Episode 47: Reading St. Thomas Aquinas for the First Time

Five Books for Catholics

The books recommended in this episode are:

1. Saint Thomas Aquinas: The Person and His Work by Jean-Pierre Torrell OP
2. Saint Thomas Aquinas: Spiritual Master by Jean-Pierre Torrell OP
3. Thomas Aquinas: Selected Writings edited and translated by Ralph McInerny
4. Commentary on the Gospel of John (vol. 1) (vol. 2) (vol. 3) by St. Thomas Aquinas
5. Thomas Aquinas's Summa theologiae: A Guide and Commentary by Brian Davies OP

Five Books for Catholics may receive a commission from qualifying purchases made using the affiliate links to the books listed.

On 7 March 1274, Friar Tommaso d’Aquino of the Order of Preachers died at the age of forty-nine at the Cistercian Abbey of Fossanova. He was on his way to the Second Council of Lyon. Less that fifty years later, he was canonised (1323). By the Council of Trent his doctrinal authority was so great that his masterwork, the Summa theologiae, was placed on the altar of the cathedral, along with the Bible and the Decretals. Not long after the conclusion of Trent, St. Pius V proclaimed him a Doctor of the Church (1567). Ever since, the popes have continued to recommend the doctor communis as the most comprehensive guide to the Catholic doctrine.

To mark the Church’s commemoration of the 750th anniversary of St. Thomas’s death, this edition of Five Books for Catholics selects five books for those studying his works for the first time.

Read the interview at ⁠https://www.fivebooksforcatholics.com/thomas-aquinas-introduction/

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