Thomas Aquinas, Theologian

In Thomas Aquinas, Theologian Thomas O'Meara considers Aquinas the theologian and his influence, past and present. O'Meara focuses on Aquinas as teacher and preacher, and theology as the subject of his thought and most of his writings. Studying the Summa Theologiae as well as providing an overview of six centures of interpretation, O'Meara shows how few have understood the structure and intent of Aquinas' theology.

About the Author :
Thomas F. O'Meara, O.P., is emeritus professor of theology at the University of Notre Dame. He is the author of Erich Przywara, S.J.: His Theology and His World, published by the University of Notre Dame Press.

Review :
"Thomas O'Meara, a Dominican and professor of theology at Notre Dame, and a well-qualified scholar of St. Thomas Aquinas, provides an insightful study of the Summa Theologica, its context and content . . . essential for one who wants to get an insight into one of the basic works of St. Thomas." —Missiology "[Thomas Aquinas Theologian] might help to bring once again into light a great treasure from the patrimony, not just of the Catholic Church, but, indeed, of the human race: the works and thought of Thomas Aquinas the theologian. The author's summary of the present state of Thomism and his estimation of the future are well worth pondering." —Homiletic & Pastoral Review "Father O'Meara has been studying St. Thomas' life and works for many years. His guide to Thomas' theology, his world, and his influence traces the life and career of St. Thomas, including the context of his chief works; describes the background and internal structure of his Summa Theologiae; elucidates the main themes of his theology; and summarizes the history of his influence-including his chief interpreters, the Thomistic schools-and the new interest in his work today." —Theology Digest "[Thomas O'Meara] sanguinely includes in a single volume a brief biography of Thomas, an overview of the structure and themes of the Summa Theologiae, and a survey of nearly seven centuries of Thomisms. . . . O'Meara's love of his subject is patent and will no doubt entice his more curious readers to discover for themselves the tremendous challenge of, as one twentieth-century Thomist has put it, 'reaching up to the mind of Aquinas.'" —Theology Today "Thomas O'Meara seeks to redress the centuries-old error of over-emphasizing Aquinas's philosophy at the expense of this theological concern with life in the order of grace." —Anglican Theological Review "O'Meara's volume is a fine introduction to Aquinas as a theologian, both in his immediate medieval context and in the later contexts of the medieval scholastic tradition and the Thomism of more recent centuries. . . . Very useful to the modern reader is O'Meara's presentation of the several schools of interpretation of Thomas in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries." —Calvin Theological Journal