Synopses & Reviews
G.K. Chesterton's brilliant sketch of the life and thought of Thomas Aquinas is as relevant today as when it was published in 1933. Then it earned the praise of such distinguished writers as Etienne Gilson, Jacques Martain, and Anton Pegis as the best book ever written on the great thirteenth-century Dominican. Today Chesterton's classic stands poised to reveal Thomas to a new generation.
Chesterton's Aquinas is a man of mystery. Born into a noble Neapolitan family, Thomas chose the life of a mendicant friar. Lumbering and shy -- his classmates dubbed him "the Dumb Ox" -- he led a revolution in Christian thought. Possessed of the rarest brilliance, he found the highest truth in the humblest object. Having spent his life amid the vast intricacies of reason, he asked on his deathbed to have read aloud the Song of Songs, the most passionate book in the Bible.
As Albert the Great, Thomas's teacher, predicted, the Dumb Ox has bellowed down the ages to our own day. Chesterton's book will enlighten those who would consign Thomas to the obscurity of medieval times. It will confound those who would use Thomas to bolster arid schemes of Christian rationalism. Rather, it will introduce the wondrous mystery of the man who, after a life of unparalleled genius, was seized by a vision of the Unknown and said, "I can write no more. I have seen things which make all my writings like straw."
Synopsis
A trade paperback edition of the classic portrait of Thomas Aquinas, one of the greatest of Christian philosophers, by one of the greatest of modern religious writers.
Synopsis
It is known that Chesterton embarked on Saint Thomas Aquinas with only "a very casual knowledge of a few books on his subject". Yet Etienne Gilson, a leading Aquinas scholar considers it "the best book ever written on Saint Thomas".
The ability to turn a lack of intimate knowledge to his advantage lies at the heart of Chesterton's extraordinary work. By concentrating on the core elements of Aquinas's thinking, he deftly manages to simplify without oversimplifying. The result is a masterful explication of Aquinas's philosophy.
About the Author
G.K. Chesterton (1874-1936) was an English journalist, theologian, philosopher, playwright, mystery writer, and more. Among his many great works are Saint Francis of Assisi, The Everlasting Man, and Orthodoxy.