Reading Summa Theologica
This morning, after nearly three and a half years of on and off reading, I finally finished St. Thomas Aquinas’ Summa Theologica. It is a monumental work, which in printed form extends over five volumes and three thousand densely printed pages. So it is not surprising that it took me this long to finish it. The fact is, though, that I probably would have never ventured into reading it cover to cover in the first place were it not for electronic publishing. The printed version costs $150, 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. 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, iPhone, iPad, 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 elliptical machine in the gym, 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 the Catholic 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.
Furthermore, anyone who ever reads even a fraction of Summa could not in good faith ever resort to using the term “medieval” in a derogatory and pejorative sense. The erudition, the intellectual firepower, and the appreciation of human knowledge in all of its forms and all of its extent is clearly at display in this monumental work. St. Thomas spent most of his professional life at the University of Paris, and the university system that we have to this day has been formed throughout the Catholic Europe around this time. This system fostered and sustained scholarship and research in all branches of human knowledge. All of us, whatever our field of expertise, owe a huge debt of gratitude to these efforts. Modern world without this strong foundation would never have gotten into the existence. At the heart of this system, and at the etymological root of the very term University, is the ideal of universality of all knowledge. This idea shines brightly in Summa. Unfortunately in recent times we have diverged from this ideal. Perhaps going back to Summa would be exactly the medicine for what ails the modern University.
Finally, for me reading any type of good theological work is never just an intellectual exercise. It is, foremost in fact, a form of devotion. I’ve read Summa oftentimes early in the morning at the start of a new day. I’ve read it in conjunction with, or sometimes instead of, my scripture readings. Theology for me is the place where I can fully and completely love my God with all my heart, all my soul, and all my mind. I am grateful to St. Thomas for leaving us this great book that can help us in our Christian vocation. More than that could not be asked from anyone.
St. Thomas Aquinas, pray for us.