THOMAS
668
THOMAS
work, which was begun at Rome, where the First
Part and the First of the Second were written (1265-
69). The Second of the Second, begun in Rome,
was completed in Paris (1271). In 1272 St. Thomas
went to Naples, where the Third Part was written,
down to the ninetieth question of the tract On
Penance (see Leonine edition, I, p. xlii). The work has
been completed by the addition of a supplement,
drawTi from other writings of St. Thomas, attributed
by some to Peter of Auvergne, by others to Henry
of Gorkum. These attributions are rejected by the
editors of the Leonine edition (XI, pp. viii, xiv, xviii).
Mandonnet (op. cit., 153) inclines to the very prob-
able opinion that it was compiled by Father Reginald
de Pipcrno, the saint's faithful companion and secre-
tary. The entire "Summa" contains 38 Treatises, 612
Questions, subdivided into 3120 articles, in which
about 10,000 objections are proposed and answered.
So admirably is the promised order preserved that, by
reference to the beginning of the Tracts and Questions,
one can see at a glance what place it occupies in the
general plan, which embraces all that can be known
through theology of God, of man, and of their mutual
relations (see accompanying chart, reproduced by
permission of "The Rosary Magazine"). "The whole
Summa is arranged on a uniform plan. Every subject
is introduced as a question, and divided into articles.
. . . Each article has also a uniform disposition of
parts. The topic is introduced as an inquiry for dis-
cussion, under the term Utrum, whether — e. g. Utriim
Dem sil? The objections against the proposed
thesis are then stated. These are generally three or
four in number, but sometimes extend to seven or
more. The conclusion adopted is then introduced
by the words, Respondeo dicendum. At the end of
the thesis ex-pounded the objections are answered,
under the forms, ad primum, ad secundum, etc." (Eng.
tr., see below). The "Summa" is Christian doctrine
in scientific form; it is human reason rendering its
highest service in defence and explanation of the
truths of the Christian religion. It is the answer of
the matured and saintly doctor to the question of his
youth: What is God? Revelation, made known in
the Scriptures and by tradition; reason and its best
results; soundness and fulness of doctrine, order,
conciseness and clearness of expression, effacenient of
self, the love of truth alone, hence a remarkable
fairness towards adversaries and calmness in combat-
ing their errors; soberness and soundness of judgment,
together with a charmingly tender and enlightened
piety — these are all found in this "Summa" more
than in his other writings, more than in the writings
of his contemporaries, for "among the scholastic
doctors, the chief and master of all, towers Thomas
Aquinas, who, as Cajetan observes (In 2am 2;t, Q.
148, a. 4) 'because he most venerated the ancient
doctors of the Church in a certain way seems to have
inherited the intellect of all' " (Encyclical, "iEterni
Patris", of Leo XIII).
(b) Editions and Translations. — It is impossible to mention the various editions of the "Summa", which has been in constant use for more than six hundred years. Very few books have been .so often republished. The first complete edition, printed at Basle in 1485, was soon followed by others, e. g., at Venice in 1505, l.'iOO, 1.588, 1594; at Lyons in 1520, 1541, 1547, 1.548, 1581, 1588, 1624, 1655; at Antwerp in 1575. These are enumerated by Touron (op. cit., p. 692), who says that about the same lime other editions were published at Rome, Antwerp, Rouen, Pari.s, Douai, Cologne, Amsterdam, Bologna, etc. The editors of the liConine edition deem worthy of mention those published at Paris in 1617, 1638, and 1648, at Lyons in 1663, 1677, and 1686, and a Roman edition of 1773 (IV, pp. xi, xii). Of all old editions they consider the most accurate two published at Padua, one in 1698, the other in 1712, and the Venice
edition of 1755. Of recent editions the best are the
following: the Leonine; the Migne editions (Paris,
1841, 1877); the first volume of the 1841 edition con-
taining the "Libri quatuor sententiarum" of Peter
Lombard; the very practical Faucher edition (5 vols,
small quarto, Paris, 1SS7), dedicated to Cardinal
Pecci, enriched with valuable notes; a Roman edition
of 1894. The "Summa" has been translated into
Greek and Armenian, and some parts have been trans-
lated into Chinese (see De Rubeis in Leonine ed., I,
p. cxcvii; Echard, "Script. Ord. Praed.", I, p. 345;
Touron, op. cit., VI, ix; Vaughan, op. cit. II, p. 167).
In 1896 Father Joseph Rickaby, S.J., published
"Aquinas Ethicus", a translation of the principal
portion of the Second Part of the "Summa theo-
logica". At the present time Father Thomas Pegues,
O.P., is publishing a French translation of the whole
"Summa" with commentaries, under the title "Com-
mentaire frangais litteral de la Somme Theologique
de S. Thomas d'Aquin". The five volumes which
have appeared (Paris, 1907-10) bring the work down
to the end of the First Part. (For reviews, see "Cath.
University Bulletin", Jan., 1908; Jan., 1909;
March, 1910; April, 1911.) For the Enghsh-speaking
world "The Summa Theologica of St. Thomas
Aquinas, literally translated by Fathers of the Eng-
lish Dominican Province," is being prepared. The
first number (London and New York, 1911) contains
the treatise on the Divine Essence (De Deo L'no, QQ.
i-xxvi). Interesting introductory chapters treat of
"The Scholastic Philosophv", "The Summa theo-
logica", "The Method of St. Thomas", and "The
Leonine Edition".
C. Method and Style of St. Thomas. — It is not pos- sible to characterize the method of St. Thomas by one word, unless it can be called eclectic. It is Aristote- lean, Platonic, and Socratic; it is inductive and deduc- tive; it is analytic and synthetic. He cho.se the best that could be found in those who pieceded him, care- fully sifting the chaff from the wheat, approving what was true, rejecting the false. His powers of synthesis were extraordinary. No writer surpassed him in the faculty of expressing in a few well-chosen words the truth gathered from a multitude of varying and con- flicting opinions; and in almost every instance the student sees the truth and is perfectlj- satisfied with St. Thomas's summary and statement. Not that he would have students swear by the words of a master. In philosophy, he says, arguments from authority are of secondary importance; philosophy does not consist in knowing what men have said, but in knowing the truth (In I lib. de Ca>lo, lect. xxii; II Sent., D. xiv, a. 2, ad luni). He assigns its proper place to reason used in theology (see below: Influence of St. Thomas), but he keeps it within its own sphere. Against the Traditionalists the Holy See has declared that the method used by St. Thomas and St. Bona- venture does not lead to Rationalism (Denzinger- Bannwart, n. 1652). Not so bold or original in inves- tigating nature as were Albertus Magnus and Roger Bacon, he was, nevertheless, abreast of his time in science, and many of his opinions are of scientific value in the twentieth century. Take, for instance, the following: "In the same plant there is the two- fold virtue, active and passive, though sometimes the active is found in one and the passive in another, so that one plant is said to he masculine and the other feminine" (3 Sent., D. Ill, Q. ii, a 1.— For other examples see Conway, O.P., op. cit., pp. 73 sqq.; Wal.sh, "St. Thomas Aquinas", in "Rosarv Magazine", May, 1911.).
The style of St. Thomas is a medium between the rough expressiveness of some Scholastics and the fastidious elegance of John of Salisbury; it is remark- able for accuracy, brevity, and completeness. Pope Innocent VI (quoted in the Encyclical, ".^terni Patris", of Leo XIII) declared that, with the exccp-
