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St. Albert the Great: Champion of Faith and Reason
Even while he was still alive, Dominican friar Albert of Cologne was widely called Magnus the Great. His contemporaries said St. Albert simply knew all there was to know; he was a scientist, theologian, and philosopher; a teacher, preacher, and negotiator; a shrewd shepherd and an unflinching defender of the Faith. The time has come to re-discover St. Albert's greatness, and to profit from his prodigious wisdom and virtue as did his famous student, St. Thomas Aquinas.
Author Kevin Vost presents St. Albert's brilliant scholarly career at the height of the Church's intellectual renewal in the thirteenth century. St. Albert was tireless (and courageous) in his leadership and works of reform as a Dominican provincial and diocesan bishop. Desperate popes pressed him into diplomatic missions, hoping that Magnus might succeed in making peace where lesser men had failed.
These pages not only tell St. Albert's story they share his lessons. Each chapter uses Albertine teachings, and the witness of the saint's life, to instruct, edify, and inspire us to greater holiness and more ardent love. Read St. Albert and see why the greatest man of his age has great things to offer our age as well.
Author Kevin Vost presents St. Albert's brilliant scholarly career at the height of the Church's intellectual renewal in the thirteenth century. St. Albert was tireless (and courageous) in his leadership and works of reform as a Dominican provincial and diocesan bishop. Desperate popes pressed him into diplomatic missions, hoping that Magnus might succeed in making peace where lesser men had failed.
These pages not only tell St. Albert's story they share his lessons. Each chapter uses Albertine teachings, and the witness of the saint's life, to instruct, edify, and inspire us to greater holiness and more ardent love. Read St. Albert and see why the greatest man of his age has great things to offer our age as well.
208 pages, Paperback
First published February 28, 2011
About the author
Kevin Vost
30 books53 followersKevin Vost, Psy. D. (b. 1961) has taught psychology at the University of Illinois at Springfield, Lincoln Land Community College, and MacMurray College. He is a Research Review Committee Member for American Mensa, which promotes the scientific study of human intelligence.
He enjoys reading the Classics (especially Aristotle and the Stoics) and St. Thomas Aquinas in his spare time.
He enjoys reading the Classics (especially Aristotle and the Stoics) and St. Thomas Aquinas in his spare time.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
January 19, 2014
I appreciate the author, I appreciate even more this book written on the life and insights of probably one of the most Brilliant Minds in The Catholic Church. The author does a wonderful job of bringing together biographical information in the historical context he was in, while presenting intellectual insights and virtues that St. Albert lived out and spoke about.
The author breaks up his life into 3 Parts, St. Albert the Thinker, showcasing the Theological and Philosophical thoughts of St. Albert; St. Albert The Doer, showcasing his active life apart from his contemplative life; and St. Albert the Lover, showcasing how like any Saint his was a life of Charity toward God and Neighbor.
Granted in his real life all these things are happening at once, but the author organizes it in such a way as to emphasize certain parts throughout the book. In the end this book is certainly everyone should read, but especially those who are most interested in being Scientists themselves.
The author breaks up his life into 3 Parts, St. Albert the Thinker, showcasing the Theological and Philosophical thoughts of St. Albert; St. Albert The Doer, showcasing his active life apart from his contemplative life; and St. Albert the Lover, showcasing how like any Saint his was a life of Charity toward God and Neighbor.
Granted in his real life all these things are happening at once, but the author organizes it in such a way as to emphasize certain parts throughout the book. In the end this book is certainly everyone should read, but especially those who are most interested in being Scientists themselves.
September 9, 2021
Albert the Great (d.1280) is one of the foremost natural scientists of the middle ages. Yet he remains relatively unknown in the English speaking world.
His methodology was observation and description. He is the first to describe the Spinach plant and his works list copious examples and illustrations of his observations of the natural world.
He was also committed to testing hypotheses. When he read that a certain animal liked to eat iron pellets he set up a test and then recorded his observations as disproving the claim.
However, Albert was a Dominican priest and bishop. So his science was always a secondary consideration to his theological teaching. And this is probably why he is not better known for his scientific interests.
Whilst this book does record examples of Albert’s thought, they are isolated topics and the focus of the book seems a bit arbitrary. Was Albert’s recording of memory techniques really so significant? Or is it just something that happens to have interested the author?
Throughout the book we hear about Albert’s brilliance, but we also hear that he was eclipsed by his pupil, Thomas Aquinas. This was so much so, that Thomas was canonised in the fourteenth century, whilst Albert had to wait until 1931. So the reader might naturally wonder why Albert is called “the great” when Thomas isn’t. Or to put it another way, is Thomas’ brilliance over-rated?
The book doesn’t really address that question, yet it hints at where answers can be found. For example, it mentions that both Albert and Thomas wrote a Summa Theologiae (p130). A cursory glance at their works shows an enormous difference of approach.
Albert’s approach is knowledgeable and traditional, using the methodology of the previous thousand years. Thomas’ approach is completely different. He re-organises material and imposes a new logical structure upon the content. Albert shows breadth of knowledge, Thomas shows creativity and that’s where his genius really does eclipse his teacher.
In a book like this, I would have expected analysis and examples to show how and why Albert is significant, and how he compares to contemporaries like Thomas. But the book is very general and simplistic. In places it reads more like something that would be pitched to children as the author explains how his wife bought him an egg timer to stop him getting distracted (p35) and he describes how his office is decorated (p114).
There is a real need for books introducing Albert to the English speaking world, especially books which translate and make available the research of German and French scholars.
Unfortunately, this book does not do that. It seems to mainly quote from English secondary sources about Albert with a particular penchant for recording medieval fables about Albert. It is not even clear from the text that the author has engaged with Albert’s actual (Latin) texts, many of which have still, to be translated into English.
I had higher expectations of the book, and so by the end I felt disappointed with it.
His methodology was observation and description. He is the first to describe the Spinach plant and his works list copious examples and illustrations of his observations of the natural world.
He was also committed to testing hypotheses. When he read that a certain animal liked to eat iron pellets he set up a test and then recorded his observations as disproving the claim.
However, Albert was a Dominican priest and bishop. So his science was always a secondary consideration to his theological teaching. And this is probably why he is not better known for his scientific interests.
Whilst this book does record examples of Albert’s thought, they are isolated topics and the focus of the book seems a bit arbitrary. Was Albert’s recording of memory techniques really so significant? Or is it just something that happens to have interested the author?
Throughout the book we hear about Albert’s brilliance, but we also hear that he was eclipsed by his pupil, Thomas Aquinas. This was so much so, that Thomas was canonised in the fourteenth century, whilst Albert had to wait until 1931. So the reader might naturally wonder why Albert is called “the great” when Thomas isn’t. Or to put it another way, is Thomas’ brilliance over-rated?
The book doesn’t really address that question, yet it hints at where answers can be found. For example, it mentions that both Albert and Thomas wrote a Summa Theologiae (p130). A cursory glance at their works shows an enormous difference of approach.
Albert’s approach is knowledgeable and traditional, using the methodology of the previous thousand years. Thomas’ approach is completely different. He re-organises material and imposes a new logical structure upon the content. Albert shows breadth of knowledge, Thomas shows creativity and that’s where his genius really does eclipse his teacher.
In a book like this, I would have expected analysis and examples to show how and why Albert is significant, and how he compares to contemporaries like Thomas. But the book is very general and simplistic. In places it reads more like something that would be pitched to children as the author explains how his wife bought him an egg timer to stop him getting distracted (p35) and he describes how his office is decorated (p114).
There is a real need for books introducing Albert to the English speaking world, especially books which translate and make available the research of German and French scholars.
Unfortunately, this book does not do that. It seems to mainly quote from English secondary sources about Albert with a particular penchant for recording medieval fables about Albert. It is not even clear from the text that the author has engaged with Albert’s actual (Latin) texts, many of which have still, to be translated into English.
I had higher expectations of the book, and so by the end I felt disappointed with it.
April 9, 2024
We picked Albert the Great as the patron of our homeschool! I loved reading this and finding out why God had led us to him.
November 30, 2018
I thought I knew the general outline of St. Albert the Great. But really all I knew was that he was Saint Thomas Aquinas' teacher and his skills as a scientist and natural philosopher. Really glad to have read this detailed biography. Such an interesting man with so many skill across so many disciplines.
August 18, 2023
I'm glad to know more about this Saint our parish is named after. The more thematic style of organization in this book made it harder for me to keep a unified picture of his life in my mind, but I also read it disjointed over many months so that may be more of the issue.
January 31, 2022
I feel it was rather shallow at times, but good overall. As the author says, more books about St. Albert ought to be written, and more of his own works ought to get translations.
May 28, 2022
Author gets a bit repetitive, however, it is a good and pretty quick read.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews