Saint Thomas Aquinas, Vol. 1. The Person and His Work [Paperback]

Jean-Pierre Torrell (Editor), Robert Royal (Translator)

Editorial Reviews

Review

This is the introduction to Thomas: presenting all the known facts of his life and work, tracing the themes of his writing out of his juvenilia, and following the influence of his thought in the years immediately after his death. When the second volume appears (promising to examine in greater detail Thomas' spirituality) the standard study of the Angelic Doctor for our times will be complete. -- First Things --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: French --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Catholic University of America Press; Revised edition (April 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0813214238
• ISBN-13: 978-0813214238
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #416,523 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Superb technical achievment, July 16, 2000

By 

Jason T. Eberl (Indianapolis, Indiana USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Saint Thomas Aquinas (Paperback)

Torrell's book is a two-fold masterpiece, but it is not for the faint-of-intellect. Die-hard Thomists will find the historical exegesis of scholarship on Aquinas' life and work to be the most fundamentally rigorous to date. Interspersed within this technical exposition are invaluable insights into the person of Aquinas as a man of faith first and foremost. For me, this book was a joy to read and I am utilizing it in a graduate seminar I will be teaching on Aquinas. That being said, I must warn the non-Thomist reader that they may find this book dry at times in its extreme historical exposition. The best approach to this book for the average reader is to skim through to find the gems contained within. Hence, I highly recommend this book to fans of Thomas Aquinas and cannot wait for the translation of Torrell's second volume to appear.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Most Thoroughly Detailed Account of Aquinas' Life, February 5, 2002

By 

T. B. Vick "T.B.V." - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Saint Thomas Aquinas (Paperback)

Torrell has provided the philosophical community with a most thoroughly detailed account of one of the greatest thinkers to ever walk this planet.

From the youth of Aquinas to his death, Torrell takes his reader on a historical journey through the life, events, thoughts, and works of St. Thomas Aquinas. Torrell uses the best resources available, and painstakingly documents all his sources. What is more, if certain things have been attributed to legend or mere 'story telling for the sake of story telling,' Torrell makes his reader aware of this fact. Thus, his research is honest, and quite detailed.

Every dispute between Aquinas and the Church or other clergy is included. Aquinas' years in Paris are detailed, the things he taught, the people he associated with, his travels, his writings, his habits (which have been documented), his writing methods, etc. all are detailed in this account. In fact, I do not think there is one stone left unturned that can actually be turned in the life of Aquinas, that Torrell has not touched.

Toward the end of this work, which it should be pointed out is written and organized in a nice chronological fashion, Torrell makes mention of those groups who after Aquinas' death formed cults in their following of Aquinas. Moreover, I enjoyed Torrell's account of Aquinas because it was real. What I mean by that is Torrell did not elevate Aquinas to an 'other than human' level and put him high on a pedestal. Rather, Torrell painted a picture of the real Aquinas, warts and all.

If you are wanting a detailed account of Aquinas and his whole life, works, events, etc. then this is the only text you may ever need (although there are others available which would be very helpful as well - i.e. James Weisheipl's account "Friar Thomas D'Aquino, which has been considered the standard biography). I highly recommend Torrell's work and wished I could have given it another star!

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A pro historian writes about a pro theologian, October 9, 2005

By 

Theodore (Ventura, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Saint Thomas Aquinas, Vol. 1. The Person and His Work (Paperback)

The person of St. Thomas Aquinas is both fascinating and admirable. His work is first-rate. Jean Pierre Torrell's book St. Thomas Aquinas, Vol. 1, The Person and His Work is a must-have for a person who wishes to understand faith, wonders if we can expect good things from the Lord, and who loves the same thing St. Thomas loved: wisdom.

Torrell's Volume 1 of a two volume set clearly demonstrates how the life of Aquinas was and still is astonishing. St. Thomas experienced the peace of "intellectual charity" (p. 49). The stuff of his live involved "the very concrete exercise of his intellect" (p. 50) which produced 13 written pages a day with 350 words-per-page during a four year period in Paris (1268-72). Yes, this is astonishing, especially when a person reads what the deep and logically precise texts from that time.

St. Thomas "spent most of his time writing" (p. 241) and "prayed" before every work (p. 284). He was assisted by a "team of secretaries" (p. 241) such the Dominicans Raymond Severi, Nicholas of Marsillac and Peter of Andria. Aquinas was prepared to write and compose up to ninety [90] "works" (p. 49) by St. Albert the Great in Cologne, Germany (1248-1252). According to Torrell, "Saint Albert had a considerable influence on him" (p. 25).

Torrell's St. Thomas Aquinas, Vol. 1, is an excellent resource for Thomistic philosophers, since Torrell's book contains a contemporary catalogue of Aquinas' works (by Emery, pages 331-361), gives an accurate historical sketch of Aquinas' in sixteen easy-to-read chapters, is based on the finest historical research from Leonard Boyle, Dominique Chenu, Hyacinthe Dondaine and others, and shows how Aquinas was a down-to-earth person. While the sailors on a ship were becoming fearful of a "storm at sea," Aquinas "trusted in Providence and was not troubled" (p. 279). When he had a painful tooth, he "obtained liberation from it through prayer"(p. 280). And when his niece Francesca wanted to travel from Naples to nearby Pozzuoli, Aquinas helped her get a passport (p. 277).

For a person who is serious about Thomistic philosophy Torrell's book provides a historical overview, a brief chronology, an excellent bibliography, an index of Aquinas' works and dependable source for current and accurate information about the "Doctor angelicus" and Angelic Doctor (p. 325).