A Shorter Summa: The Essential Philosophical Passages of Saint Thomas Aquinas' Summa Theologica
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...
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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.
Preface11Introduction13Glossary27IMethodology: Theology as a SciencePrologue37The Nature and Extent of Sacred Doctrine (I, 1)39IIProofs for the Existence of GodThe Existence of God (I, 2)45IIIThe Nature of GodOf the Simplicity of God (I, 3)65The Existence of God in Things (I, 8)69The Immutability of God (I, 9)73The Names of God (I, 13)75Of God's Knowledge (I, 14)78Of Truth (I, 16)81The Will of God (I, 19)83God's Love (I, 20)85The Providence of God (I, 22)88IVCosmology: Creation and ProvidenceOf the Beginning of the Duration of Creatures (I, 46)91VAnthropology: Body and SoulOf 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)99Of the Union of Body and Soul (I, 76)103VIEpistemology and PsychologyOf the Will (I, 82)107Of Free-Will (I, 83)111How the Soul While United to the Body Understands Corporeal Things beneath It (I, 84)114Of the Mode and Order of Understanding (I, 85)121VIIEthicsOf Those Things in Which Man's Happiness Consists (I-II, 2)131Of Goodness in General (I, 5)150The Distinction of Things in Particular (I, 48)151Of the Cardinal Virtues (I-II, 61)153Of the Theological Virtues (I-II, 62)155Of the Various Kinds of Law (I-II, 91)157Of the Natural Law (I-II, 94)161
