Posted on 03/19/2008 2:58:36 PM PDT by kiriath_jearim
From First Part, Question 1, Article 8:
"Hence sacred doctrine makes use also of the authority of philosophers in those questions in which they were able to know the truth by natural reason, as Paul quotes a saying of Aratus: "As some also of your own poets said: For we are also His offspring" (Acts 17:28)."
"Nevertheless, sacred doctrine makes use of these authorities as extrinsic and probable arguments; but properly uses the authority of the canonical Scriptures as an incontrovertible proof, and the authority of the doctors of the Church as one that may properly be used, yet merely as probable. For our faith rests upon the revelation made to the apostles and prophets who wrote the canonical books, and not on the revelations (if any such there are) made to other doctors."
"Hence Augustine says (Epis. ad Hieron. xix, 1): 'Only those books of Scripture which are called canonical have I learned to hold in such honor as to believe their authors have not erred in any way in writing them. But other authors I so read as not to deem everything in their works to be true, merely on account of their having so thought and written, whatever may have been their holiness and learning.'"
read original later
Holy Smokes! This document is 2963 pages long...revise and extend my previous remarks: no way I am reading this later!
Hehehe.
“Summa Theologica” was an attempt at an entire cyclopedia of Western Christian (i.e., Catholic) theology. The Catholic Church *is* the scripture-based denomination; documents like the catechism refer to Church Fathers simply because the Church Fathers explain the scripture.
Incidentally, this scriptural basis didn’t stop Thomas from theological speculation. IIRC, Summa Theological is the work which is the source of the legend of arguing how many angels can fit on the head of the pin. (The actual argument is whether two or more angels can occupy the same physical space, which, in turn reflects whether angels have volume, which in turn reflects whether angels exist in what Einstein would call time-space... so while it’s speculative, it’s hardly as inane as Disraeli’s satire makes it to be.)
(And to be fair: Thomas’ arguments are based on scripture, and he acknowledges where logical induction is used.)
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LOL, that’s funny, yes this is Aquinas. But if you’re interested there are some “Aquinas for Dummies”-type books out there for us non-theologians: “The Summa of the Summa,” “A Shorter Summa,” and several others.
These are by Peter Kreeft, so you know that they are good!
later,
Holy Smokes! This document is 2963 pages long...revise and extend my previous remarks: no way I am reading this later!
I haven't laughed this hard in a long time, I've got tears running down my face!!
But seriously, if you do get a chance later I'd highly recommend an attempt at it. The greatest scientific work ever written.
Do you remember those thought games that people sometimes play with questions like "If the Earth were going to blow up and you were chosen as one of the few to escape in a spaceship and continue the human race and culture elsewhere, blah blah, and you could only take one book with you other than the Holy Scriptures to fulfill this mission, what would it be?"
My choice would be the Angelic Doctor's Summa Theologica. (His Summa Contra Gentiles, written as a philosophical apologia against,but for the conversion of, the Muslims of his day, ain't bad either.)
I own books by Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI, and books by Fulton J. Sheen, Thomas à Kempis, and the wonderful Thérèse de Lisieux, but at some point, I am going to start tackling Aquinas. Eventually, all the roads lead through Summa Theologica.
It depends on the page thickness and typestyle used. I've got a Latin copy in one small (missal-sized) volume.
University of Chicago's Great Book series put the entire Summa into two volumes.
The Blackfriars/McGraw Hill did publish the Summa as a 61-volume set on thick, acid-free paper between 1964 - 1975 (wide margins and large font, too). This series was bilingual, with the Latin text and English translations facing each other, both sets with copious footnotes and endnotes. But that was well after Sheen's "Life is Worth Living" program. So I don't know what books you saw on Bishop Sheen's shelf, but I doubt it was the Summa. It's not all that long -- you have to work to stretch it out with a lot of annotations.
The Omnia Opera of St. Thomas Aquinas has been published as 25 volume (Marietti) and 33 volume (Musurgia) sets.
By the way, Cambridge University Press is re-publishing the bilingual Blackfriars' editon -- I highly recommend it, but it is pricey. (052169048X / 9780521690485)
http://assets.cambridge.org/052190/6423/full_version/0521906423_pub.pdf
http://www.cambridge.org/us/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=9780521690485
Actually, the Summa is theology for beginners.
"Because the doctor of Catholic truth ought not only to teach the proficient, but also to instruct beginners (according to the Apostle: 'As unto little ones in Christ, I gave you milk to drink, not meat' -- 1 Corinthians 3:1-2), we purpose in this book to treat of whatever belongs to the Christian religion, in such a way as may tend to the instruction of beginners."
-- Summa Theologiae, Prologue
I appreciate that interesting quote, but gosh, don’t discourage us! Although Flannery O’Connor had Aquinas as her bedtime reading every night. Maybe with milk and cookies, I could digest the Summa more easily.
:-)
Personally, I don't like it. Too much is left out.
But Aquinas did do his own simplified version. I highly recommend that!!!!!
It's sometimes published under the title "Compendium of the Summa."
But as I say, the complete Summa is not that long. You can probably find used copies of the "Great Books" 2-vols. for just a few dollars at a used bookstore.
It's not like a novel that you have to read from cover to cover. Pick a topic that interests you and read that section. Then move on to another one. No need to be scared of it (except maybe for Cambridge Univ. Press' price).
Or...look at these! Dajjal, thanks for the tip on the “Shorter Summa” - I am going to get it.
(Hope this link posts OK)
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