INTRODUCTION 329
conflict between the teachings of philosophy and those of theology. To use a later
analogy, Thomas believed that “the book of nature” (i.e., the created world) and
the “Book of Scripture” were in perfect harmony.
In December 1273, Thomas suddenly stopped writing, apparently the result of
a mystical experience. He reported to a friend that “all I have written seems like
straw to me.” A few months later, he was called to a church council in Lyon,
France. On the way there, his health forced him to stop at Fossanova (south of
Rome) where he died on March 7, 1274, at the age of 49.
Three years after his death, several of Thomas’s teachings were condemned by
the Bishop of Paris. However, the condemnation did not stand long, and in 1323,
Saint Thomas Aquinas was canonized. In 1879, Pope Leo XII commended the
study of Aquinas’s philosophy in an encyclical,Aeterni Patris. This papal procla-
mation did not launch a revival of Thomism, as is often said, but it did lend an
enormous prestige to the study of Thomas and his work. The encyclical praises
the saint in the highest terms: “As far as man is concerned, reason can now hardly
rise higher than she rose, borne up in the flight of Thomas; and Faith can hardly
gain more help from reason than those which Thomas gave her.” Despite the
encouragement of Leo XII and others, not all Catholic philosophers are by any
means Thomists; many twentieth-century Catholic thinkers have shown more
interest in existentialism and phenomenology. Today Thomas is studied and
admired as much by Protestants and non-Christians as he is by Catholics.
Thomas’s most famous work, the Summa Theologica,is one of the most compre-
hensive and systematic works of theology ever written. It has often been likened
in its complexity and grandeur to a Gothic cathedral. This monumental classic is
divided into four sections that, collectively, include 512 “Questions.” Each
Question raises a topic or area of investigation and is, in turn, made up of several
“Articles” that explore specific concerns. These Articles range from abstract
philosophical issues, such as “Whether one can intend two things at the same
time,” to such minutiae of theology as “Whether one angel can speak to another in
such a way that others will not know what he is saying.” Each Article is examined
in the same manner, beginning with a question, offering an answer that Thomas
considers inadequate, then supporting this answer with several “objections.” At
this point, a quotation or argument that contradicts the position taken thus far is
introduced with the words “On the contrary (sed contra).. .” The dramatic ten-
sion between two opposing positions is then resolved by the author’s concise and
straightforward Respondeo,or “I answer that.. .,” which introduces his own
view. In presenting his answer, Thomas tries to avoid directly denying the preced-
ing objections, seeing them instead as limited truths that his Respondeosuper-
sedes. Finally, Thomas moves on to answer, one by one, each of the initial
objections. (The reader should keep in mind that the firstthings Thomas says
about a subject are the oppositeof the position he will subsequently defend.)
The selections from the Summa Theologicagiven here include readings from
Thomas’s “Treatise on God” (including his famous “Five Ways” or five arguments
for God’s existence); “Treatise on Man” (including a discussion of the nature of
the soul); “Treatise on Human Acts” (including his definition of happiness);
“Treatise on Law” (describing the kinds of law); and “Treatise on War” (describing