Thomas Aquinas: A Very Short Introduction
by Fergus Kerr
Paperback
Price: £7.99
Publisher:Oxford University Press (OUP)
Published:2009
ISBN:978-0-199-55664-9
GoodBookStall Review:
Aquinas wrote so much, with such complexity and so long ago, that he is beyond reach to most readers. Moreover he so influenced the western church’s developing orthodoxies about, for example, reason in faith, the nature of the Trinity, and the possibility of knowing God, that it is hard for many to know what is due to Aquinas and what is not. This book brings much into focus by beginning with the man himself and his career, by being selective about his writings, and by closing with a short summary of his legacy, ‘Thomism’, represented as specific church doctrines. The book’s main focus within this structure is Summa Theologiae, summarised with offered explanations in a chapter for each of its three parts. This is therefore an extremely useful book of reference and clarification.
Reviewer: Su Reid (27/01/10)
Aquinas wrote so much, with such complexity and so long ago, that he is beyond reach to most readers. Moreover he so influenced the western church’s developing orthodoxies about, for example, reason in faith, the nature of the Trinity, and the possibility of knowing God, that it is hard for many to know what is due to Aquinas and what is not. This book brings much into focus by beginning with the man himself and his career, by being selective about his writings, and by closing with a short summary of his legacy, ‘Thomism’, represented as specific church doctrines. The book’s main focus within this structure is Summa Theologiae, summarised with offered explanations in a chapter for each of its three parts. This is therefore an extremely useful book of reference and clarification.
Reviewer: Su Reid (27/01/10)
