Summa of the Summa: The Essential Philosophical Passages of the Summa Theologica Kindle Edition

You have to hand it to Kreeft for taking some of the greatest ratiocination ever, and translating it into commonspeak. Thomas Aquinas is one of the greatest minds ever to grace God's green earth, but too often--probably due to his religion--he has been marginalized. Generally, we just read his "Five Ways" that prove God's existence. However, this is much more to Thomism than this one philosophical derringer.For those unaware, Thomas Aquinas was the Catholic scholar who produces two L*A*R*G*E, multi-volume books on Catholic theology: "Summa Contra Gentiles" and "Summa Theologica," the latter being a summation of Catholic theology. This book is a summation of "Summa Theologica," and serves as a handbook and thumbnail for both Catholic Theology and Philosophy and Christian philosophy in general.Aquinas has a sharp mind and can both divide the word and divide a question in a way that few others can. I am not Catholic, but stand in deep admiration for Aquinas's work and mind, and more especially because he minded his work by working his mind.The Book:Kreeft has selected the essential texts and questions that illuminate aspects of Thomistic philosophy/theology. He has the text with explanatory notes in footnotes, which is unusual since we are not reading a summery or rephrasing of Aquinas, but actually reading his words and ideas, unfiltered and undistorted.His chapter divisions follow closely the divisions used in the whole "Summa Theologica," and focus primarily on the first part of part one, and the second part of part two of the "Summa Theologica," and doesn't deal with the latter books that deal with the church and the nature of sacraments. This summation, therefore, would not be offensive to any Christian.The notes are gems, especially with his illustrations--Kreeft has united his analytical left-brain with his creative right brain, so there is no double-mindedness with what he is doing. His pictures save a thousand words!The glossary is helpful for the Latin words and technical terms that have a specialized meaning in Thomism.The Printing:This book uses the "Fathers of English Dominican Province" translation, which bears the Nihil Obstant and Imprimatur, the Roman Catholic "Good housekeeping Seal of Approval" that lets us know the text has passed the censor. It is approved for Catholic consumption! As a non-Catholic, this because important because I do not want distorted doctrine misrepresenting their true beliefs.The type and font are perfect, and I have not seen any typos. The cover is very engaging, with triumphal Thomas with the angels--the Angelic Doctor.

This thick paperback volume contains selections from the "Summa Theologica" with glossary, commentary, and heavy footnotes from Boston College professor Peter Kreeft. If you're looking to dive into the medieval Catholic philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas, you may find this book a good starting point, as it explains technical terms while doing its best to make the Angelic Doctor's massive tome accessible for students today. It's still a very formidable text in its own right, presenting the dilemma of whether to read through the text first and then the footnotes later, or to undertake the painstaking process of reading through both at the same time. Kreeft's writings are sometimes a mixed bag, as he is not always wholly successful in popularizing philosophy, but this particular book (like "Philosophy 101: An Introduction to Philosophy") is one of his stronger efforts. Personally, I stopped reading after awhile because I realized I could ingest more by reading through Aquinas directly and looking things up at my leisure. That's very easy to do in an electronic age where you can easily search electronically for terms and other technicalities. Nevertheless, this book is invaluable for those who want the guidance of a great teacher like Kreeft, whose books are probably the next best thing to taking his classes at the venerable Jesuit institution where he has been a fixture for many years.

Thomas Aquinas (1225, 1274) was arguably the greatest philosopher in the 1800 years between Aristotle and Descartes. He is most famous for his 5 proofs of God’s existence, which are found in his most famous work, the “Summa Theologica” (Summary of Theology), a 2,000 page tome. That work intimidates those who have never read any Aquinas. But Peter Kreeft annotates and edits that work in his 500 page “Summa of the Summa”. Kreeft is one of the most popular of all modern philosophers and has written scores of books on philosophy that cover difficult topics such as moral relativism and Immanuel Kant’s philosophy in language that most adults can easily understand.Aquinas addresses scores of topics in what he calls Questions and for each Question he poses distinct yes or no questions that he calls Articles. For each Article, he gives objections to his answer, cites an authority, gives his answer using reason and logic, and then responds to each objection. For example, on the Questions about ethics, Aquinas refutes both Kant’s duty based ethics and “the ends justify the means” ethics.Kreeft has chosen to ignore most of Aquinas’s theological articles. He then selects 40 or 50 of the remaining Questions and then edits each Question down to what he considers the important Articles. In each Article, he often excludes non-essential parts and omits part of the answer. This is how he reduces 2,000 pages to 500.Aquinas, like all good philosophers, uses precise unambiguous terms in his writing. However, some of these terms (like accident, form, and essence) have technical meanings that a modern reader must know to understand Aquinas. So Kreeft includes a glossary up front that a reader should read before reading any Aquinas. Kreeft also includes 300 footnotes that often either gives an example of Aquinas’s argument or shows how Aquinas has refuted errors made by more recent philosophers like Kant or Christopher Dawkins.Bertrand Russell, an atheist, did not include Aquinas in his history of philosophy. But if you want a good sample of the works of one of the best philosophers of all time, read this book.

This "Summa of the Summa" is very informative, and has all of the key arguments Aquinas puts forward. The footnotes are excellent and often needed.This is a great edition for anyone interested in early Church history and theology, as well as philosophy. Unfortunately, though I love Aquinas for many of his ideas, and thoughts... I find just like Augustine (who I also love) to much emphasis on Neo-Platonism and Aristotelian thinking... Often used to explain things that are better left unexplained but understood in faith....but that's just my opinion on a lot of Theology crossed with gree philosophy...it works where it works, but its a disaster when its made to work where it shouldn't even be applied nor needs to be.Great book, Has everything you need to understand Aquinas and a lot of theological basis of understanding stem from this man.

Thomas Aquinas writes simply but uses certain words in a way which can be difficult for the average intelligent modern reader immediately to understand. In this excellent selection from the summa theologiae Peter Kreeft annotates and explains. What a service Kreeft has done in making this godly thinking available to the specialist and the non specialist reader. I am no theologian but am not finding it in any way hard going. The summa sheds light. This book is infused with both men’s love of God and the Good. I recommend it.

Corresponde às expectativas.O autor comenta a suma nos pontos filosóficos e auxilia o entendimento de diversos termos que podem nos parecer de difícil compreensão.

Peter Kreeft greatly assists to understand this magnificent work.

As a seminarian, I find this book to be a very helpful resource for the study of St. Thomas Aquinas. I highly recommend it!