Sheer Joy: Conversations With Thomas Aquinas on Creation Spirituality [Paperback]

Matthew Fox (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 23, 2003

Here is a new edition of one of Matthew Fox's most powerful books, another in a series of the classic works by the maverick priest and theologian that are being reissued by Tarcher/Putnam.

Moving beyond the scholasticism and rationalism that have long cloaked Aquinas, Fox reveals a passionate, prophetic, and mystical celebrator of the blessings of creation. In this compelling, epic work, Fox writes as "a late twentieth-century citizen deeply concerned about the way our species is treating the Earth, our young, women, the poor, our bodies, and our souls." He speaks with St. Thomas Aquinas in a modern forum, questioning the saint about the Four Paths of creation spirituality, and the responses are culled from Aquinas's works, including pieces never before translated into English.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Fox, a controversial Dominican priest and author of Creation Spirituality ( LJ 5/1/91), offers this compendium of the teachings of St. Thomas Aquinas. Through a series of four "conversations," he translates the context of Aquinas's spiritual theology into popular language. The dialogs center on the four paths within creation spirituality: Via Positiva (awe and wonderment), Via Negativa (silence and darkness), Via Creativa (imagination and creativity), and Via Transformativa (compassion). Fox uses the writings of Aquinas to provide a dialog that brings forth a positive guide to spiritual growth. Instead of the "fire and brimstone" approach to salvation, the reader is exposed to the path of cosmological spirituality. Recommended for large public and academic libraries.
- L. Kriz, Sioux City P.L., Ia.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Paperback: 560 pages
• Publisher: Tarcher (June 23, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1585422347
• ISBN-13: 978-1585422340
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,659,572 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "CONVERSATIONS" WITH THOMAS AQUINAS? A SIDE OF AQUINAS YOU'VE NOT SEEN..., July 21, 2010

By 

Steven H. Propp (Sacramento, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sheer Joy (Paperback)

Matthew Fox (born 1940) is a theologian and bestselling advocate of "Creation Spirituality." He became a Catholic priest of the Dominican order, but was removed in 1992, and has subsequently become an Episcopalian priest. He has published an autobiography, Confessions: The Making of a Post-Denominational Priest.

Fox states in the Introduction to this 1992 book, "In this book I attempt a way of making Aquinas accessible, giving him a forum so that he can be heard in our own time. I present Thomas Aquinas entirely in his own words, but in a form that I believe allows late twentieth-century minds and hearts to hear him in a fresh way... I descholasticize Aquinas by interviewing him. By interviewing Aquinas I am able to ask him OUR questions and allow him access to OUR pressing issues in spirituality."

As quoted by Fox, Aquinas is a virtual advocate of panentheism, holistic healing, and of course Creation Spirituality. Why is this presentation of St. Thomas so different from "traditional" portrayals? Fox writes, "To recover Aquinas's whole spirituality we must get back to his scriptural works"; his Bible commentaries, because "in them he is less restricted by a scholastic methodology than in his other works. Following the inner logic of the biblical text, he is free to make connections, let his creative genius work, and allow his heart as well as his head to speak."

You may or may not agree that this is a fair or representative presentation of the views of Thomas Aquinas. But it is a highly interesting one, in any case. And course, Fox offers his own opinions, as well, such as, "when I swim in the marvels that you have helped name for us ... all these meditations lead me to say simply, 'Thank You' to the Creator."

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I never got it before, March 30, 2011

By 

tobb delow (Delray Beach, FL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sheer Joy: Conversations With Thomas Aquinas on Creation Spirituality (Paperback)

I never really "got" Thomas Aquinas, until I read Sheer Joy. Fox argues that it is the organization of Aquinas's writing that makes it so hard to grasp. Maybe.

But I do know that this book made Aquinas understandable to me. This was done without any dumbing down (that I could see). This is still a dense, long book. The ideas require thoughtful reading. But the results are immensely rewarding.