On Love and Charity: Readings from the Commentary on the Sentences of Peter Lombard
Overview
Among the great works of Thomas Aquinas, the Commentary on the Sentences of Peter Lombard has suffered almost total neglect among translators. Such neglect is surprising, considering that the massive commentary—more than 4,000 pages in the last printed edition—is not only Aquinas’ first systematic engagement with all the philosophical and theological topics on which he expended his energy over the span of a short career, but is also characterized by an exuberance and elaborateness seldom found in his subsequent writings. Although Chenu had already drawn attention decades ago to the importance of studying this youthful tour de force for a fuller understanding of Thomas’ more mature work, the Commentary on the Sentences has remained a closed book for many modern students of Thomistic and medieval thought because of its relative inaccessibility in English or in Latin.
The present volume, containing all the major texts on love and charity, makes available what is by far the most extensive translation ever to be made from the commentary with the added benefit that the better part of the translation is based on the (as yet unpublished) critical edition of the Leonine Commission. The collection of texts from all four books has a tight thematic coherence that makes it invaluable to students of Thomas’ moral philosophy, moral theology, and philosophical theology. In addition, the inclusion of parallel texts from Aquinas’ first (Parisian) commentary as well as from his second (Roman) attempt at a commentary, the recently rediscovered Lectura Romana, makes this edition all the more valuable for those who wish to track the internal development of Thomas’ thinking on these matters.
In the Logos edition, this volume is enhanced by amazing functionality. Important terms link to dictionaries, encyclopedias, and a wealth of other resources in your digital library. Perform powerful searches to find exactly what you’re looking for. Take the discussion with you using tablet and mobile apps. With Logos Bible Software, the most efficient and comprehensive research tools are in one place, so you get the most out of your study.
This volume is part of Thomas Aquinas in Translation (8 vols.). Take a look at the whole set.
- Follows Aquinas’ major texts on love and charity
- Presents an extensive translation
- Includes parallel texts from other works by Aquinas for comparison
[T]he present volume contains by far the most extensive English translation from the Scriptum to date . . . The translators of On Love and Charity have aimed to give a translation which is neither too literal nor too liberal, trying to find the golden mean between an unintelligibly Latinized or an enjoyable but unfaithful English version . . . This impressive volume will be of a great help for those wishing to study Aquinas and the issue of love in more depth.
—Ephemerides Theologicae Lovanienses
- Title: On Love and Charity: Readings from the Commentary on the Sentences of Peter Lombard
- Author: Thomas Aquinas
- Publisher: Catholic University of America
- Print Publication Date: 2008
- Logos Release Date: 2014
- Pages: 404
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
- Subjects: Peter Lombard, Bishop of Paris, approximately 1100-1160. Sententiarum libri IV; Catholic Church › Doctrines; Theology, doctrinal › History--Middle Ages, 600-1500; God › Love; Love › Religious aspects--Christianity; Charity
- ISBNs: 9780813215259, 0813215250
- Resource ID: LLS:LVCHRTYRDNGSCMM
- Resource Type: Commentary
- Metadata Last Updated: 2024-03-25T20:18:21Z
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.”