A Shorter Summa: The Essential Philosophical Passages of St. Thomas Aquinas' Summa Theologica Edited and Explained for Beginners

by Kreeft, Peter

• ISBN13: 9780898704389
• ISBN10: 0898704383
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1993-04-01
• Publisher: Ignatius Press

Summary

A shortened version of Kreeft's much larger Summa of the Summa, which in turn was a shortened version of the Summa Theologica. The reason for the double shortening is pretty obvious: the original runs some 4000 pages! (The Summa of the Summa was just over 500.) The Summa is certainly the greatest, most ambitious, most rational book of theology ever written. In it, there is also much philosophy, which is selected, excerpted, arranged, introduced, and explained in footnotes here by Kreeft, a popular Thomist teacher and writer. St. Thomas Aquinas is universally recognized as one of the greatest philosophers who ever lived. His writings combine the two fundamental ideals of philosophical writing: clarity and profundity. He is a master of metaphysics and technical terminology, yet so full of both theoretical and practical wisdom. He is the master of common sense. The Summa Theologica is timeless, but particularly important today because of his synthesis of faith and reason, revelation and philosophy, and the Biblical and the classical Greco-Roman heritages. This little book is designed for beginners, either for classroom use or individually. It contains the most famous and influential passages of St. Thomas' philosophy with copious aids to understanding them.

Author Biography

Peter Kreeft, Ph.D., Professor of Philosophy at Boston College, is one of the most respected Christian authors of our time. His many bestselling books cover a vast array of topics in spirituality, theology, and philosophy. They include How to Be Holy, Practical Theology, Back to Virtue, Because God Is Real, You Can Understand the Bible, Angels and Demons, Heaven: The Heart's Deepest Longing, and A Summa of the Summa.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. 11
Introduction	p. 13
Glossary	p. 27
Methodology: Theology as a Science
Prologue	p. 37
The Nature and Extent of Sacred Doctrine (I, 1)	p. 39
Proofs for the Existence of God
The Existence of God (I, 2)	p. 45
The Nature of God
Of the Simplicity of God (I, 3)	p. 65
The Existence of God in Things (I, 8)	p. 69
The Immutability of God (I, 9)	p. 73
The Names of God (I, 13)	p. 75
Of God's Knowledge (I, 14)	p. 78
Of Truth (I, 16)	p. 81
The Will of God (I, 19)	p. 83
God's Love (I, 20)	p. 85
The Providence of God (I, 22)	p. 88
Cosmology: Creation and Providence
Of the Beginning of the Duration of Creatures (I, 46)	p. 91
Anthropology: Body and Soul
Of Man Who Is Composed of a Spiritual and a Corporeal Substance: and in the First Place, concerning What Belongs to the Essence of the Soul (I, 75)	p. 99
Of the Union of Body and Soul (I, 76)	p. 103
Epistemology and Psychology
Of the Will (I, 82)	p. 107
Of Free-Will (I, 83)	p. 111
How the Soul While United to the Body Understands Corporeal Things beneath It (I, 84)	p. 114
Of the Mode and Order of Understanding (I, 85)	p. 121
Ethics
Of Those Things in Which Man's Happiness Consists (I-II, 2)	p. 131
Of Goodness in General (I, 5)	p. 150
The Distinction of Things in Particular (I, 48)	p. 151
Of the Cardinal Virtues (I-II, 61)	p. 153
Of the Theological Virtues (I-II, 62)	p. 155
Of the Various Kinds of Law (I-II, 91)	p. 157
Of the Natural Law (I-II, 94)	p. 161
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