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Title: Saint Thomas Aquinas: The Dumb Ox by G.K. CHESTERTON ISBN: 0-385-09002-1 Publisher: Image Books Pub. Date: 15 January, 1974 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $11.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.86 (22 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Perfect primer for the interested but uninformed.
Comment: This is a perfect book for someone like me: a lapsed but still interested Catholic who could never keep Aquinas and Augustine straight. Chesterton packs more theology and philsophy into this slim volume, and makes it much more accessible, than any massive tome on same subject. I don't think I've ever read any thing that combines brevity and challenging ideas like this book. It's confirms my belief that all such books should be written by intelligent laymen instead of academic specialists. And he's a marvelous stylist, to boot, with a devilish, droll wit in his voice. The best compliment is that this book has now motivated me to read the Dumb Ox himself, and I've already picked up two volumes of his works. (As a little sidenote: it makes a neat companion to Eco's The Name of the Rose. I ended up reading both together during the Holidays, Chesterton in the morning, Eco at night, and they dovetail in all sorts of intriguing ways, each shedding monastic light on the other. If you're looking for a fun reading project, give it a try.)
Rating: 5
Summary: a down-to-earth biography of a truly rational philosopher
Comment: This may seem like a book for insiders, those of the Catholic faith or those with an interest in Catholicism or even in Christianity. However, rather than addressing the choir, Mr. Chesterton's book on St. Thomas is aimed at the non-Christian or at Christians with little experience in theology or philosophy. Written in troubled times (the book was first published in 1933 and there are passing references to Hitler, Mussolini, and the Great Depression), the author manages to sketch the life of St. Thomas and at the same time reveal how Thomistic philosophy is relevant to curing the ills of the modern era. Readers may be surprised to find that the complexity of St. Thomas' thought is rooted in simplicity. As Chesterton says, St. Thomas argues "for a common sense which would even now commend itself to most of the common people. He is arguing for the popular proverbs that seeing is believing; that the proof of the pudding is in the eating; that a man cannot jump down his own throat or deny the fact of his own existence." To any reader accustomed to modern philosophies and ideas which make no sense, St. Thomas is like a breath of fresh air. Though the work is devotional, Chesterton honors his subject by avoiding sentimentalism and keeping to an equally direct, no-nonsense approach. Referring to St. Thomas' combativeness, Chesterton says, "This [combativeness], in his case, certainly did not mean bitterly or spitefully or uncharitably; ...as a matter of fact, it is generally the man who is not ready to argue [intelligently], who is ready to sneer." Following in St. Thomas' footsteps, Chesterton is disposed to argue intelligently, but never sneer. The author respects the reader by not watering down St. Thomas' philosophy or his own beliefs or by patronizing the views of others. In sum, Chesterton does not sacrifice respect for his readers in order to achieve common sense simplicity (unlike authors who boldly refer to readers in their book titles as dummies or idiots). Mr. Chesterton also wrote a biographical sketch of St. Francis of Assisi before he wrote the book on St. Thomas. It's worthwhile to read the sketch of St. Francis first since Chesterton uses a comparison with St. Francis to begin his discussion of St. Thomas. Certain themes in the biography of St. Francis also recur in the book on St. Thomas, making knowledge of the prior book repeatedly valuable.
Rating: 2
Summary: Not particularly useful
Comment: Chesterton does not give the reader a very clear picture of Aquinas or the events of this life. He uses the subject as a springboard for attacking non-Christian religious views. Since he does that in several other books, it was not really necessary here.
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Title: Saint Francis of Assisi by G.K. Chesterton ISBN: 0385029004 Publisher: Image Books Pub. Date: 17 November, 1987 List Price(USD): $10.95 |
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Title: Orthodoxy by G. K. Chesterton, Ignatius Pr ISBN: 0898705525 Publisher: Ignatius Press Pub. Date: July, 1995 List Price(USD): $11.95 |
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Title: The Everlasting Man by G. K. Chesterton ISBN: 0898704448 Publisher: Ignatius Press Pub. Date: April, 1993 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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Title: What's Wrong With the World by G. K. Chesterton ISBN: 0898704898 Publisher: Ignatius Press Pub. Date: October, 1994 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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Title: Heretics by G. K. Chesterton ISBN: 1842329898 Publisher: House of Stratus Inc. Pub. Date: 01 January, 2001 List Price(USD): $14.99 |
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