Contemplating Aquinas: On the Varieties of Interpretation

by Fergus Kerr OP (Editor)

Among the many fruitful and challenging sites for mutual engagement of theology and philosophy, the renewed study of St. Thomas Aquinas has proven to be both lively and controversial. Given particular impetus in recent years by the widespread assessment of modernity that occupies many academic disciplines today, this study is both interesting and relevant to a number of intellectual debates, even as it demands for itself the highest level of scholarship. The essays here arise out of a conference held in 2001 at Heythrop College, University of London, which was introduced by Bishop Malcolm McMahon, OP. This collection reflects the state of Aquinas studies throughout North America, Britain, and Northern Europe, and provides an introduction to this diversity for a general and scholarly readership. Widely differing and often starkly contrasting and even contradictory interpretations of Aquinas are to be found here, which by their very differences invite readers to go deeper into the background from which each emerges and so to find for themselves a way to contemplate Aquinas.

Genres: Theology

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

Reviews

[Lyndon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every time i read an essay or book organized around Aquinas, i am reminded that our dear friar left an ocean of thought and reflection that allows plenty of room for us to discover and swim. This collection of essays, edited by Fergus Kerr, is deliberately expansive in the scholarship and topics. This means that some of the essays resonated, and other did not.

The opening chapter by Kerr is a brief version of his larger work, After Aquinas, that establishes the tone for the following chapters. Kerr reminds us before we dive in to deep, that Aquinas is received through the context of certain traditions and theological cultures; so what follows is likely not to be of one mind. And he is right.

As to the other content: I particularly found instructive the essays of Jordon, Parsons and Pesch. Of course, I was particularly interested in questions of reception for Aquinas' thought, and my choices reflect that.

All in all, another healthy dose of the Angelic Doctor for those fully immersed in the ocean and for those wanting to get a little wet.