T
theologian0901
Guest
Does anyone know of a quality biography on Thomas Aquinas? I’m studying his theology and I’d like to know more about the man. Thank you.
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J
Joannm
Guest
I know Chesterson wrote one. I haven’t read it though.
S
Student09
Guest
There is a book called “Saint Thomas Aquinas: The Person and His Work” by Fr. Jean Pierre Torrell, O.P. Due to lack of time, I haven’t read the whole thing (it’s not light reading) but I have read parts of it and it is definitely a serious and thoroughly researched biography.
D
djeter
Guest
A short biography here:
payingattentiontothesky.com/2009/09/01/a-short-biography-of-st-thomas-aquinas/
And an evaluation of his philosophy and theology here:
payingattentiontothesky.com/2009/09/04/considering-the-philosophy-and-theology-of-thomas-aquinas/
They are adapted from a text by Samuel Enoch Stump which was a classic in its time and now hard to come by. If you read those two I know you’ll be hunting your local library for it.
payingattentiontothesky.com/2009/08/31/book-recommendation-st-thomas-aquinas-the-dumb-ox-by-g-k-chesterton/
is a review/reading selections from Chesterton’s landmark work.
Either I saw you coming or I love the Good Doctor. One more: Fr. Robert Barron has a great book Thomas Aquinas Spiritual Master – a selection here:
payingattentiontothesky.com/2009/06/11/understanding-sin-1-from-thomas-aquinas-spiritual-master-by-fr-robert-barron/
dj
Teasers:
Inordinate Lovers Of This World
Thomas speaks of “inordinate lovers of this world” and those whose “eyes are fixed on the ground,” that is to say, whose minds are mired in the world of everyday experience, This fallen mind is simply overwhelmed by the intensity of the light that comes from God’s self-disclosure:
“It may well happen that what is in itself the more certain may seem to us the less certain on account of the weakness of our intelligence, which is dazzled by the clearest objects of nature as the owl is dazzled by the light of the sun.”
The Intolerable Situation Of The Sinner
For Thomas the great paradigm and archetype of this non-aggressive, noncompetitive relationship between God and the world is the Incarnation itself: the two nature of Christ are present together in a personal unity, but neither is mixed or mingled or confused with the other, neither is compromised or overwhelmed by the other. And therefore the absolute control of the divine will over the human will in Christ is not a negation of Jesus’ humanity but rather an elevation of it. The human being, Jesus Christ, finds the deepest meaning of his life and will in his complete dependence upon the will of God, in his surrender to the direction of God.
It was Anselm of Canterbury who gave classic expression to this principle when he reminded us that authentic freedom is not to hover sovereignly above the “Yes” and the “No,” but instead to be bound to “Yes” alone. To be torn between Yes and No is, says Anselm, to be caught in the intolerable situation of the sinner. What appears to be freedom in the eyes of the world – the inability to choose this or that, good or evil – is, in fact, the deepest type of slavery.
God’s freedom is equivalent to God’s fidelity to in love, to his capacity to say nothing but Yes, and our freedom is found in imitation of that divine liberty. For Thomas, we know this in light of Jesus Christ, his complete openness to, and passivity before, the will of God. The excessus, the ecstasy or self-surrender, of Christ is what allows the excessus of God to manifest itself in him…
The great tragedy of sin is forgetting this mutual ecstasy and imagining God and oneself as self-contained rivals and competitors. In the heart of the sinner is the conviction that letting go of himself is tantamount to loving himself. The more the sinner affirms himself over and against God, the more he asserts the independence of his mind and will from God, the more he thinks he “finds himself.” What is disclosed in Christ in the unmasking of that illusion: the humanity of Jesus is elevated and fulfilled precisely in Jesus’ willingness
payingattentiontothesky.com/2009/09/01/a-short-biography-of-st-thomas-aquinas/
And an evaluation of his philosophy and theology here:
payingattentiontothesky.com/2009/09/04/considering-the-philosophy-and-theology-of-thomas-aquinas/
They are adapted from a text by Samuel Enoch Stump which was a classic in its time and now hard to come by. If you read those two I know you’ll be hunting your local library for it.
payingattentiontothesky.com/2009/08/31/book-recommendation-st-thomas-aquinas-the-dumb-ox-by-g-k-chesterton/
is a review/reading selections from Chesterton’s landmark work.
Either I saw you coming or I love the Good Doctor. One more: Fr. Robert Barron has a great book Thomas Aquinas Spiritual Master – a selection here:
payingattentiontothesky.com/2009/06/11/understanding-sin-1-from-thomas-aquinas-spiritual-master-by-fr-robert-barron/
dj
Teasers:
Inordinate Lovers Of This World
Thomas speaks of “inordinate lovers of this world” and those whose “eyes are fixed on the ground,” that is to say, whose minds are mired in the world of everyday experience, This fallen mind is simply overwhelmed by the intensity of the light that comes from God’s self-disclosure:
“It may well happen that what is in itself the more certain may seem to us the less certain on account of the weakness of our intelligence, which is dazzled by the clearest objects of nature as the owl is dazzled by the light of the sun.”
The Intolerable Situation Of The Sinner
For Thomas the great paradigm and archetype of this non-aggressive, noncompetitive relationship between God and the world is the Incarnation itself: the two nature of Christ are present together in a personal unity, but neither is mixed or mingled or confused with the other, neither is compromised or overwhelmed by the other. And therefore the absolute control of the divine will over the human will in Christ is not a negation of Jesus’ humanity but rather an elevation of it. The human being, Jesus Christ, finds the deepest meaning of his life and will in his complete dependence upon the will of God, in his surrender to the direction of God.
It was Anselm of Canterbury who gave classic expression to this principle when he reminded us that authentic freedom is not to hover sovereignly above the “Yes” and the “No,” but instead to be bound to “Yes” alone. To be torn between Yes and No is, says Anselm, to be caught in the intolerable situation of the sinner. What appears to be freedom in the eyes of the world – the inability to choose this or that, good or evil – is, in fact, the deepest type of slavery.
God’s freedom is equivalent to God’s fidelity to in love, to his capacity to say nothing but Yes, and our freedom is found in imitation of that divine liberty. For Thomas, we know this in light of Jesus Christ, his complete openness to, and passivity before, the will of God. The excessus, the ecstasy or self-surrender, of Christ is what allows the excessus of God to manifest itself in him…
The great tragedy of sin is forgetting this mutual ecstasy and imagining God and oneself as self-contained rivals and competitors. In the heart of the sinner is the conviction that letting go of himself is tantamount to loving himself. The more the sinner affirms himself over and against God, the more he asserts the independence of his mind and will from God, the more he thinks he “finds himself.” What is disclosed in Christ in the unmasking of that illusion: the humanity of Jesus is elevated and fulfilled precisely in Jesus’ willingness
B
Bookcat
Guest
you must read …The Silence of St. Thomas --by the thomist Josef Pieper (whom Pope Benedict XVI wrote one of his works in his honor for his birthday i believe…he died before he was Pope…)
a must read!
a must read!
S
Student09
Guest
Just to point out for those who haven’t read it - Chesterton’s book was written to popularize Thomas Aquinas and touches only VERY generally on his life and work. It’s not really a biography (as Chesterton himself acknowledges) nor a theological analysis.
B
Bookcat
Guest
I do not want to forget this one by the Great Jacques Maritian
maritain.nd.edu/jmc/etext/thomas.htm
and here is one for the kinds…by his wife…
but still worth reading as an adult…
maritain.nd.edu/jmc/etext/STA.HTM
maritain.nd.edu/jmc/etext/thomas.htm
and here is one for the kinds…by his wife…
but still worth reading as an adult…
maritain.nd.edu/jmc/etext/STA.HTM
D
donanobis
Guest
In addition to the other excellent links recommended, you might wish to check these out also. Certainly a lifetime of reading but a lot of great choices.
The Dumb Ox is an excellent book. It may be very basic but nevertheless worth reading as are most books by Chesterton. You will learn why St.Thomas was called ‘the dumb ox’.
**
The Dumb Ox by Gilbert Keith Chesterton** can be read for free at:
*hint: download it to your computer
catholicprimer.org/chesterton/st_thomas.pdf
http://wikilivres.info/wiki/St._Thomas_Aquinas:_The_Dumb_Ox
** Other** books on **St. Thomas Aquinas **can be read for free at:
http://www.ccel.org/search?category=books&qu=chesterton
Nature and Grace: Selections from the Summa Theologica of Thomas Aquinas by Thomas Aquinas, Saint
Catena Aurea - Gospel of Matthew by Thomas Aquinas, Saint
Catena Aurea - Gospel of Mark by Thomas Aquinas, Saint
Of God and His Creatures by Thomas Aquinas, Saint
Summa Contra Gentiles–Selections
Summa Theologica by Thomas Aquinas, Saint
Summa Theologica [HTML edition] by Thomas Aquinas, Saint
Quaestiones disputatae De anima
Opera Omnia
La Somme de theologie
** Other** books by Chesterton at:
ccel.org/search?category=books&qu=chesterton
dona
The Dumb Ox is an excellent book. It may be very basic but nevertheless worth reading as are most books by Chesterton. You will learn why St.Thomas was called ‘the dumb ox’.
**
The Dumb Ox by Gilbert Keith Chesterton** can be read for free at:
*hint: download it to your computer
catholicprimer.org/chesterton/st_thomas.pdf
http://wikilivres.info/wiki/St._Thomas_Aquinas:_The_Dumb_Ox
** Other** books on **St. Thomas Aquinas **can be read for free at:
http://www.ccel.org/search?category=books&qu=chesterton
Code:
[**The Catechetical Instructions of St. Thomas Aquinas**](http://www.catholicprimer.org/aquinas/aquinas_catechism/toc.htm)Catena Aurea - Gospel of Matthew by Thomas Aquinas, Saint
Catena Aurea - Gospel of Mark by Thomas Aquinas, Saint
Of God and His Creatures by Thomas Aquinas, Saint
Summa Contra Gentiles–Selections
Summa Theologica by Thomas Aquinas, Saint
Summa Theologica [HTML edition] by Thomas Aquinas, Saint
Quaestiones disputatae De anima
Opera Omnia
La Somme de theologie
** Other** books by Chesterton at:
ccel.org/search?category=books&qu=chesterton
Code:
[**Heretics**](http://www.ccel.org/ccel/chesterton/heretics.html) by [Chesterton, G.K.](http://www.ccel.org/ccel/chesterton.html)
[**Innocence of Father Brown**](http://www.ccel.org/ccel/chesterton/innocencebrown.html) by [Chesterton, G.K.](http://www.ccel.org/ccel/chesterton.html)
[**Manalive**](http://www.ccel.org/ccel/chesterton/manalive.html) by [Chesterton, G.K.](http://www.ccel.org/ccel/chesterton.html)
[**Orthodoxy**](http://www.ccel.org/ccel/chesterton/orthodoxy.html) by [Chesterton, G.K.](http://www.ccel.org/ccel/chesterton.html)
[**Club of Queer Trades**](http://www.ccel.org/c/chesterton/queertrades/) by [Chesterton, G.K.](http://www.ccel.org/ccel/chesterton.html)
[**Man Who Was Thursday**](http://www.ccel.org/ccel/chesterton/thursday.html) by [Chesterton, G.K.](http://www.ccel.org/ccel/chesterton.html)
[**Trees of Pride**](http://www.ccel.org/c/chesterton/treesofpride/) by [Chesterton, G.K.](http://www.ccel.org/ccel/chesterton.html)
[**What's Wrong With the World**](http://www.ccel.org/ccel/chesterton/whatwrong.html) by [Chesterton, G.K.](http://www.ccel.org/ccel/chesterton.html)
[**Wisdom of Father Brown**](http://www.ccel.org/ccel/chesterton/wisdom.html) by [Chesterton, G.K.](http://www.ccel.org/ccel/chesterton.html)
T
theologian0901
Guest
Thank you everyone for all of your recommendations. I have access to the Library at the University of Notre Dame, so I shouldn’t have too much trouble finding any of the books listed. Thanks again.
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