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One-Minute Aquinas: The Doctor's Quick Answers to Fundamental Questions
If you don’t have a year to study the more than 3,000 pages St. Thomas wrote, then turn to The One-Minute Aquinas, the fast-paced book that provides busy readers with simple, readable explanations of the truths that, for 750 years now, have caused the works of St. Thomas to be sought out by kings and popes, scholars and saints, as well as by ordinary souls like you — hungry to know God and to love him more and more.
In this book’s lucid pages, author Kevin Vost gives you small, digestible portions of St. Thomas’s life-giving wisdom that you can enjoy one minute at a time. Tables and graphics will help you grasp and remember St. Thomas’s key ideas with a minimum of time and effort.
Best of all, in The One-Minute Aquinas you’ll find quick, sure refutations of the countless relativistic, secular, and pseudoscientific ideas that are so influential in our culture today — and so shallow, contradictory, and wrong!
Pope John Paul II declared that “the Church has been justified in consistently proposing St. Thomas as a master of thought and a model of the right way to do theology.” Now The One-Minute Aquinas enables even those with limited time and only a modest education to benefit from the wisdom of this great saint.
Here, with minimal effort and among scores of other things, you’ll finally come to know and
--Why God permits evil
-- what it is (and is not)
--Five simple proofs that God exists
--Why God became man
--Why Jesus let himself be tempted
--How you can grow quickly in virtue
--Why all souls need the sacraments
--Why Jesus let himself be crucified
--The causes of lust
--The natural law and the Commandments
--The soul, free will, sin, and damnation
--The angels, their ranks, and their powers
--How God governs (and refrains from governing)
--God’s power and its limits
--The why didn’t Jesus just write it himself?
--The surprising qualities of our resurrected bodies
In this book’s lucid pages, author Kevin Vost gives you small, digestible portions of St. Thomas’s life-giving wisdom that you can enjoy one minute at a time. Tables and graphics will help you grasp and remember St. Thomas’s key ideas with a minimum of time and effort.
Best of all, in The One-Minute Aquinas you’ll find quick, sure refutations of the countless relativistic, secular, and pseudoscientific ideas that are so influential in our culture today — and so shallow, contradictory, and wrong!
Pope John Paul II declared that “the Church has been justified in consistently proposing St. Thomas as a master of thought and a model of the right way to do theology.” Now The One-Minute Aquinas enables even those with limited time and only a modest education to benefit from the wisdom of this great saint.
Here, with minimal effort and among scores of other things, you’ll finally come to know and
--Why God permits evil
-- what it is (and is not)
--Five simple proofs that God exists
--Why God became man
--Why Jesus let himself be tempted
--How you can grow quickly in virtue
--Why all souls need the sacraments
--Why Jesus let himself be crucified
--The causes of lust
--The natural law and the Commandments
--The soul, free will, sin, and damnation
--The angels, their ranks, and their powers
--How God governs (and refrains from governing)
--God’s power and its limits
--The why didn’t Jesus just write it himself?
--The surprising qualities of our resurrected bodies
266 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 31, 2014
104 people are currently reading
218 people want to read
About the author
Kevin Vost
39 books52 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 - 16 of 16 reviews
April 18, 2014
The One-Minute Aquinas is Dr. Vost's attempt to make St. Thomas Aquinas' writings understandable to the masses. Instead of using the line-by-line approach of walking through the Summa Theologica, Dr. Vost instead focuses on important questions Aquinas answered in his writing. Topics include, but are not limited to, salvation, the Trinity, sin, free will, and evil in the world. The beauty of this book is that you can choose to read it from beginning to end or simply skip to topics, which are of interest to you. I chose the latter approach.
One chapter that particularly caught my interest was "Your Soul and its Eleven Passions." Thomas Aquinas divided the passions into two main groups - "concupiscible appetite, fueled by love, whereby we have affinity for good and are repelled by evil; and the irascible appetite, which motivates us to remove difficult obstacles to the attainment of what we love." In the concupiscible appetite category are the passions of love, desire, joy, hatred, aversion, and sorrow. And in the irascible appetite category are the passions of hope, despair, daring, fear, and anger. The chapter then goes on to offer a remedy for sorrow and later it contrasts anger and hatred. In this latter subject, he shows how both anger and hatred are wrong, but states that "hatred is more incurable than anger." It really makes you think twice before you casually say that you hate someone.
Getting to the heart of Aquinas' writings and making them accessible for the average person is not an easy feat, but Dr. Vost does a fine job...and in under 300 pages! Included in this book are flow charts and tables to help better illustrate ideas more clearly than just reading through paragraph after paragraph of text. There is also a bit of humor in little asides called "Dumb Ox Box." Some topics in these boxes include "Is it a sin to be boring?" and "Is it a sin to drink wine?" Though I wasn't the intended audience for this book, I see the merit in this book and think that it will have mass appeal to seminarians, philosophy majors, or just those who want to better understand the Angelic Doctor. If I ever feel the need to try and read St. Thomas Aquinas, this is the first book I will reach for.
One chapter that particularly caught my interest was "Your Soul and its Eleven Passions." Thomas Aquinas divided the passions into two main groups - "concupiscible appetite, fueled by love, whereby we have affinity for good and are repelled by evil; and the irascible appetite, which motivates us to remove difficult obstacles to the attainment of what we love." In the concupiscible appetite category are the passions of love, desire, joy, hatred, aversion, and sorrow. And in the irascible appetite category are the passions of hope, despair, daring, fear, and anger. The chapter then goes on to offer a remedy for sorrow and later it contrasts anger and hatred. In this latter subject, he shows how both anger and hatred are wrong, but states that "hatred is more incurable than anger." It really makes you think twice before you casually say that you hate someone.
Getting to the heart of Aquinas' writings and making them accessible for the average person is not an easy feat, but Dr. Vost does a fine job...and in under 300 pages! Included in this book are flow charts and tables to help better illustrate ideas more clearly than just reading through paragraph after paragraph of text. There is also a bit of humor in little asides called "Dumb Ox Box." Some topics in these boxes include "Is it a sin to be boring?" and "Is it a sin to drink wine?" Though I wasn't the intended audience for this book, I see the merit in this book and think that it will have mass appeal to seminarians, philosophy majors, or just those who want to better understand the Angelic Doctor. If I ever feel the need to try and read St. Thomas Aquinas, this is the first book I will reach for.
December 12, 2017
This is one that I will continue to read over and over. Dr. Vost has opened up my eyes and heart to the "Angelic Doctor", St. Thomas Aquinas. I was actually in awe as I read through these chapters, and truly, it has enhanced my spiritual life. The chapters are short, and Dr. Vost has done a superb job in bringing the Summa down to the level of one who has not majored in philosophy and theology. Yes, there were times I had to reread a few passages because my head started to spin, but not too many times as to make me put the book down. I love that you can take this in small sips, and ponder the essence. There are even charts! I will never receive the Holy Eucharist without thanking St. Thomas for making my faith so real, so clear, and so beautiful.
September 16, 2014
I wish more than 20 years ago, I had had for translation, The One Minute Aquinas: The Doctor’s Quick Answers to Fundamental Questions” by Kevin Vost, Psy.D. This new book is a great bridge from St. Thomas Aquinas, theologian and doctor, to the rest of us.
Read the rest of my review here:
http://readingcatholic.com/theology-f...
Read the rest of my review here:
http://readingcatholic.com/theology-f...
February 2, 2024
Please read it, please. I always thought the Faith ended with the Baltimore Catechism. Nope. This book is witty, readable, and remarkable.
April 17, 2021
For those who want to learn more about St. Thomas Aquinas' thought this is a great place to start.
Vost has an exceptional ability to teach Aquinas through ways that are very understandable.
My biggest take-away from this book is that I felt that Vost was helping me to understand that I can read Aquinas and learn from the Saint.
Vost has an exceptional ability to teach Aquinas through ways that are very understandable.
My biggest take-away from this book is that I felt that Vost was helping me to understand that I can read Aquinas and learn from the Saint.
December 21, 2016
So much in this great little book
Vost does an amazing job condensing the enormous works of Aquinas into a very digestible format. It was a great read and makes me want to delve deeper in to great Doctor's work.
Vost does an amazing job condensing the enormous works of Aquinas into a very digestible format. It was a great read and makes me want to delve deeper in to great Doctor's work.
January 3, 2023
TA made rasy
I read this book as part of study with my lay Dominican community. His writing is informal and I found the contrast with Aquinas' writing to be annoying.
This book is a good starting point for understanding Aquinas.
I read this book as part of study with my lay Dominican community. His writing is informal and I found the contrast with Aquinas' writing to be annoying.
This book is a good starting point for understanding Aquinas.
February 1, 2019
Great for beginners. I'd rather reread A Tour of the Summa by Msgr. Paul J. Glenn. ;)
June 22, 2021
Wonder. Gratitude. Love
March 21, 2014
You've probably heard the adage, "How do you eat and elephant? One bite at a time." Aquinas' work can often feel like that huge elephant stomping around bidding you to take a ride. Every single person in the Christian faith ought to have a real grasp of The Angelic Doctor however most rarely get a chance to embrace him in clear, concise and 'eatable' bites. Kevin Vost offers a work that breaks down Thomas Aquinas unlike anything I've read. With wit, humor and a sincere sense of intellegence Vost does what few can, making one of the brightest and deepest wells of reason accesible to everyone.
Rather than simply breaking down the many teachings of Aquinas, what Vost does is he creates a synthesized and cohesive tool so that we see Aquinas in a big picture and then dive deep into the philosophy and theology. I think this is especially an excellent partner to Kevin Vost's 'Memorize the Reasons'.
Kevin Vost is one of the most astute teachers of our time. When reading any of his works you experience the man of deep knowledge yet in a profoundly personable way!
Rather than simply breaking down the many teachings of Aquinas, what Vost does is he creates a synthesized and cohesive tool so that we see Aquinas in a big picture and then dive deep into the philosophy and theology. I think this is especially an excellent partner to Kevin Vost's 'Memorize the Reasons'.
Kevin Vost is one of the most astute teachers of our time. When reading any of his works you experience the man of deep knowledge yet in a profoundly personable way!
April 11, 2015
Kevin Vost is one of my favorite Catholic writers. He has a gift for taking big scary theological tomes and themes and condensing them into plain language without losing the importance, the essence or the beauty of the original. Summa Theologica has been on my self for at least a decade. I am not getting it out just yet, but it is niggling in my mind to do it soon. What a wonderful book this was. Aquinas may be a Catholic saint, the Angelic Doctor, and Vost may be writing to a mainly Catholic audience, but anyone interested in theology and the strong arguments Aquinas gave us should read this book.
July 15, 2016
An interesting presentation of Aquinas's explanations for various truths of the Christian faith. Will keep in mind as a reference but still too dense for me to read cover to cover.
August 29, 2015
Perfect for someone like me who wants to understand the reasoning behind this great Catholic thinker but doesn't have the stamina for St. Thomas Aquinas' original "Summa Theologica."
December 28, 2015
This was a wonderful intro. to St. Thomas Aquinas and his writings and theology. Made me want to read more of his brilliant insights into God and all things theological.
Read
November 25, 2015Very good.
April 12, 2017
I'd call it "5 minute Aquinas" but it is excellent. Great and very readable overview of possibly the smartest man to ever live's greatest work. So much of our faith has been developed from Aquinas!
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews