Aristotle. In St. Thomas’s day, his theology students already had some Aristotle under their belts. The medieval curriculum of the seven liberal arts prepared them well for theological studies. Today’s educational system cannot compare in that respect.

 

[Midwest88]

To get very far with Aquinas, one needs background in Aristotle. In St. Thomas’s day, his theology students already had some Aristotle under their belts. The medieval curriculum of the seven liberal arts prepared them well for theological studies. Today’s educational system cannot compare in that respect.

Which tells you something about modern education.

 

[CHCL]

Edward Feser’s book is an excellent intro as has been noted. I would also recommend Aristotle for Everybody: Difficult Thought Made Easy, by Mortimer J. Adler.

To get very far with Aquinas, one needs background in Aristotle. In St. Thomas’s day, his theology students already had some Aristotle under their belts. The medieval curriculum of the seven liberal arts prepared them well for theological studies. Today’s educational system cannot compare in that respect**.**

Shows how bad our schools are.

EDIT: ^^^^^^^^^^^What the…Are you a wizard???

 

[balto]

I know this thread is a month old, but if the OP is still around (or for anyone else who is interested) you shouldn’t be afraid to read Aquinas’ actual writings. Actually, the Summa of the Summa by Peter Kreeft is an excellent resource. It contains ~550 pages of actual writing from Aquinas supplemented with helpful footnotes by Dr. Kreeft. Of course you’ll get a lot more than just the Five Ways, but why settle for less when you can hear about the Angelic Doctor’s insights on so much more .