summa

Continuing in my series of the Desert Island Bookshelf, I'd like to add another.

If I'm shipwrecked I'll make sure, of course, to have a bookshelf. And on that bookshelf will be my Summa Theologiae by Thomas Aquinas.

My undergraduate education gave me much time with this masterwork and when I began to pursue my graduate work I bought one of those expensive copies that I could read cover to cover. Just like Thomas did not finish writing it, I feel perfectly happy that I have not yet finished reading it. And yet, along with my daily Bible study, I try to read an article a day because as they say, an article a day keeps the metaphysical doctor away. I find Thomas' vision of God dynamic, provident, and intelligent. Alles ist Ordnung. And my Christian faith and metaphyscially-oriented humanity needs that sustaining meal. Somehow, I'm more who I should be as a theologian and as a Christian when I'm near my Summa.

As a side note, in graduate school, my theological friends and I began a group called the Summa Wrestlers. We would meet once a week to read and discuss one question. We got quite far and we were the better for it. If I were on a desert island, I would be Summa wrestling.