Summa Contra Gentiles: Book One: God

"Summa Contra Gentiles: Book One: God" is St. Thomas Aquinas' work in which he proclaims his philosophy of God. While differing from his Summa Theologica in form, it does bear it some resemblance. It consists of 102 chapters, each of which postulates a particular attribute of God. Each chapter then proves the postulated attribute by the application of philosophical reasoning. Support of authority, Scriptural or otherwise,. is only invoked after the issue has been established.This is a book which makes the reader think. Some chapters really leave the reader with the feeling of understanding something new. This book is not light reading. It requires the investment of serious intellectual energy. For the reader willing to make the investment, the rewards can be heavenly.

Depending on the reader's preparation, "Summa Contra Gentiles: God" is either completely impenetrable or one of the easier philosophical works to understand.While it is ideal for the reader to have read Aristotle, particularly his "Physics" and "Metaphysics", less - even much less - will do. What is minimally necessary is an understanding of the vocabulary. Thomas used a number of terms that he acquired from Aristotle that had a particular technical meaning, a meaning that is different from the ordinary meaning of those same terms. Without a good grasp of these terms, the reader simply will not be able to follow Thomas's logic.Fortunately, the list of important terms is not very large, nor are the meanings especially obscure. The purpose of this review is to list and define these terms. For examples, I will draw on the familiar story of "The Three Little Pigs":Matter, material - what a thing is made of. The matter of the three little pigs' houses are straw, sticks, and bricks respectively. Contrast with "form".Form, formal - how a thing is ordered or arranged. The form of all of the three little pigs' houses is the same: "house". Contrast with "matter".Prime matter - the stuff out of which all physical objects are ultimately made. While the third little pig's house has the form of "house" and the matter of "bricks", "bricks" themselves have a form of "brick" and matter of "earth" (assuming they are earthen bricks), and "earth" itself has a form and matter, and so on. Eventually, this process must end with some matter that is not composed of anything more fundamental. This most fundamental matter is given the name "prime matter".Substance, substantial - Ordinarily, matter and form together make a substance. The third little pig's house is a substance that combines the matter of "bricks" and the form "house". The possibility of substances which do not ultimately derive from prime matter is an important question (perhaps the important question) of Summa Contra Gentiles.Sensible - that which is seen, heard, smelt, touched, or tasted. Sometimes this term is used to refer to the sensible qualities themselves (color, sound, etc.) and sometimes to the objects that have those qualities. The little pigs' houses can be seen, so those houses are sensible objects. Contrast with "intelligible".Intelligible - that which is understood but not sensed. We understand "house", but we cannot see "house", although we can see the three little pig's individual houses. Contrast with "sensible".Accident, accidental - the qualities of a thing that do not determine what it is. The matter of which the three little pigs' houses are made is accidental; whether a house is made of straw, sticks, or bricks, it is still a house. Contrast with "essence".Essence, essential - the qualities of a thing that make it what it is. That the three little pigs' houses are places for them to live is essential to those houses; if they couldn't live in them, they wouldn't be houses. Contrast wit

This is Volume I (on God) of a 5 volume set. Aquinas wrote this work in order to refute the claims of the Islamic philosophers and theologians of his day and to help those who were Christian missionaries in Islamic areas. Thus, the set (and this book especially) were written in a sort of apologetic fashion. In this volume, Aquinas deal with the nature of God (i.e. simplicity, immutability, infinite, eternal, etc.). Also, Aquinas discusses the issues of God's knowledge per se, and His knowledge of future contingents, counterfactual, etc. Moreover, Aquinas discusses God's will, essence, necessity, the problem of evil and God's part in evil as it appears in creation, and much more. Thus, just in this one volume, Aquinas is nearly exhaustive in his presentation of the person and work of God.This translation (by Anton Pegis) is eloquently produced and easy to read and understand. While some of the classical terms will need to be understood (i.e. essence/existence, substance, perfect actuality, univocal/equivocal/analogical predications, etc) to gain a better grasp on what Aquinas is espousing, nonetheless, this work is a wonderful tool for those who want to gain a better grasp of Aquinas' thoughts on God. Finally, if you decide to purchase this volume, then I recommend not stopping with just this single volume, but buy the entire set. It is well worth the money invested. Moreover, the whole set works quite well as a reference tool for future research. I highly recommend it, especially since I consider Aquinas to be the greatest philosopher of the Medieval period, and it would be a pity to miss out on such good philosophy.

St. Thomas Aquinas explores with great aptitude the existence of god, along with many other issues of christian doctrine. This work is a must read for those who wish to defend the faith against the philosophical arguments of the non-theist. The "Summa contra Gentiles" and the "Summa Theologica" are pillars of christian theology in the midevil era (and the modern), and without a doubt the most profound arguments for the exsistence of god, and explanation for many doctrinal intricacies of the christian faith.