Questions on Love and Charity

Summa Theologiae, Secunda Secundae, Questions 23-46

Aquinas Saint Thomas, Miner Robert

A fresh translation of quaestiones from the Summa theologiae of Thomas Aquinas, edited by Robert Miner. This volume provides direct access to the medieval theologian's deepest thinking about the supreme goal of human life – blessedness-and the virtue most intimately related to this goal – charity. The edition also contains Aquinas's treatment of charity's effects – love, joy, peace, and mercy – and the vices opposed to them, such as hatred, envy, and war. Featuring five supplementary essays by noted Aquinas scholars, the volume will enable readers to engage more thoroughly with the thought of Thomas Aquinas.

About the Author

Robert C. Miner is author of "Thomas Aquinas on the Passions" and professor of philosophy in the Honors College at Baylor University.

Reviews

"I want my students to own this book. This text differs from many other translations of Aquinas insofar as it neither summarizes nor abridges Summa theologiae but provides a lengthy, complete section of it" – Karen Sullivan, Bard College

"A wonderful resource for philosophers, historians of ideas, and theologians, among others. The five stimulating supplementary essays and the editor's lucid introduction shed light on the richness of Aquinas's thought from a number of distinct yet complementary perspectives" – Douglas McDermid, Trent University

"If we are to understand the remarkable import of what Aquinas wrote about charity, we need first to learn how to read Aquinas. It is a great virtue of Robert Miner's translation and introduction and of the accompanying essays that they take this second task as seriously as the first in this admirable collaborative undertaking" – Alasdair MacIntyre, University of Notre Dame

"It is harder to read Aquinas than many suppose. Miner's translation and the accompanying essays teach us how to do it admirably. And how good to read Aquinas on charity!" – Alasdair MacIntyre, University of Notre Dame

"In an academic climate in which Thomas Aquinas is generally associated, by admirers as well as by adversaries, only with proofs for God's existence and ethics based on natural law, this beautifully translated stretch of the Summa Theologiae highlights the originality of his theology of love and charity, in all its ramifications: backed up by first-rate essays by recognized experts these questions evidently invite readers to a certain rethinking of the legacy received from a key figure in the Western tradition" – Fergus Kerr O. P., Honorary Fellow, School of Divinity, University of Edinburgh

"This beautifully translated stretch of the Summa Theologiae highlights the originality of [Aquinas'] theology of love and charity, in all its ramifications" – Fergus Kerr O. P., University of Edinburgh

"This volume is simply extraordinary. The vision that gave birth to it is to be lauded. I cannot recommend this volume highly enough" – Conor Cunningham, Author of Darwin's Pious Idea

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