Saint Thomas Aquinas The Person And His Work

Highly acclaimed as the most reliable, thorough, and accessible introduction to Thomas Aquinas, this first volume in Jean-Pierre Torrell's set of books on the great Dominican theologian has been revised to include a new appendix. The appendix consists of additions to the text, the catalog of Aquinas's works, and the chronology. Each item in the appendix is called out in the original part of the book with an asterisk in the margin. "This is the introduction to Thomas: presenting all the known facts of his life and work, tracing the themes of his writing out of his juvenilia, and following the influence of his thought in the years immediately after his death."--First Things "The most up-to-date biography available."--Choice

V. 1 The Person and His Work; v. 2 Spiritual Master.

The studies in this volume investigate themes of particular spiritual relevance in Aquinas's theology: friendship, charity, prayer, configuration to Christ, priesthood, preaching.

Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) was an Italian Dominican friar and Catholic priest. He was an immensely influential philosopher, theologian, and jurist in the tradition of scholasticism. In Chesterton's portrayal Saint Thomas is mysterious man who was born in rich family, but despite that, decided to live a humble life of a friar. Because Thomas was quiet and didn't speak much, some of his fellow students thought he was slow and called him the dumb ox, but he was a man of rare brilliance who started a revolution in Christian thought. He was given a title Doctor of the Church by the Catholic Church for having made significant contribution to theology and doctrine through his work.

Pope John Paul II bestowed upon St. Thomas Aquinas the accolade of Doctor Humanitatis, or “Doctor of Humanity,” because he was ready to affirm the good or value of culture wherever it is to be found. Thomas is a teacher for our time because of his “assertions on the dignity of the human person and the use of his reason.” (“Inter Munera Academiarum,” 1999). This collection of papers explores the various philosophical and theological aspects of the thought of both Thomas Aquinas and John Paul II pertaining to this theme of “teacher of humanity.” The topics discussed here include the political praxis of Karol Wojtyla; Gadamer on common sense; prudence and subsidiarity; embodied cognition; the knowledge of God; the commandment of love; Pope Francis on the Beatitudes; the new evangelization; Thomism and modern cosmology; and the challenges of transhumanism and gender ideology. The papers were presented at a conference held in Houston, Texas, USA, in 2013, cosponsored by the Center for Thomistic Studies, the John Paul II Forum, and the Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas. This work will help to realize in its small way the hopes of Saint John Paul II concerning St. Thomas Aquinas: “It is to be hoped that now and in the future there will be those who continue to cultivate this great philosophical and theological tradition [of Aquinas] for the good of both the Church and humanity.” (Fides et ratio §74) Additionally, it will undoubtedly be of interest to all participants in the cultivation of the thought of Thomas Aquinas, John Paul II, and the dialogue between Thomism and the modern world.

Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) was an Italian Dominican friar and Catholic priest. He was an immensely influential philosopher, theologian, and jurist in the tradition of scholasticism. In Chesterton's portrayal Saint Thomas is mysterious man who was born in rich family, but despite that, decided to live a humble life of a friar. Because Thomas was quiet and didn't speak much, some of his fellow students thought he was slow and called him the dumb ox, but he was a man of rare brilliance who started a revolution in Christian thought. He was given a title Doctor of the Church by the Catholic Church for having made significant contribution to theology and doctrine through his work.

One of the great philosophers of the 20th Century, Josef Pieper, gives a penetrating introduction and guide to the life and works of perhaps the greatest philosopher ever, St. Thomas Aquinas. Pieper provides a biography of Aquinas, an overview of the 13th century he lived in, and a wonderful synthesis of his vast writings. Pieper shows how Aquinas reconciled the pragmatic thought of Aristotle with the Church, proving that realistic knowledge need not preclude belief in the spiritual realities of religion. According to Pieper, the marriage of faith and reason proposed by Aquinas in his great synthesis of a "theologically founded worldliness" was not merely one solution among many, but the great principle expressing the essence of the Christian West. Pieper reveals his extraordinary command of original sources and excellent secondary materials as he illuminates the thought of the great intellectual Doctor of the Church. "The purpose of these lectures is to sketch, against the background of his times and his life, a portrait of Thomas Aquinas as he truly concerns philosophical-minded persons today, not merely as a historical personage but as a thinker who has something to say to our own era. I earnestly hope that the speculative attitude which was Thomas' most salient trait as Christianity's "universal teacher" will emerge clearly and sharply from my exposition." - Josef Pieper