BRIEF thoughts on the Summa Theologica
Preface
I am not an expert on Aquinas, nor should my thoughts be read as any more than a review. I have not read the entirety of the Summa Theologica, I read a 200 page compilation piece. The full work is 3,000 articles across three main parts, often published in five volumes. Like seriously, there are people who spend a pHD just on this work. This should come off as thoughts on the work in isolation.
Thoughts
The Summa Theologica is a compilation of arguments and explanations concerned with the nature of God and religion. They generally mirror the views of the greater Catholic church, but Aquinas brings a very logical, rigorous attitude to the text that is rare for his Christian contemporaries. In this way he's very much a trailblazer. The way he writes almost reminds me of the later modern rationalists.
The book is formatted in labeled forms of arguments - premises, counterpoints, and conclusion. I greatly appreciate this, but the arguments vary in quality. The arguments are systematic. The proofs are correct. I have very little error with the structure. The issue, of course, is that if you disagree with his initial propositions (sometimes called Axioms), the argument falls apart. Of course, the most initial proposition in about God. Some people will claim this makes the arguments circular, which might be true. I think you can follow along while assuming the prepositions, just to see where it goes. Nevertheless, it's a fascinating text for anyone interested in Theology.