"Summa Theologica" is considered Aquinas' greatest work and most complete explanation of his theology. Part 3 focuses on Christ being the way to God and the necessity of the incarnation.

"An Introduction to the Metaphysics of St. Thomas Aquinas" is an accessible Aquinas and a solid entry into his work. The format is manageable, and the scope, appropriately limited. James F. Anderson's skillful collection and lucid translation makes the pleasure of reading Aquinas available as it has not been before.

The Book of Causes, highly influential in the medieval university, was commonly but incorrectly understood to be the completion of Aristotle's metaphysics. It was Thomas Aquinas who first judged it to have been abstracted from Proclus's Elements of Theology, presumably by an unknown Arabic author, who added to it ideas of his own. The Book of Causes is of particular interest because themes that appear in it are echoed in the metaphysics of Aquinas: its treatment of being (esse) as proceeding from the First Creating Cause; the triadic scheme of being, living, and knowing; and the general scheme of participation in which "all is in all." Thus, the Book of Causes provides a historical backdrop for understanding and appreciating Aquinas's development of these themes in his metaphysics. Thomas's Commentary on the Book of Causes, composed during the first half of 1272, is a distinct philosophical work in its own right. It provides an extended view of his approach to Neoplatonic thought and functions as a guide to his metaphysics. Though long neglected and, until now, never translated into English, it deserves an equal place alongside his commentaries on Aristotle and Boethius. In addition to the extensive annotation, bibliography, and thorough introduction, this translation is accompanied by two valuable appendices. The first provides a translation of another version of proposition 29 of the Book of Causes, which was not known to St. Thomas. The second lists citations of the Book of Causes found in the works of St. Thomas and cross-references these to a list showing the works, and the exact location within them, where the citations can be found.

In his sixth-century work commonly known as the De hebdomadibus, Boethius (ca. 480-524) poses the question of how created things or substances can be good just as they are - that is, good just by existing - without being the same as the source of all goodness, God, who is understood to be Goodness Itself. In his commentary written in the thirteenth century, St. Thomas Aquinas sets out to explain the problem Boethius is treating as well as to explicate Boethius's solution. In doing so, however, the Angelic Doctor suggests a more developed analysis of goodness, based on his own metaphysical perspective. Still, his view can be seen to continue the emphasis Boethius himself placed on the notion of creation - bringing into being - as crucial to understanding the issues at hand. The introduction to this translation provides critical historical background, including an account of the influence of Cicero and Augustine, for understanding Boethius's view of being, or esse. Based on historical and textual analysis, the authors reaffirm the ""traditional"" interpretation, which holds that for Boethius esse indicates form rather than a distinct act of being. In articulating the difference between Boethius's and Aquinas's positions on esse and on goodness, and hence the relation of esse and goodness, Schultz and Synan show not only that Aquinas was respectful of Boethius's stance, but that his own position could be seen as a development in harmony with his predecessor's thought. The English translation itself, in facing-page format with the 1992 Leonine critical edition of Aquinas's Latin text, remains faithful to the text and at the same time clear and readable.

" All I have written seems chaff to me." Thus six months before his death spoke the greatest mind of the Middle Ages. He had up to this time lived a life full of labour, lecturing, writing, dictating, and praying; and now after having received a revelation he laid aside his pen and would write no more. His favourite disciple, with a directness characteristic of him, asked him why he would not write when he was in the midst of a great work; to which he simply replied, "I cannot." Being pressed still further he again said, " I cannot, for all that I have written seems chaff to me." This incident, well attested as it is, is so clearly sincere that no interpretation of it can rob it of its grandeur and pathos. The words were spoken by a man still only in his prime, as far as years go, but one whom incessant labour and devotion to a high cause had brought, at the age of forty nine, into the valley of the shadow. His name is one that all men of education profess to know. His fame is noised abroad scarcely less by those who ignorantly contemn, than by those who injudiciously worship him. But his life, his real concrete life, is still in many ways a closed book. For while one class of men look on him as a great intellect, and another as a great holiness, the human lines of Aquinas have been singularly neglected. His holiness and his greatness in the eyes of a critical generation will depend, not on the mysteries of his extraordinary raptures, but on the way in which he a man bore himself in the jostle of life with men. If this has not been overlooked by his many biographers it has, for the most part, been undervalued, and it is fitting that in this age, which bears some resemblance to the Renaissance in the re-discovery of the enduring masterpieces of olden time either from neglect or undiscerning attention, some attempt should be made to show Aquinas to the world, not as a saint on a pedestal or a statue above the rostrum, but as one faring in the road of life and faring manfully. This work contains: OFFICE OF CORPUS CHRISTI THE EFFICACY OF PRAYER THE NATURE OF TRUTH DETERMISISM Os GRACE CHARITY ASD FRIESDSHIP RELIGIOS ASD HOLISESS THE SERVICE OF GOD PURITY THE SAISTS THE INCARNATIOS Os FAITH THE TEACHINGS OF PHILOSOPHY ASD FAITH. SUPERSTITION PAPAL POWER THE VIRGIN MARY THE RELATIONS OF MATTER ASD FORM PRIMARY MATTER FORM ASD NATURE OF UNITY OF FORM THE SOUL OF GOD CONTEMPLATION THOUGHT, MEDITATION, AND CONTEMPLATION THE MODE OF CREATION THE INTELLECT AND KNOWLEDGE KNOWLEDGE AND THE SENSES SENSE AND UNDERSTANDING THE PRINCIPLES OF GOVERNANCE MORALITY OF BUYING ASD SELLING USURY NATIONALITY AND THE STATE THE RIGHTS OF PROPERTY FAVOURITISM DUTY OF A CITIZEN IN REGARD TO KNOWN CRIME THE COMMON GOOD WAR THE LOVE OF OUR NEIGHBOUR FRIENDSHIP HABITS THE SCOPE OF NATURAL SCIENCE SEMI ; AL CAUSES. THE ELEMENTS NATURAL SELECTION AND PURPOSE ACTION THROUGH A MEDIUM PLANTS AND SEX WEIGHT AND DENSITY ACCIDIA WOMAN BEAUTY PERFECTION AND MARRIAGE. LANGUAGE THE USE OF ANIMALS SIMONY SCANDAL WHETHER WE ALWAYS WISH FOR WHAT IS GOOD LETTER OF SAINT THOMAS NON-BAPTISED INFANTS AND THE VISION OF GOD APPENDIX