16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Accessible Aquinas, March 8, 2006
This review is from: Aquinas for Armchair Theologians (Armchair Series) (Paperback)
As a Protestant who went to a secular college and avoided philosophy courses like the plague, I knew that St. Thomas Aquinas was a Medieval monk who had a lot of Catholic high schools named after him, and that was about it.
Then I read "Aristotle's Children" by Richard Rubenstein; Rodney Stark's trilogy on the influence of monotheism, "One True God," "For the Glory of God," and "The Victory of Reason;" and "How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization" by Thomas Woods. It seemed that this Aquinas fellow was worthy of further study. I read "Thomas Aquinas in 90 Minutes," which turned out to be a waste of an hour and a half. Then I found this book, which served as an excellent popular introduction to one of the greatest philosopher/theologians of any age.
St. Thomas' writings have had a profound influence in shaping our modern world. Almost everything about our Western value system owes something to his thought. Renick's book explains how this can be in brief, clear, easy-to-understand English. You can read the book in a single sitting, but I would recommend spending some time thinking about each chapter before going to the next. The last chapter of the book gives advice on how to read Aquinas, which is very helpful, because (1) you'll want to read some of Aquinas' writings after you finish this book (I tried "Aquinas' Shorter Summa"), and (2) you'll find that Aquinas' writings aren't as easy to read as this book.
The book's brevity and humor are both assets and liabilities. They make the book easily accessible and entertaining to read, but brevity must come at the cost of superficiality, and the humor is of the type that will quickly become dated. Readers of the future will doubtless be mystified by the references to Frazier's dog, Eddie.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Excellent Introduction. Very clear., February 13, 2002
By A Customer
This review is from: Aquinas for Armchair Theologians (Armchair Series) (Paperback)
Aquinas is one of those figures who I know that I should know something about, but his writings are (far too) long and complicated. This book provides an excellent and serious introduction to Aquinas's thought--and one that is also very funny. The book covers topics like Aquinas' views on God, abortion, sex, and war, and it shows how Aquinas shaped our current attitudes. I have similar introductions to Aquinas by Copleston and Chesterton; the Renick volume is by far the most accessible of the three and the one from which I learned the most. It should be required reading.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Quite easy to understand!, December 11, 2004
This review is from: Aquinas for Armchair Theologians (Armchair Series) (Paperback)
Timothy M. Renick does a fairly admirable job at explaining Thomas Aquinas and his thought. He wrestled and explained the often confusing theological issues with surprising clarity. Now I must admit this book is very basic which serves its purpose admirably. The best thing about Renick is his analogies are so relevant and well thought out. There is no doubt he has a skill for engaging and making the reader think. Some of the comments were a little much, but overall if you would like to know more about Aquinas and don't feel particularly confident starting with the Summa, start right here. He will explain things so you have a roadmap and a small foundation so you can expand your studies of Thomas. Just from reading this book I can imagine Renick would be a pretty enjoyable teacher in the classroom.
Thomas was no doubt extremely intelligent and it would be very valuable to study and learn about his thought and influence. This book could have even been expanded or made it to a two part series in order to cover more of Thomas. I found the chapters on abortion, politics, and free will to be extremely important and interesting.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
