Free eBooks A Summa Of The Summa: The Essential Philosophical Passages Of St Thomas Aquinas Summa Theologica Edited And Explained For Beginners Available To Downloads
Saint 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. His major work, 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 unique book combines selected essential philosophical passages from Thomas' Summa with footnotes and explanations by Kreeft, a popular Thomist teacher and writer. Kreeft selected those passages from Thomas that are intrinsically important, non-technical enough to be intelligible to modern readers, and most likely to be used in a class or by independent readers who want to study the Summa on their own. Kreeft's detailed footnotes explain difficult or technical passages and call attention to points of particular significance for the modern reader. This book is the most intelligent, clear, and useful access to Saint Thomas in print. Includes a glossary and an index. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Hardcover: 539 pages
Publisher: Ignatius Pr (December 1990)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0898703174
ISBN-13: 978-0898703177
Product Dimensions: 1.5 x 6 x 9.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #325,681 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #97 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Philosophy > Medieval Thought #635 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > Religious Studies > Philosophy
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.
Summa of the Summa (hereafter SS) is a simply wonderful abridgment of Aquinas' Summa Theologica (hereafter ST). Professor Kreeft has done a superlative job of assembling those parts of ST that will be of most interest to readers new to Aquinas' thought. The text is drawn from the Dominican Benzinger Brothers translation of ST, still the most faithful to Aquinas original language and still the most widely available complete edition of ST in English. Kreeft includes a fine glossary of technical terms in ST likely to be unfamiliar to most readers, and a short, readable introductory essay that gives an interesting discussion of the structure of ST. Rather than include a lengthy introductory commentary on the classic text as do many editors, Kreeft includes his comments in footnotes, which appear frequently and are quite extensive. To give one example, to accompany Aquinas' famous "five ways" to prove the existence of God on pp. 57-70, Kreeft provides approximately eight pages worth of footnotes. The footnotes that discuss Aquinas only are nearly always illuminating, and will prove invaluable to readers as they study the primary text. I believe readers of SS will be able to progress more smoothly to the complete ST if they so choose than they could with any other abridgment of ST or other anthology of Aquinas' writings now in print. At the same time, SS is a fine, self-contained introduction to Aquinas' thought.The only disappointing aspect of SS is its discussion of philosophical positions that are at variance with Aquinas. Like many philosophers working in Roman Catholic institutions, Kreeft has a tendency to present false straw-man interpretations of philosophers whose conclusions he disagrees with, and then to "refute" these philosophers by kicking down the straw men.
A Summa of the Summa: The Essential Philosophical Passages of st Thomas Aquinas Summa Theologica Edited and Explained for Beginners Hi-Lo Nonfiction Passages for Struggling Readers: Grades 6–8: 80 High-Interest/Low-Readability Passages With Comprehension Questions and Mini-Lessons for Teaching Key Reading Strategies Informational Passages for Text Marking & Close Reading: Grade 3: 20 Reproducible Passages With Text-Marking Activities That Guide Students to Read Strategically for Deep Comprehension Christ's Fulfillment of Torah and Temple: Salvation according to Thomas Aquinas St. Thomas Aquinas on Politics and Ethics (Norton Critical Editions) The Mystery of Union with God: Dionysian Mysticism in Albert the Great and Thomas Aquinas (Thomistic Ressourcement Series) Commentary on Thomas Aquinas's Treatise on Law Thomas Aquinas: Selected Writings (Penguin Classics) ESSENTIAL OILS: Aromatherapy, Essential Oils For Beginners, And Essential Oil Recipes To Improve Your Health (Medicinal Herbs) (Essential oil recipes, ... Aromatherapy and essential oils Book 1) Essential Oils For Beginners: Essential Oils For Beginners: How To Use The Essential Oils To Maximize Your Health And Longevity (Essential Oils And Aromatherapy) (Volume 1) Essential Oils: Ultimate Essential Oils Guide and 89 Powerful Essential Oil Recipes! (2nd Edition) - How to Use Essential Oils for Aromatherapy and Healthy ... Loss, Essential Oil Recipes, Aromatherapy) Philosophical And Theoretical Perspectives For Advanced Nursing Practice (Cody, Philosophical and Theoretical Perspectives for Advances Nursing Practice) Freedom, Responsibility, and Determinism: A Philosophical Dialogue (Hackett Philosophical Dialogues) Philosophical Delusion and its Therapy: Outline of a Philosophical Revolution (Routledge Studies in Contemporary Philosophy) Truth and Progress: Philosophical Papers (Philosophical Papers (Cambridge)) (Volume 3) Objectivity, Relativism, and Truth: Philosophical Papers (Philosophical Papers (Cambridge)) (Volume 1) Mathematics, Science and Epistemology: Volume 2, Philosophical Papers (Philosophical Papers (Cambridge)) Essential Oils: 50 Essential Oil Dog & Cat Recipes From My Essential Oil Private Collection: Proven Essential Oil Recipes That Work! (Essential Oil Pet Private Collection Book 1) Terrorism: A Philosophical Analysis (Philosophical Studies Series) Shakespeare & Co.: Christopher Marlowe, Thomas Dekker, Ben Jonson, Thomas Middleton, John Fletcher and the Other Players in His Story
