God and creation
"God and Creation is a new translation of St. Thomas Aquinas's treatment of these subjects in the Summa theologiae, with introductory and explanatory material provided to assist the reader's understanding of the texts. The selected questions and articles fall within the area of what is often described as natural theology, that is, the study of truths about God that are accessible to human reason without the aid of divine revelation. Some of the questions and articles concern God's existence and attributes. Other questions and articles concern how human beings know Him by reason, and how human beings predicate attributes of Him. Still other questions and articles concern aspects of His relation to creatures - or, more accurately, aspects of creatures' relation to Him. Of particular interest in this regard are the questions and articles in which St. Thomas attempted to reconcile human freedom with God's foreknowledge, providence, and predestination." "The title of the Summa indicates explicitly that the work is theological, and the perspective of its author is that of a Christian believer seeking to give understanding of Christian faith; the aim of the Summa is to apply rigorous intellectual reflection to the articles of faith that a Christian professes. St. Thomas was one of the most successful practitioners of this art, and the questions and articles of this volume will accordingly be of interest to students of Christian theology. But most of the questions and articles translated in the volume deal with matters St. Thomas thought accessible to reason, and most of the arguments he advanced are based on reason. These matters and arguments should accordingly be of considerable interest to believers and nonbelievers alike." "Some previous translators render the text of the Summa in an old-fashioned and rather stilted English style that does not readily resonate to contemporary ears. Other translators render the text in contemporary English style but more as paraphrase than translation. Still other translators limit themselves to rather short excerpts from the body of particular articles. The translations in God and Creation are both literal and contemporary, and they include either complete questions or at least complete articles within a particular question. Since the Summa's design is akin to a dialogue, readers would miss the sense of dialectical development if they were unable to study complete questions or at least complete articles. The objections St. Thomas posed, and the answers he gave to the objections, are often critical to understanding his own position and help to illuminate the body of an article." "The present translators hope that the selected texts will enable readers to understand and appreciate St. Thomas's philosophical thought about God and creation, and whet readers' appetite for further investigation."--BOOK JACKET
Print Book, English, ©1994
University of Scranton Press ; Associated University Presses, Scranton, London, ©1994