Summa Theologica

(NOTE - Ignore the reviewer talking about the binding being over the words... This is not present in any of the 5 books of my set. Maybe this related to a bad batch or previous print run, but this is most certainly NOT the issue now) This is the most impressive set I've seen of the entire Summa. Despite the amount of use these are going to get, the excellent quality hardback binding will probably outlive me. The print quality is excellent despite the need to squeeze in as much text as possible within each column... other versions are hard to read due to this constraint but these are easy on the eyes in comparison. It was a gamble to spend that much without seeing it first... but it's a gamble that paid off as its a cracking collection. Now I just need to make space on the shelf to do it justice!

I need not try to sell the fact that the Summa is nothing short of glorious, and there should be a copy in every household. This edition is wonderful, and I would just like to make the point that in real life it is a much more attractive, darker blue than it appears to be in the photo. However, for those who are incredibly OCD- the inlay on the binding is a little higher on volume 4 of my set than the rest. But really, a minor, minor grievance, so much so it hardly deserves to be called a grievance.

I was initially reluctant to purchase this after seeing a bad review on here. However I decided to buy a copy as there were quote a few good reviews too. The books arrived very swiftly and are in excellent condition. The binding was fine on mine and the print was fine.

A great help into understanding our Faith and what our Faith is teaching us from a great thinker and believer

This 5 volume set by the Dominican fathers of the English Province is probably the best concise translation of the summa available: ideal as an introduction to the theology of St Thomas, a concise source for references and small enough to sit on the average book shelf!

Have not had time to peruse them as yet but from what I have discerned it looks promising.

Okay, so having picked a level 4 module on Thomas Aquinas for my BATM in Durham, I soon discovered that I knew NOTHING about Aquinas, and that his writing was virtually impenetrable to me. I soldiered on until- low and behold- I began to want to read Aquinas. Huh. So I've been slowly working my way through the Summa Theologiae for seven weeks now and I am really enjoying it! Anyways, having picked up the first two volumes of a twenty-two (22!!) volume set of the Summa Theologiae in a second hand shop, I finally decided to take the plunge and buy the whole lot in five volumes (as per this review). The books themselves are decent- binding and typeface look all good- but let me warn you that if you order the cheapest set here from w_o_r_d_e_r_y you might face some frustrations. I ordered a set and then cancelled it after proper fudging of dispatch. Decided to reorder (fool me once..?) and then had more fun and games with emails announcing delays on the day the item was forecast to dispatch. Hey-ho, just goes to show that if you pick the cheap option you take your chances! Probably unfair to give such a magisterial work a 3-star review on the basis of the seller. Here's my favourite Aquinas sentence so far, "For the Father, by understanding Himself, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, and all other things comprised in this knowledge, conceived the Word; so that thus the whole Trinity is spoken in the Word.” Brilliant stuff.

Whilst the content may be fine, am quite umimpressed with the binding of this edition. It has been bound too close to the words in the margin, and in the middle of some of the volumes the binding actually covers some of the words, resulting in incomplete text. Given I shelled out £174.00 for this, expected a lot better. Caveat emptor is all I can say!

St. Thomas Aquinas is the greatest theologian to ever exist and this (honestly affordable) volumes set is a perfect addition to anyone wanting to study the Angelic Doctor; or even to study Catholic theology. All with very easy to understand English (Make sure you know some philosophical terminology of Aristotle). It also lists some handy graph points to show the course of what he us talking about at the end of some of the Questions 10/10

This product was a Christmas gift. Would buy again from seller.

Ah, Brother Thomas, where to begin? I read the concise translation, which was elegantly written and (naturally) concise, it was given to me by my late spiritual director... The printed version costs 244.88 $ close to 17,500 Indian Rs which is not actually much considering that most college textbooks these days can cost up to twice that much – if not more. The Kindle edition, on the other hand, costs 99 cents. Yes, it costs less than a dollar. (Infact I had it in my kindle for a very long time) However, it wasn’t the price that made me buy it and read it, it was the convenience of electronic form, which made it incredibly portable and accessible. Over the years I would be reading Summa on my Kindle, Tab, Phone and in all sorts of common and unlikely places – my desk, my bed, while waiting for my haircut, while waiting for the plane to take off, on the, while listening to a boring lecture, and sometimes even while waiting for the light to turn green at the traffic stop. (I know, I know.) Summa is not an easy read by any stretch of imagination. It is a densely argued treatise on almost all topics of Christian theology. It is also written in terms of concepts and categories derived form Aristotelian and Medieval philosophy, which are largely unfamiliar to the modern readers. Reading it can oftentimes feel like going through a large advanced mathematics textbook, with all the proofs and carefully precise reasoning that this entails. I knew all of this fully well before taking this plunge, but it did not deter me. I can’t say that I carefully thought out all the arguments that were laid out, and probably not much of it stuck with me in the end. However, at the end of it all I believe it was a more than worthwhile endeavor. First of all, it made me renew and deepen my appreciation for Thomistic Theology. It reminded me of the old saw that the Catholic Church is much bigger from within than form without. Catholic Theology is a vast repository of knowledge and insight that is well worth exploring throughout your whole lifetime.

la présentation de l'ouvrage permettant de le feuilleter me montrait un texte en latin, ce que je cherchais. A la réception, grosse déception : c'est une traduction en anglais. Fort heureusement, j'ai trouvé ce que je cherchais chez un autre fournisseur. Alors j'ai décidé de garder cette traduction anglaise pour l'offrir à des dominicains traditionalistes de langue anglaise. Car il s'agit d'une oeuvre majeure (5 volumes) sur les plans philosophique et théologique. Mais attention à présenter plus sérieusement les livres proposés.Précisons que c'est l'oeuvre majeure de saint Thomas d'Aquin.

Although my copy of the Summa came in good condition (only minor nitpicks about the edges of a couple of the volumes), and it is a beautiful set, I did not receive the third volume, but a duplicate of the fourth! I'm quite disappointed.