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Summa Contra Gentiles: Book One: God

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Depending on the reader's preparation, "Summa Contra Gentiles: God" is either completely impenetrable or one of the easier philosophical works to understand.

While it is ideal for the reader to have read Aristotle, particularly his "Physics" and "Metaphysics", less - even much less - will do. What is minimally necessary is an understanding of the vocabulary. Thomas used a number of terms that he acquired from Aristotle that had a particular technical meaning, a meaning that is different from the ordinary meaning of those same terms. Without a good grasp of these terms, the reader simply will not be able to follow Thomas's logic.

Fortunately, the list of important terms is not very large, nor are the meanings especially obscure. The purpose of this review is to list and define these terms. For examples, I will draw on the familiar story of "The Three Little Pigs":

Matter, material - what a thing is made of. The matter of the three little pigs' houses are straw, sticks, and bricks respectively. Contrast with "form".

Form, formal - how a thing is ordered or arranged. The form of all of the three little pigs' houses is the same: "house". Contrast with "matter".

Prime matter - the stuff out of which all physical objects are ultimately made. While the third little pig's house has the form of "house" and the matter of "bricks", "bricks" themselves have a form of "brick" and matter of "earth" (assuming they are earthen bricks), and "earth" itself has a form and matter, and so on. Eventually, this process must end with some matter that is not composed of anything more fundamental. This most fundamental matter is given the name "prime matter".

Substance, substantial - Ordinarily, matter and form together make a substance. The third little pig's house is a substance that combines the matter of "bricks" and the form "house". The possibility of substances which do not ultimately derive from prime matter is an important question (perhaps the important question) of Summa Contra Gentiles.

Sensible - that which is seen, heard, smelt, touched, or tasted. Sometimes this term is used to refer to the sensible qualities themselves (color, sound, etc.) and sometimes to the objects that have those qualities. The little pigs' houses can be seen, so those houses are sensible objects. Contrast with "intelligible".

Intelligible - that which is understood but not sensed. We understand "house", but we cannot see "house", although we can see the three little pig's individual houses. Contrast with "sensible".

Accident, accidental - the qualities of a thing that do not determine what it is. The matter of which the three little pigs' houses are made is accidental; whether a house is made of straw, sticks, or bricks, it is still a house. Contrast with "essence".

Essence, essential - the qualities of a thing that make it what it is. That the three little pigs' houses are places for them to live is essential to those houses; if they couldn't live in them, they wouldn't be houses. Contrast with "accidental".

Quiddity - see "essence".

Privation - a lack of a quality that would ordinarily be present. It would be a privation if the first little pig could not see, but it is not a privation that his house cannot see.

Act, actual - what a thing is at a particular time. After the first little pig builds his house (but before the wolf blows it down) it is a house in act. Contrast with "potency".

Potency, potential - what a thing could be, but is not. Before the first little pig builds his house, the straw of which it is to be made is a house in potency. Contrast with "act".

Motion - sometimes refers specifically to movement in space, at other times to any change in a thing.

Generation - the process of applying form to matter to make a substance. While the first little pig is building his house from straw, the house is in generation. Contrast with "corruption".

Corruption - the process by which matter loses its form and ceases to be a substance. While the wolf is blowing down the first little pig's house, the house is in corruption. Contrast with "generation".

Nature, natural - qualities of a thing or changes to a thing that arise from what it is. It was natural for the sticks of the second little pig's house to stay where he put them. Contrast with "violent".

Violent, violence - motion in a thing that is contrary to its nature. When the sticks in the second little pig's house were blown apart, that change was violent. Contrast with "nature".

Eternal, eternity - often used to mean not dependent on time; as distinct from an infinite amount of time. "House" is eternal but the pig's individual houses were not.

Cause - how a thing came to be. The efficient cause of the first little pig's house was his work in building it. While Aristotle defined four causes: material, efficient, formal, and final, Thomas almost always means the efficient cause when he refers to a thing's cause.

End - why a thing came to be. The final cause, or end, of the little pigs' houses were to give them shelter.

This is Volume I (on God) of a 5 volume set. Aquinas wrote this work in order to refute the claims of the Islamic philosophers and theologians of his day and to help those who were Christian missionaries in Islamic areas. Thus, the set (and this book especially) were written in a sort of apologetic fashion.

In this volume, Aquinas deal with the nature of God (i.e. simplicity, immutability, infinite, eternal, etc.). Also, Aquinas discusses the issues of God's knowledge per se, and His knowledge of future contingents, counterfactual, etc. Moreover, Aquinas discusses God's will, essence, necessity, the problem of evil and God's part in evil as it appears in creation, and much more. Thus, just in this one volume, Aquinas is nearly exhaustive in his presentation of the person and work of God.

This translation (by Anton Pegis) is eloquently produced and easy to read and understand. While some of the classical terms will need to be understood (i.e. essence/existence, substance, perfect actuality, univocal/equivocal/analogical predications, etc) to gain a better grasp on what Aquinas is espousing, nonetheless, this work is a wonderful tool for those who want to gain a better grasp of Aquinas' thoughts on God.

Finally, if you decide to purchase this volume, then I recommend not stopping with just this single volume, but buy the entire set. It is well worth the money invested. Moreover, the whole set works quite well as a reference tool for future research. I highly recommend it, especially since I consider Aquinas to be the greatest philosopher of the Medieval period, and it would be a pity to miss out on such good philosophy.

Thomas Aquinas was an extraordinarily systematic thinker and writer. Because of this, one of the best ways to comprehend "Summa Contra Gentiles" is through consideration of its structure. At the highest level, it consists of 4 books, with the third book in two parts, on account of its length.

The titles of the five volumes are as follows:

Summa Contra Gentiles: God

Summa Contra Gentiles: Creation

Summa Contra Gentiles: Providence, Part I

Summa Contra Gentiles: Providence, Part II*

Summa Contra Gentiles: Salvation

Each volume is formally divided into about 100 short chapters. A typical chapter gets its title from some proposition that is to be affirmed, or in some cases refuted. Each paragraph is an argument in support (or denial) of that proposition. The chapters are themselves ordered so that the later chapters build on what the arguments in the earlier chapters have established, and it is this arrangement of chapters that constitutes the real structure of "Summa Contra Gentiles".

Although in his later "Summa Theologica", Thomas formalized the higher-level structure of his writing, he did not do so here, which somewhat complicates any presentation of this structure - the book titles are so high level that they give little feel of the work, and the chapter titles so numerous that the reader is easily overwhelmed by a list of them.

In order to give the reader some sense of the overall work, I've prepared an outline of the work that (hopefully) is short enough to be readily comprehensible and long enough to give the reader an understanding of what topics are covered and in what order. This outline is presented below:

1.0 Summa Contra Gentiles: God

1.1 Intention of the Work (1 - 2)

1.2 Truths of Reason and Revelation (3 - 9)

1.3 That God Exists (10 - 13)

1.4 That God is Eternal (14 - 20)

1.5 God's Essence (21 - 28)

1.6 That God is Known (29 - 36)

1.7 That God is Good, One and Infinite (37 - 44)

1.8 God's Intellect and Knowledge (44 - 71)

1.9 God's Will (72 - 96)

1.10 God's Life and Beatitude (97 - 102)

2.0 Summa Contra Gentiles: Creation

2.1 Purpose of the Work (1 - 5)

2.2 That God is the Creator of All Things (6)

2.3 God's Power Over His Creation (7 - 29)

2.4 For and Against the Eternity of the World (30 - 38)

2.5 The Distinction of Things (39 - 45)

2.6 Intellectual Substances (46 - 55)

2.7 The Intellect, the Soul and the Body (57 - 78)

2.8 Immortality of Man's Soul (79 - 82)

2.9 Origin of Man's Soul (83 - 89)

2.10 On Non-human (Angelic) Intellects (90 - 101)

3.0 Summa Contra Gentiles: Providence (Parts I and II)

3.1 Prologue (1)

3.2 Good, Evil, and God as the End of All Things (2 - 25)

3.3 Human Felicity (26 - 63)

3.4 How God's Providence Works (64 - 94)

3.5 Prayer and Miracles, Magic and Demons (95 - 110)

3.6 Rational Creatures and Divine Law (111 - 130)

3.7 Voluntary Poverty and Continence (131 - 138)

3.9 Rewards and Punishments (139 - 147)

3.10 Sin, Grace, and Predestination (148 - 163)

4.0 Salvation

4.1 Forward (1)

4.2 The Trinity (2 - 16)

4.3 The Incarnation (27 - 55)

4.4 The Sacraments (56 - 78)

4.5 The Resurrection (79 - 97)

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* in searching for Part II of "Providence" in Amazon's book catalog, be sure to search by the full title, or the search results may just return part I.

"Summa Contra Gentiles: Book One: God" is St. Thomas Aquinas' work in which he proclaims his philosophy of God. While differing from his Summa Theologica in form, it does bear it some resemblance. It consists of 102 chapters, each of which postulates a particular attribute of God. Each chapter then proves the postulated attribute by the application of philosophical reasoning. Support of authority, Scriptural or otherwise,. is only invoked after the issue has been established.

This is a book which makes the reader think. Some chapters really leave the reader with the feeling of understanding something new. This book is not light reading. It requires the investment of serious intellectual energy. For the reader willing to make the investment, the rewards can be heavenly.

St. Thomas Aquinas explores with great aptitude the existence of god, along with many other issues of christian doctrine. This work is a must read for those who wish to defend the faith against the philosophical arguments of the non-theist. The "Summa contra Gentiles" and the "Summa Theologica" are pillars of christian theology in the midevil era (and the modern), and without a doubt the most profound arguments for the exsistence of god, and explanation for many doctrinal intricacies of the christian faith.

The Summa Contra Gentiles, by Aquinas (a.k.a. Thomas), is an excellent book to read. A reader can start anywhere with Aquinas's writings and be able to follow his theory. Broken up into small chapters, each with particular topics, Aquinas, known as the synthesizer, for trying to synthesize faith and reason, does an excellent job in this book that lays down the foundation for one part of the synthesis of reason and faith.

I took a glance at this book in my twenties but didn't get much out of it; it was recommended to me by Dr Norman Geisler and I am infinitely grateful that I have a rare classic translation of this jewel into Arabic by Nematallah Carame as he translated it directly from Latin into Arabic.


St. Thomas, the great Doctor of the Church, wrote this originally in order to evangelize Muslims, and yet you don't see anything but an establishing of common ground of communication, philosophy and methods of approach. I have been reading his missionary work to Muslims in the Summa Contra Gentiles (Gentiles here would be the Muslims). I love it when a man doesn't mince words and tells it like it is. The English text is here on[...] .

[4:] On the other hand, those who founded sects committed to erroneous doctrines proceeded in a way that is opposite to this, The point is clear in the case of Muhammad. He seduced the people by promises of carnal pleasure to which the concupiscence of the flesh goads us. His teaching also contained precepts that were in conformity with his promises, and he gave free rein to carnal pleasure. In all this, as is not unexpected, he was obeyed by carnal men. As for proofs of the truth of his doctrine, he brought forward only such as could be grasped by the natural ability of anyone with a very modest wisdom. Indeed, the truths that he taught he mingled with many fables and with doctrines of the greatest falsity. He did not bring forth any signs produced in a supernatural way, which alone fittingly gives witness to divine inspiration; for a visible action that can be only divine reveals an invisibly inspired teacher of truth. On the contrary, Muhammad said that he was sent in the power of his arms--which are signs not lacking even to robbers and tyrants. What is more, no wise men, men trained in things divine and human, believed in him from the beginning, Those who believed in him were brutal men and desert wanderers, utterly ignorant of all divine teaching, through whose numbers Muhammad forced others to become his followers by the violence of his arms. Nor do divine pronouncements on the part of preceding prophets offer him any witness. On the contrary, he perverts almost all the testimonies of the Old and New Testaments by making them into fabrications of his own, as can be. seen by anyone who examines his law. It was, therefore, a shrewd decision on his part to forbid his followers to read the Old and New Testaments, lest these books convict him of falsity. It is thus clear that those who place any faith in his words believe foolishly.

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St. Thomas Aquinas perhaps has the most developed understanding of God and the univerce of any man throughout history. He annylises every possable angle immaginable, in quest of proving that there is a God. He comes up with unquestionable proof that there does exsist a God. The book is a little hard to read, considering St. Thomas Aquinas's superior intelligence, but is worth it. I recommend this book to anyone who has doughts about the exsistance of God.