"The Summa Theologica is the best-known work of Italian philosopher, scholar, and Dominican friar SAINT THOMAS AQUINAS (1225 1274), widely considered the Catholic Church s greatest theologian. Famously consulted (immediately after the Bible) on religious questions at the Council of Trent, Aquinas s masterpiece has been considered a summary of official Church philosophy ever since. Aquinas considers approximately 10,000 questions on Church doctrine covering the roles and nature of God, man, and Jesus, then lays out objections to Church teachings and systematically confronts each, using Biblical verses, theologians, and philosophers to bolster his arguments. In Volume I, Aquinas addresses: the existence and perfection of God the justice and mercy of God predestination the cause of evil the union of body and soul free will and fate and much more. This massive work of scholarship, spanning five volumes, addresses just about every possible query or argument that any believer or atheist could have, and remains essential, more than seven hundred years after it was written, for clergy, religious historians, and serious students of Catholic thought."

Thomas Aquinas, an Italian Catholic priest in the early thirteeth century, is considered to be one of the great Christian thinkers who had, and who still has, a profound influence on Western thought. He was a controversial figure who was exposed and engaged in conflict. This Very Short Introduction looks at Aquinas in a historical context, and explores the Church and culture into which Aquinas was born. It considers Aquinas as philosopher, and looks at the relationship between philosophy and religion in the thirteenth century. Fergus Kerr, in this engaging and informative introduction, will make The Summa Theologiae, Aquinas's greatest single work, accessible to new readers. It will also reflect on the importance of Thomas Aquinas in modern debates and asks why Aquinas matters now. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

We may adapt a remark of St. Thomas Aquinas, and apply it to his own great work, the Summa Theologica: not everyone has talent to master this work; not everyone has a taste for the study it requires; not everyone has time to devote to such study. Aeterna Press

Saint Thomas Aquinas's masterwork, the Summa theologiae, can be daunting to beginners. This volume by an expert on Aquinas's theology offers an ideal introduction. It presents key selections from the Summa along with accessible commentary designed to provide background, explain key concepts, and walk readers through Aquinas's arguments. Previously published as Holy Teaching, this new edition has been fully revised and includes a substantial amount of new material. The book draws from the entire Summa and incorporates selections that focus on moral theology, providing a fuller picture of Aquinas's thought.

This series offers central philosophical treatises of Aquinas in new, state-of-the-art translations distinguished by their accuracy and use of clear and nontechnical modern vocabulary. Annotation and commentary accessible to undergraduates make the series an ideal vehicle for the study of Aquinas by readers approaching him from a variety of backgrounds and interests.

The Summa Theologica is a compendium of theology written by Thomas Aquinas between 1265 and 1273. In Roman Catholicism it is the sum of all known learning and doctrine, of all that can be known about God and humanity's relations with God -- a landmark in the history of theology that famously offers five proofs of God's existence, the first three of which are cosmological arguments; the fourth, a moral argument; and the fifth, a teleological argument. The third quarter of the thirteenth century marked the first decisive philosophical encounter between Hellenism and Christianity. The rediscovery of Aristotle's works after the Dark Ages ushered in a new era of intellectual fervor in Europe, and the work of Thomas Aquinas is a commentary on Aristotle, whose writings were lost to the non-Arabic world until the beginning of the Thirteenth Century. To many, Aristotle's worldview was a pagan threat to Christianity. To Aquinas, it provided an exciting cosmological framework on which to build an all-encompassing Christian worldview. His thoughts unfolding with a calmness of order and an assurance of judgment, Aquinas explores in the Summa the primary role of the senses in the acquisition of knowledge and the metaphysical analysis of things in terms of matter and form. But unlike Aristotle's "God," who did not care one whit about the world, the God of Christianity, insisted Aquinas, is a personal God. Like Aristotle, Aquinas believed that each human being has a soul and that all created things have a purpose. For Christians, all are part of a divine plan. This dazzling synthesis of Catholic doctrine has had a profound impact on Christian thinking since the thirteenth century and has become the de facto official teaching of the Catholic Church -- the intellectual underpinning of the Church to this day.

In the Summa theologiae, Aquinas attempts to set forth the whole of Christian theology in summary form. It was written, he says, for "the instruction of beginners," but few Christians today have the time or inclination to reach for the five thick volumes that comprise the standard English-language edition. In Holy Teaching, Frederick Bauerschmidt presents some choice selections from the Summa theologiae, along with commentary that unpacks the selections and places them in context. Holy Teaching is an ideal introduction to the work of Aquinas that will give students, pastors, and interested laypeople a greater appreciation for our common Christian inheritance

"Summa Theologiae: Complete Set" is a comprehensive collection of Thomas Aquinas' monumental work, offering profound insights into Christian theology and philosophy. Dive into the brilliance of Aquinas as he explores the nature of God, moral theology, and the purpose of existence. This transformative set unveils the timeless wisdom of one of history's greatest theological minds.

Summa Theologica Part I (Prima Pars) Thomas Aquinas - The Summa Theologiae (Latin: Compendium of Theology or Theological Compendium; also subsequently called the Summa Theologica or simply the Summa, written 1265-1274) is the best-known work of Thomas Aquinas (c.1225-1274), and although unfinished, "one of the classics of the history of philosophy and one of the most influential works of Western literature." It is intended as a manual for beginners in theology and a compendium of all of the main theological teachings of the Church. It presents the reasoning for almost all points of Christian theology in the West. The Summa's topics follow a cycle: the existence of God; Creation, Man; Man's purpose; Christ; the Sacraments; and back to God. (courtesy of wikipedia.com). This is part 1, 'Prima Pars'. Aquinas's greatest work was the Summa, and it is the fullest presentation of his views. He worked on it from the time of Clement IV (after 1265) until the end of his life. When he died, he had reached Question 90 of Part III (on the subject of penance). What was lacking was added afterwards from the fourth book of his commentary on the Sentences of Peter Lombard as a supplementum, which is not found in manuscripts of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The Summa was translated into Greek (apparently by Maximus Planudes around 1327), Armenian, many European languages, and Chinese. It consists of three parts. Part I treats of God, who is the "first cause, himself uncaused" (primum movens immobile) and as such existent only in act (actu) - that is, pure actuality without potentiality, and therefore without corporeality. His essence is actus purus et perfectus. This follows from the fivefold proof for the existence of God; namely, there must be a first mover, unmoved, a first cause in the chain of causes, an absolutely necessary being, an absolutely perfect being, and a rational designer.