The Shorter Summa: The Compendium of Theology by Thomas Aquinas: A New Translation to Modern English with Explainers to Clarify Difficult Concepts

by Thomas Aquinas, Robert Treynol (Editor)

The Shorter Summa (Compendium of Theology) — Thomas Aquinas

A New Modern English Translation with Explainers to Clarify Difficult Concepts

Thomas Aquinas’s concise handbook of Christian theology—known both as the Compendium of Theology and the Shorter Summa—now rendered in clear, current English. This reader-friendly edition keeps Aquinas’s structure and arguments intact while removing archaic phrasing and adding brief, targeted explainers where readers typically get stuck.

Why this edition

New modern English faithful to Aquinas, stripped of needless archaic language.Explainers for difficult concise side notes that clarify key terms and arguments in plain language.Clean, consistent headings, paragraphing, and typographic cues for fast navigation and study.Built for search & shelf includes both titles—Shorter Summa and Compendium of Theology—so readers can find it under either name.What you’ll find inside

Core theological topics presented in Aquinas’s compact, logical sequence.Brief context notes where medieval terms or scholastic method need a gloss.Readable paragraphing suitable for both devotional reading and academic reference.Who it’s for

Readers who want Aquinas’s thought without the barrier of archaic prose.Students and study groups needing a dependable, approachable Shorter Summa.Pastors, teachers, and lay readers looking for a concise companion to the Summa Theologiae.Edition note

Text modernized and edited for clarity, with light explanatory notes. Source material is in the public domain; translation and editorial matter © Clear Text Editions (Editor). Primary author credit remains Thomas Aquinas.

323 pages, Paperback

Published September 18, 2025

About the author

Philosophy of Saint Thomas Aquinas, a Dominican friar and theologian of Italy and the most influential thinker of the medieval period, combined doctrine of Aristotle and elements of Neoplatonism, a system that Plotinus and his successors developed and based on that of Plato, within a context of Christian thought; his works include the Summa contra gentiles (1259-1264) and the Summa theologiae or theologica (1266-1273).

Saint Albertus Magnus taught Saint Thomas Aquinas.

People ably note this priest, sometimes styled of Aquin or Aquino, as a scholastic. The Roman Catholic tradition honors him as a "doctor of the Church."

Aquinas lived at a critical juncture of western culture when the arrival of the Aristotelian corpus in Latin translation reopened the question of the relation between faith and reason, calling into question the modus vivendi that obtained for centuries. This crisis flared just as people founded universities. Thomas after early studies at Montecassino moved to the University of Naples, where he met members of the new Dominican order. At Naples too, Thomas first extended contact with the new learning. He joined the Dominican order and then went north to study with Albertus Magnus, author of a paraphrase of the Aristotelian corpus. Thomas completed his studies at the University of Paris, formed out the monastic schools on the left bank and the cathedral school at Notre Dame. In two stints as a regent master, Thomas defended the mendicant orders and of greater historical importance countered both the interpretations of Averroës of Aristotle and the Franciscan tendency to reject Greek philosophy. The result, a new modus vivendi between faith and philosophy, survived until the rise of the new physics. The Catholic Church over the centuries regularly and consistently reaffirmed the central importance of work of Thomas for understanding its teachings concerning the Christian revelation, and his close textual commentaries on Aristotle represent a cultural resource, now receiving increased recognition.