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/lit/ - Literature

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11355862 No.11355862 [Reply] [Original]

Where the fuck do I start with this guy? his stuff seems so dense and I feel like it could easily go over my head if I improperly digest it.

>> No.11355865

>>11355862
you can't learn about God by reading a book sorry anon

>> No.11355869

>>11355865
I've been a christian all my life, I just feel like his stuff would help me understand Christianity on a more in-depth level

>> No.11355877

>>11355869
again, reading a book won't help you learn more about God

>> No.11355899

>>11355877
thats great because I actually want to learn about Aquinas and his thoughts on God and how they adhere to my own.

>> No.11355909

>>11355865
>>11355877
nice try shill

>> No.11355943

>>11355862
>ramblings of an obese virgin monk
>could easily go over my head
You must be a mental manlet.

>> No.11355951

Compendium
+ https://archive.org/details/catechismofsumma00pg
+ Feser I'd say would be a good intro

>> No.11355956

>>11355951
Also, Chesterton's biography of Aquinas.

>> No.11356888

>>11355956
>>11355951
This. What version of the complete Summa and other of his writings should I get christposters?

>> No.11356925
File: 31 KB, 324x500, Thought-of-Thomas-Aquinas-The.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
11356925

Step 1

>> No.11358441

>>11355869
It will help you understand The Church more than christianity.

>> No.11358511

>>11355951
Second Feser, he's great.

>> No.11360067

Why hasn't anyone asked to make sure that you'd already read Aristotle? That's pretty important for read Aquinas.

>> No.11360118

>>11360067
It's really not all that essential. I don't know where this idea that you have to read some philosophers before others comes from but it's really silly. It's like saying you can't learn modern science without starting from the beginning. You could spend a lifetime pouring through outdated science to get a better understanding of modern science and in some cases that is very useful but generally there are better ways to do it.

If you want to start with Aquinas you can because his work stands on its own.

>> No.11360459
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11360459

>>11360118
Because Philosophy is largely a given Philosopher's commentary on other (usually older) Philosophers. The 'Footnotes to Plato' saying is a very old meme for a reason. Have you read the Summa? A huge chuck of it is Aquinas commenting on the ideas that came before him. Also, 90% of Medieval Scholasticism is Neo-Aristotelian. Sure, you can get something out of Aquinas without having read Aristotle but you're really shooting yourself in the foot in regards to having a full comprehension of his works.

>> No.11360505

>>11355862
Isn't he known for being straightforward and easy to digest?

>> No.11360545

>>11360459
I'm not saying it's bad to read previous philosophers or that it shouldn't be done, but merely that it's not essential. You can just as easily read some guides or have a teacher provide contextualization and for Aquinas in particular there's not a single bit of the Summa that absolutely requires the reading of previous philosophers. You can obviously read other philosophers to gain a better understanding but that's entirely different from saying you have to read something else before you can start with Aquinas.

>> No.11362238

>>11355865
I really do hate protestants.

>> No.11362257

Read Plato, Aristotle, the Bible, and St. Augustine.
Give Philosophus Autodidactus a try if you want something similar to, but slightly more approachable than Thomas Aquinas' Summa Theologica.

>> No.11362393

>>11355862
There's really no way but to buckle down and plow through. Do you know how to diagram sentences or logical statements? That might help. To me, Aquinas is one of the few committed apologists worth reading even if you have no interest in religion, just to admire and learn from the rigor of his arguments.

>> No.11362411

>>11355865
>you can only learn about god by going to a place where a guy reads a book to you

>> No.11362414

>>11362393
>To me, Aquinas is one of the few committed apologists worth reading even if you have no interest in religion, just to admire and learn from the rigor of his arguments.
upvote, but unironically

>> No.11362416

aquinas is a kike

>> No.11362420

could start at summa contra gentiles, which is much shorter and aimed at non-believers

>> No.11362425

i'm pissed no copies of porphyry's against the christians survived cuz i'm sure he was woke af on the cq

>> No.11362430

>>11355909
theosis is an orthodox concept anon

>> No.11362454
File: 16 KB, 383x500, scholastic_metaphysics_a_contemporary_introduction.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
11362454

He mostly focuses on Thomism in this.

>> No.11362457
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11362457

I haven't read this one yet but I've been planning to since seeing it in this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1bhbE15lPw

>> No.11362477

The biggest challenge in reading Aquinas is getting it out of your head that it's really hard or indecipherable because it's not. He surprisingly simple pick up a few terms and this book does a great job of getting the reader acquainted. He has some really great "Modern Scholar" lectures too that you should definitely check out. They should be on the Pirate Bay.

>> No.11362479
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11362479

>>11362477
I meant this book

>> No.11362543

>>11355877
>the Bible
I don't care what you think, if you don't think the Bible will help you learn about God, you are a fool

>> No.11362791

I don't know why people act like he's so hard to read. I don't have any problems with him but guys like Aristotle are a chore to me.

>> No.11363976

>>11362257
Why the bible?

>> No.11364075

>>11360505
Kind of. He's easier than some because he straight up tells you what he his answering and how the argument is layed out. No literary bullshit to muddle things up. Only thing is the English can be hard to grasp at first, and he can say a ton with very little words, so it's very dense reading, you could spend a long time in every page of him.

>> No.11364309

I would recommend these books to start with before delving into the summa.
1: Aquinas: A beginners guide by Edward Feser
Edward Feser is probably the bigggest thomist going these days so it would be good to know about him as well. This book basically summarises Aquinas’ thoughts
2: Aquinas by GK Chesterton
A nice little book about the life of Aquinas by one of Christianity’s greatest authors
3: Aquinas’ shorter Summa by Aquinas
As it says just a shorter version of the summa.
4 (optional): The Divine Comedy.
This book has been called “the summa in verse”, make sure is a well annotated version so that you can gleam Aquinas from the verse.

Those books I would say are the best to read before delving into the gargantuan that is the Summa, as an Orhodox those books and The Summa gave a great look into Catholicism.

>> No.11364316

Don't scholasticism is the wrong way to find God, even he knew it. Got a vision and stopped writing.

>> No.11364329

>>11364316
Scholasticism was never this one way to find God. It's just a method of theology and philosophy. Not some be all end all system of Christianity.