Aquinas for Armchair Theologians
Overview
Thomas Aquinas was one of the most influential thinkers in the history of Christianity and in western civilization. Yet his theological views are complex and presume acquaintance with technical philosophical language. Now Timothy Renick has produced an attractive and accessible account of Aquinas’ life and thought that will make his views clear to nonspecialists. The topics dealt with include God, angels, evil, metaphysics, morality, sex, war, abortion, and politics. Illustrations are interspersed throughout the text and humorously illuminate key points providing an engaging introduction to an all-important theologian.
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- Highlights the way Aquinas lived his life from beginning to end
- Offers knowledge from field experts in a simple and playful presentation
- Features witty illustrations by Ron Hill
Top Highlights
“Aquinas responds that God does not make evil. God only makes good. Evil, in a sense, does not exist at all—at least it is not a substance or a thing. What then is evil? It is nothing more than a ‘privation of the good,’ that is, a removal of some of the good from a good object.” (Pages 32–33)
“In the late 1800s, Pope Leo XIII declared Thomism to be the official theology of the Roman Catholic Church” (Page 14)
“Aquinas defines metaphysics as ‘the science of being.’ It is, he tells us, the inquiry into the very essence of an object—the study of what makes a thing a thing.” (Page 52)
“The important point for Aquinas is that, as humans, we are creatures of both ‘intellect’ (like angels) and ‘senses’ (like animals). These are the tools that God has given us. How foolish we would be, argues Aquinas, not to use them.” (Page 20)
“Aquinas’s surprising claim is that all of what we as humans call evil is like this. Evil is never a thing. It is a privation of some of the good from a wholly good substance.” (Page 35)
- Title: Aquinas for Armchair Theologians
- Author: Timothy M. Renick
- Series: W. J. K. Armchair
- Publisher: Westminster John Knox
- Publication Date: 2002
- Pages: 163
- Resource Type: Biographies, Introductions
- Topic: Medieval Philosophy