Can anyone tell me more about the Compendium Theologiae by Thomas Aquinas?

[RCCInquirer]

I recently discovered the existence of this planned and unfinished work, but I’m having trouble coming up with more information about it. Can anyone tell me more about it? When was it started? If after his Summa Theologica, what’s its purpose in relation to his former work?

 

[Wesrock]

Hm… I haven’t heard of it before. I did find this translation, but I don’t know more about it:

https://dhspriory.org/thomas/Compendium.htm

Edit: I haven’t found anything official about it. Here is what I found written in one review (so take with a grain of salt):

CT is arguably the least known and least studied of Aquinas texts, which is, really, unfortunate. Sure, CT is an incomplete work, abruptly ending mid-sentence, but its condensed content and simplicity are just praiseworthy. CT was planned to be a three-part work (modeled after faith, hope, and charity) as a manual for non-academics. But Aquinas’ unforeseen death quickly halted CT’s progress: he barely started on part II, Hope, and did not even get to part III, Charity. Thus, an overwhelming percentage of CT is on faith, the contents of Christian doctrine. Part I can be broken down into two unequal halves: (1) Doctrine of God, §3-184, and (2) Christology, §185-246. Each can be further divided into subcategories.

So if the ST was meant as a book for academics, it looks like the CT was intended for non-academics.

 

[Wesrock]

I’m reading through parts of it myself now, and it really is more concise and simpler to read than either the Summa Contra Gentiles (a manual for academics to defend the faith intellectually against non-Christian objections) and the Summa Theologica (a manual for academics/seminarians). It’s a shame he never finished it.