The Summa Theologica was composed by St. Thomas Aquinas in the mid 13th century, almost 800 years ago. When modern Catholics learn about and attempt to study the Summa today, they are challenged not only by its content, but also by its structure. The content is challenging because Catholics aren’t familiar with the classical liberal arts or Aristotelean philosophy. The structure is challenging because Catholics aren’t familiar with, well, Aristotelean philosophy.
In this article, I’d like to explain how to study the Summa for mastery.
1. Develop Preliminary Knowledge
The Summa Theologica assumes that the reader is familiar with Sacred Scripture, the Church fathers and the philosophy of Aristotle. While St. Thomas gives clear proofs for his teachings, one unfamiliar with these sources will often find that the explanations can’t be understood. Therefore, anyone interested in studying the Summa for mastery should make a life-long commitment to studying Sacred Scripture, Aristotelean philosophy and the Church fathers, especially St. Augustine.
Note that all of this preliminary knowledge can be learned by studying in the Classical Liberal Arts Academy. (That’s the point.)
2. Study Each Article
When we look at an article in the Summa, we find a structure that is unfamiliar to modern readers:
- Article Question
- Objection 1
- Objection 2
- Objection 3
- On the contrary…
- I answer…
- Reply to Objection 1
- Reply to Objection 2
- Reply to Objection 3
You should not study each article from beginning to end, but according to the following method:
- Read the article question.
- Ignore the objections.
- Ignore “On the contrary…”
- Carefully study St. Thomas’ answer to the article question.
- Read objection 1.
- Reply to the objection as persuasively as possible.
- Read St. Thomas’ reply to the objection.
- Compare your reply to that of St. Thomas.
- Review St. Thomas’ answer to improve your reply.
- Continue steps 5-9 for remaining objections.
Note that the purpose of the passage shared by St. Thomas under “On the contrary…” is to show that there is some authoritative reason to doubt the assumptions of the objections. This can (and should) be used to make objectors docile and open to listening to the true answer.
Understanding of the answers in the Summa can be tested by presenting the objections and requesting replies, or by providing new objections, perhaps drawn from modern issues, that demand new replies.
Mr. William C. Michael, O.P.
Headmaster
Classical Liberal Arts Academy
Enjoy this article? Take a moment and share it with friends.