Light of Faith: The Compendium of Theology

by Thomas Aquinas

Book Overview

Christians believe that God is a Trinity and also that He became man, but almost none understand these central truths of faith. St. Thomas Aquinas wrote this work to help men love God more by coming to know Him better--in His humanity, in His divinity, and in His manifold relations to man and creation. A masterpiece of brevity, readability, and profundity.--The Thomist.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0918477158
• ISBN13: 9780918477156
• Release Date: May 1993
• Publisher: Sophia Institute Press
• Length: 412 Pages
• Weight: 1.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.5" x 6.3" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

STA's short summa

This book is a wonderful way for non intellectuals to read St. Thomas Aquinas! It has all of his inspirational and theological genius in concise and easy to read sections. A must read for all Catholics and highly recommended to non-Catholics interested in learning about the foundations of Christianity.

Thumbnail of the Summa

This is an impressive book. It is a collection of all of the "I answer that" sections of the Summa Theologica. This gives you a supreme one-volume version of Thomas' affirmative thought on Catholic Theology and Philosophy. This is a great "Thumbnail" and "introduction" to the hefty five-volume opus that many people love, but few have read.There are only two deficiencies with this volume. It does not have any commentary that other Thomistic books have, such as "A Summa of the Summa." Secondly, it omits the rather fascinating interplay of ideas that characterizes all of Thomas' works. Aquinas was agile at confronting and assimilating opposing ideas. He was able to intellectually met steel to steel, and this is what makes him a mental giant.This book is good for Catholics who want to know their religion, or anyone who is not Catholic (as I am), who can appreciate a genius when he or she works

Aquinas summs up his Summa

I am an admirer of Thomas Aquinas, even though I am not Roman Catholic. He is powerful enough to cross the denominational bridges, and that is quite a compliment! This book is the Angelic Doctor's last written work. In fact, he died in the midst of writing the book, so it is incomplete, which is our loss. A mind like his comes once in a Millennium, so we are all worse off to not have more of his writings.This book was intended to be a literal "hand book," a one -volume summation of Aquinas' rather bulky Summa Theologica. It follows a deceptively simple format of three parts: Faith, Hope, and Charity. At first blush, this seems to roughly correspond to II-II of the Summa. However, Aquinas restated his arguments for God's existence, and covers in a nutshell the main points of the entire I-I and I-II of the Summa.It is a rare thing to find someone who can sum up a complex idea, or a string of complex ideas and concepts, but "The Dumb Ox" characteristically pulls it off. I wish more public speakers and politicians could develop this talent, since we get off on so many intellectual rabbit trails, and miss the great Yellow Brick Road. He does have a point to what he says, and he does stick on topic. Hence, his enduring power.The translation is an easy read, and nothing really spectacular jumps out pro or con. As is stated in the introduction, this translation was to be a crutch, and the true student is encouraged to go to the original Latin for any hair-splitting nuances and so forth. The standard numeration is followed, so we can easily compare the translations. I hate translators/publishers who play God and reinvent the wheel in these matters.I feel that this book should be used in conjunction with Kreeft's "Summa of the Summa." They are about the same size, but each book has its strengths and weaknesses. "The Shorter Summa" has the benefit of being Aquinas speaking for himself, and him telling you what he thinks is important, with the only disadvantage being that it is incomplete. The "Summa of the Summa" has the benefit of Kreeft's commentary and illustrations, and is (mostly) a good summery of Thomism, but it is Kreeft's-and I say this will an infinity of charity and respect for a great man-"spin" on Aquinas. So my advice is to split the difference and to get both books.The only real objection I have is that the picture of Aquinas is rather unusual. He looks like one of the extra-terrestrial "Greys" that Art Bell talks about. Aquinas is a genius, and a human computer, but he isn't a Vulcan, and he never made a crop circle. G. K. Chesterton speaks of a portrait of Aquinas with piercing eyes. The only clue we have is the starburst design, but it would be nice for a Chesterton scholar to try and track down this portrait, and start using it. Or at least stick with the traditional Medieval sketch that graces the covers of most of the current Aquinas Anthologies.

a good concise book on theology.

this book is pretty cool. dont take my word for it. buy it. hehe. good readin.

A very clear and concise translation!

For those of us who do not have the time to physically sit down and read all five books of the Summa, this is most certainly the closest you will come to consuming the real thing! I found this after I had began to read the first few chapters and nothing comes so close to capturing the essence of Aquinas's writings so thouroughly (and in only a sixth of the size of the original)! This book is a must for the true Thomistic scholar!