My aim here is to give a kind of basic introduction to how to read Aquinas. This is actually a rather

pedagogical introduction to thinking with Aquinas on a basic subject, on a very difficult

traditional question, which is one that we might call the motives of the incarnation, the question

of the motives of the incarnation. The idea of the motives of the incarnation. The idea of the

motives is the question of why would God, as it were, intend to become human if you take the

Christian traditional Orthodox creed as a basic given? Why would God intend to become human?

And what is the divine plan, the divine intention,

intelligibility, wisdom, goodness associated with that? And there's a lot of deep thinking

about this in the Christian tradition, even up to contemporary theology. And in the high middle

ages, there's a lot of really kind of profound reflection and a quite and and deep argument

So I'm going to trace out some of Aquinas as basic answers to this question

It's a way of exploring something obviously very distinctively Christian

That is to say the idea that God became human and look at the inner intelligibility of that claim.

Now, just a couple more methodological introduction thoughts.

There are three parts to the Summa.

If you use the Latin terminology, which to mystic nerds always use,

it's the prima pars, the prima secundi, the seccundi, secundi, and the tertia pars,

which means the first part, the first part of the second part, because it's really fat, the second part

of the second part and the third part. And where we are right now is where we are in the installation

is in the third part in the very first question. The third part, so in the first part of the Summa, Aquinas treats the question of God and the Trinity

and creation, creation of human beings.

In the second part, he looks at, it's huge because he looks at the structure of moral action.

...