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Thomas Aquinas is one of thirty-three Doctors of the Catholic Church. Thomas by way of some summary reflections upon the famous “Summas”, i.e., his Summa Theologiae and Summa contra Gentiles, which are his best known and most representative writings. In what follows, I want to offer a glimpse of the simplicity of St. In my opinion, when carefully read and rightly understood, Thomas Aquinas is a winsome and uncomplicated Christian thinker in his own right, and not an inexplicable of shibboleth of “manualist” or “traditionalist” or “anti-modernist” Catholicism. Aquinas’ preferred method of theological exposition, which is often considered to be dry and difficult, coupled with his immense influence on Catholic theology, gives him the not rare enough distinction of being both famous for his writings and rarely read or understood. Many folks find the scholastic method to be frustrating, while others find it distinctly illuminating.

Thomas’ meticulous, dialectic method of exploring theological questions (the “scholastic” method) probably has something to do with the more than (and less than) intellectual reactions to the man and his works. The names “Thomas Aquinas” and “Summa,” when they spark recognition, can also produce rather visceral reactions.