The First Part of the Summa begins with the existence and nature of God, before moving to creation and the nature of man. Originally written for the 'instruction of beginners.' Organized systemically for the clearest way of 'setting forth' the 'sacred doctrine,' Aquinas addresses many of Christianity's most pertinent questions in this multi-volume work. Written from 1265-1274, the Summa Theologica is St.

This Handbook is therefore meant to be useful to someone wanting to learn about Aquinas's philosophy and theology while also looking for help in philosophical interaction with it. The present book combines both exposition and evaluation insofar as its contributorshave space to engage in both. Any attempt to present the views of a philosopher in an earlier historical period that is meant to foster reflection on that thinker's views needs to be both historically faithful and also philosophically engaged. The final sections of the volume address the development of Aquinas's thought and its historical influence. These sections include more than thirty contributions on topics central to Aquinas's own worldview. These include metaphysics, the existence and nature of God, ethics and action theory, epistemology, philosophy of mind and human nature, the nature of language, and an array of theological topics, including Trinity, Incarnation, sacraments,resurrection, and the problem of evil, among others. The subsequent sectionsof the book address topics that Aquinas himself discussed.

Theyfocus on the philosophical sources that are likely to have influenced his thinking, the most prominent of which were certain Greek philosophers (chiefly Aristotle), Latin Christian writers (such as Augustine), and Jewish and Islamic authors (such as Maimonides and Avicenna). The next section contains a series of essays that set Aquinas in his intellectual context. The book begins with an account of Aquinas's life and works. He nonetheless produced many works, varying in length from a few pages to a few volumes.The present book is an introduction to this influential author and a guide to his thought on almost all the major topics on which he wrote. Thomas Aquinas (1224/6-1274) lived an active, demanding academic and ecclesiastical life that ended while he was still comparatively young.

Summa theologica online