Holy Teaching: Introducing the Summa Theologiae of St. Thomas Aquinas

by Frederick Christian Bauerschmidt, Thomas Aquinas

There comes a time in the life of every Christian when he or she desires to go deeper in his or her walk with God. For many, this task can seem daunting.

Enter St. Thomas Aquinas. He wrote his great Summa theologiae , or summary of theology, to fill the need for a thorough survey of Christian teaching. Unfortunately, the Summa theologiae is thousands of pages and can be intimidating to the beginner.

Now Frederick Bauerschmidt has come to the rescue. Holy Teaching presents key parts of the Summa theologiae , which are explained by Bauerschmidt. These selections will encourage students, pastors, and interested laypeople to spend quality time in the company of a great Christian teacher.

Genres: Theology, Philosophy, Faith, Nonfiction, School, Reference, Religion

320 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2005

Reviews

[Ashley Adams · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm glad to have found this introduction to Aquinas' work. Bauerschmidt illuminates some of the more dense places in Aquinas that I may have trouble penetrating on my own. His structuring mimics that of Aquinas, using an easily accessible "revised standard" to translate. The footnotes are much like the commentary of a professor in an intro to theology course- interpretation takes the reader by the hand and walks through the text slowly. I found Bauerschmidt light, compassionate, and even comical at times, and I quickly found a comfortable rhythm in Aquinas' logic.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a minister and one who loves to study theology, I found this book of the Summa Theologiae hoping to read something introductory by Thomas Aquinas. His writing was interesting and his style of question, possible answers and then his answer was something I liked. However, I soon began skipping the super excessive amount of footnotes supplied by Bauerschmidt explaining what Aquinas was saying. I thought that Aquinas was simple enough to understand without the abundance of footnotes. Though I am not a Catholic, I found the text of Aquinas helpful since much of it was basic orthodox Christian teachings. I began this book a couple of years ago and picked it back up to finish.

[Zac McNeal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well crafted selections from the Summa Theologiae, with scholarly footnotes to clarify Aquinas' thinking.

[Timothy Decker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Helpful

[Matthew Loftus · Rating 5 out of 5]

An extraordinarily helpful introduction to the Summa.

[Libby · Rating 5 out of 5]

This took me a long time to read, not because I didn't like it, but just because I've never read any Thomas Aquinas before, and it took a lot of attention and time for me to read each section. By the time I got near the end, I was reading one article (section of a larger question) each day, and that was a good way to break it up for me.

I thought this was an excellent introduction to Thomas Aquinas in general, and to the Summa Theologiae in particular. Although I'm not a big footnote reader in most cases, the footnotes here are part of the text, and very important--this is where Bauerschmidt explains what Thomas (in Duke fashion, I'm apparently on a first-name basis) is saying for modern and/or novice readers. Bauerschmidt's overview of how to go about reading the Summa, along with these notes, are what really make this a superb introduction. I found his examples especially helpful and even sometimes downright entertaining.

I'd recommend this to anyone who wants an introduction to reading Thomas Aquinas' theology, and for any lay Christians who want a challenging, but not too difficult, read.

[Juli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bauerschmidt's translation of the Summa and his extensive notes make reading the Summa do-able for a first-time reader like myself. I found Bauerschmidt's notes to be quite helpful and easy to follow. He does a pretty good job of helping the reader understand Thomas' theology within a particular section without having previously read the entire Summa. With that said, because it is an "intro" and only includes select portions, I did find myself referring back to the full Summa quite often to get a better understanding of Thomas' theology on particular topics not included in Bauerschmidt's translation.

[Thomas Irby · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the first time I had read Aquinas. Bauerschmidt's footnotes and comments were very helpful to my understanding of the text. I would definitely recommend this edition for a beginner to Thomas Aquinas.