Thomas Aquinas

by Antonin Sertillanges, Godfrey Anstruther (Translator)

Meet Thomas Aquinas! There is no better introduction to St. Thomas Aquinas than this classic work, which acquaints readers with the essentials of St. Thomas's remarkable life and teachings. In clear, bold strokes it demonstrates his importance as a thinker and as a saint for Catholics and all those seeking truth in the world today. Here you will encounter the mild-mannered, unassuming thirteenth century friar who wrote poems so sublime they are sung in churches worldwide to this day, the mystic whose wisdom came from a direct vision of God Himself. Between times, this remarkable author and teacher explained profound philosophical and theological concepts in words so simple and arguments so clear that common men could follow them and sophisticated opponents were left no option but to agree. In St. Thomas's day, ancient Greek philosophical ideas penetrated Christendom again, threatening to overturn conventional notions of God. Undaunted by this challenge and convinced that faith and reason can never contradict, St. Thomas gave full scope to both, crafting, as Fr. Sertillanges shows in these pages, an enduring synthesis that to this day preserves the integrity and increases the authority of each. No wonder subsequent generations found the wisdom of St. Thomas he drinks deeply not from one but from two deep wells faith and reason; and as you come to know St. Thomas better through these pages, you ll learn to do so, too. "The teachings of St. Thomas are so vast that they contain, like a sea, all the wisdom that flows from the all the truths that had been spoken, all that had been wisely sifted by the pagan philosophers, by the Fathers and the Doctors of the Church, and by the eminent men who flourished before him." Pope Leo XII

Genres: Philosophy, Theology, Biography, Religion, History

160 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2011

About the author

Fr. Antonin-Gilbert Sertillanges, O.P. was a French Catholic philosopher and spiritual writer.

Born Antonin-Dalmace, he took the name Antonin-Gilbert when he entered the Dominican order. In 1893 he founded the Revue Thomiste and later became professor of moral philosophy at the Institut Catholique de Paris. Henri Daniel-Rops wrote that it was rumored that President Raymond Poincaré asked Léon-Adolphe Cardinal Amette, Archbishop of Paris, for a reply to Pope Benedict XV's peace proposals, and that Amette passed the request along to Sertillanges; in any event, Amette gave his imprimatur to this reply on 5 December 1917, five days before it was made public. In The Heroic Life, Sertillanges had defended Benedict's attitude toward peace, but in "The French Peace", Sertillanges said, "Most Holy Father, we cannot for an instant entertain your appeals for peace."

His scholarly work was concerned with the moral theory of Thomas Aquinas. In the English-speaking world, he is best known for two non-specialist works. The Intellectual Life is a practical guide for how to structure one's life so as to make progress as a scholar. What Jesus Saw from the Cross is a spiritual work that drew upon the time Sertillanges spent living in Jerusalem. Certain of Sertillanges' works are concerned with political theory, with French identity and the structure of the traditional French family.

Reviews

[Truls Ljungström · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thomas är en av de verkligt stora tänkarna, som lyckas bygga samman filosofi och religion. Denna biografi är av karaktären intellektuell hjältedikt, vilket kanske inte är modern standard, men i mitt tycke välförtjänt. Boken tar också upp de grundläggande idéerna i filosofin som Thomas skrev, såsom sanningsfokuset, och den fysiska världens nödvändighet för att förstå den andliga.

[Thomas Lehner · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. If you're looking for a easy-to-read biography of St. Thomas Aquinas that touches lightly on his writings, then this book is for you. The book is very much a summary of his life, the world in which he lived, his influences, and the historical circumstances that directed his life. The chapters are neatly divided in essentially chronological order. A good introduction to a great thinker and saint.

[Joshua · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolutely great biography and introduction to the life, method, and teaching of St. Thomas. Many people have a greatly mistaken view of his work resulting from reading about him from sources outside of the Catholic tradition. This work, written by a famous Thomist, solves that and would give one who had read said (other) works a more proper viewpoint.

[Shelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

I always feel guilty giving a religious book a low rating. I had hoped to learn about Thomas Aquinas and his teachings in a basic, laymen's terms format. This book however just seemed like the author praising Thomas over and over and over. I know Thomas Aquinas was wonderful but I wanted to learn about him not just hear him praised for being wonderful.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted an introduction to Thomas Aquinas' theology but this was very general. The author obviously idolizes St. Thomas and spends most of the book praising him. It is short on concrete information though...