Aquinas

by Brian Davies

St. Thomas Aquinas (c. 1225-1274) is widely viewed as one of the greatest Christian thinkers of all time. Aquinas was the ultimate combination of theologian and philosopher; and his influence on Christian life and thought reaches from the Council of Trent to the Second Vatican Council and through to today.

Brian Davies shows that Aquinas's approach to the common questions of faith and existence is just as pressing and significant in our time. Here, the latest scholarship is incorporated with a clear and indispensable guide to Aquinas's thought.

Genres: Philosophy, Christianity, Religion

272 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2002

About the author

Brian Davies is a Dominican friar and Professor of Philosophy at Fordham University, New York. He has published extensively on the thought of St Thomas Aquinas.

Reviews

[David Haines · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent introduction to the thought of Thomas Aquinas, written by an analytical thomist, at a popular level. Davies knows his subject very well, and explains it easily and clearly. He brings Aquinas into discussion with contemporary philosophy and theology without being superficial. This is a must read for anybody who is interested in Aquinas, to be followed by his more academic contribution called " The Thought of Thomas Aquinas".

[Matthew · Rating 5 out of 5]

A mentally engaging summary of Aquinas' thinking on God, the Incarnation and human salvation.
St Thomas Aquinas is perhaps the greatest intellectual in the history of Christendom, so any book giving an accessible treatment of his writings gets a thumbs up from me.

[Matt · Rating 1 out of 5]

I started this book but never finished it. I don't think I will. After reading a few biographies of major Christian figures (Peter Brown's biography of Augustine and a biography of Hildegard of Bingen) I thought it would be fun to try out the most important Christian figure in history. This book is more of an introduction to the theology of Aquinas than the biography I hoped for. As an intro to Aquinas, I'm sure it is good. The author carefully introduces complex ideas in simple language (often using his cat Smoky as an example case). As an atheist, I just really didn't care that much about all this theology. As a classicist, I thought he didn't spend enough time differentiating between what Aristotle said and where Aquinas picked up his ideas. I enjoyed the first 80 pages or so, but just lost interest about half way through.