The Academic Sermons
Overview
The philosophical and theological works of St. Thomas Aquinas are held in universal esteem. His commentaries on Scripture and the role of Scripture in his theological works have garnered considerable attention. Yet Aquinas’ academic sermons delivered on Sundays and special occasions have been widely overlooked. Though hundreds of medieval sermons are attributed to Thomas Aquinas, the Leonine Commission has identified only 20 as his. This book features all 20 sermons, and one whose authenticity has been debated, translated from the original Latin texts, five of which have never been published before. An introduction and notes accompany the first-ever English translation. The Academic Sermons will fascinate readers as it presents Thomas’ unique style of preaching and how he skillfully communicated the fruits of his contemplation. With this book, Thomas the preacher comes to the fore.
- Title: The Academic Sermons
- Author: Thomas Aquinas
- Series: The Fathers of the Church: Mediaeval Continuation
- Volume: 11
- Publisher: Catholic University of America
- Print Publication Date: 2010
- Logos Release Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
- Subjects: Church year sermons; Catholic Church › Sermons; Sermons, Latin › Translations into English; Church year sermons › Early works to 1800
- ISBNs: 9780813217284, 0813217288
- Resource ID: LLS:ACADEMICSERMONS
- Resource Type: text.monograph.sermons
- Metadata Last Updated: 2024-03-25T19:04:48Z
Thomas Aquinas (1225–7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, Catholic priest, and Doctor of the Church. An immensely influential philosopher, theologian, and jurist in the tradition of scholasticism, he is also known within the latter as the Doctor Angelicus and the Doctor Communis. He was the foremost classical proponent of natural theology and he argued that reason is found in God. His influence on Western thought is considerable, and much of modern philosophy developed or opposed his ideas, particularly in the areas of ethics, natural law, metaphysics, and political theory.
Unlike many currents in the Church of the time, Aquinas embraced the philosophy of Aristotle—whom he called “the Philosopher”—and attempted to synthesize Aristotelian philosophy with the principles of Christianity.
His best-known works are the Disputed Questions on Truth (1256–1259), the Summa contra Gentiles (1259–1265), and the unfinished but massively influential Summa Theologica (1265–1274). His commentaries on Scripture and on Aristotle also form an important part of his body of work. Furthermore, Thomas is distinguished for his eucharistic hymns, which form a part of the Church’s liturgy. The Catholic Church honors Thomas Aquinas as a saint and regards him as the model teacher for those studying for the priesthood, and indeed the highest expression of both natural reason and speculative theology. In modern times, under papal directives, the study of his works was long used as a core of the required program of study for those seeking ordination as priests or deacons, as well as for those in religious formation and for other students of the sacred disciplines (philosophy, Catholic theology, church history, liturgy, and canon law).
Thomas Aquinas is considered one of the Catholic Church’s greatest theologians and philosophers. Pope Benedict XV declared: “This (Dominican) Order . . . acquired new luster when the Church declared the teaching of Thomas to be her own and that Doctor, honored with the special praises of the Pontiffs, the master and patron of Catholic schools.”