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The Word on Fire Show - Catholic Faith and Culture

WOF 021: How and Why to Read Thomas Aquinas

The Word on Fire Show - Catholic Faith and Culture

Brandon Vogt

Religion & Spirituality, Christianity

4.9 • 5.8K Ratings

🗓️ 3 May 2016

⏱️ 29 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Thomas Aquinas not only shaped the Church, but influenced much of Western civilization. Who was this great saint? What are some of his important writings? And how should we begin to read his masterful Summa theologiae? Bishop Barron offers some answers in this week's episode. A bright 14-year-old listener asks about Bertrand Russell's famous criticism of Aquinas, and how to respond.

Topics Discussed

  • 0:27 - Updates from Bishop Barron's life
  • 1:53 - How did Bishop Barron discover Thomas Aquinas?
  • 3:23 -  Who was Thomas Aquinas?
  • 4:45 - Surveying Aquinas' major works
  • 7:42 - Best entry-level books on Thomas Aquinas
  • 10:03 - Aquinas' unique disputatio style
  • 13:07 - How Thomas Aquinas would engage the New Atheists
  • 15:36 - Why is it worth reading Thomas Aquinas?
  • 17:16 - How should we begin reading the Summa theologiae?
  • 19:40 - The landscape and structure of the Summa
  • 21:44 - Why Aquinas is a spiritual master
  • 24:40 - Question from listener: how to respond to Bertrand Russell's crtiqiue of Aquinas?

Bonus Resources

 

Find bonus links and resources for this episode at http://WordOnFireShow.com and be sure to submit your questions at http://AskBishopBarron

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Welcome back to the Word on Fire show. I'm Brandon Vot, the content director at Word on Fire,

0:07.9

and joining me is the great Bishop Robert Barron. Bishop Barron, great to talk with you.

0:13.3

Brandon, always good to be on with you. Thanks for having me.

0:17.0

Let's start off as we normally do with a little bit of updating here. I know you've been

0:21.6

celebrating more and more confirmations. We've talked about it in the last couple episodes,

0:25.6

but they continue on, don't they? I am just confirmation crazy right now. I've done, I think,

0:30.7

I reached hump day because I've done my 16th confirmation. I think I've got 15 more to go.

0:38.4

So I'm just over the hump and I've gotten a kick out of them. I did four this past weekend,

0:44.5

one on Friday, two Saturday, one Sunday, and they all involve a lot of driving. So my region is

0:50.4

big geographically. So I'm driving all over the place. So they're all good. I must say that they

0:56.8

kind of hit you after a while. You'll just suddenly get really tired and realize, yeah, I've been

1:01.5

not only traveling, but doing these lengthy liturgies. But they're just wonderful. I enjoyed

1:10.0

very much and it's very moving to me as these kids come forward bearing the names of the great

1:15.3

saints of the tradition. And then I'm there as a, you know, unworthy, but still a successor to the

1:21.5

apostles and offering the Holy Spirit, I mean, the same way that they did. So anyway, the whole

1:28.6

experience is a wonderful one. And is your mouth still having spasms from all the smiling

1:34.4

afterward with all the photos? Yeah. Yes, that's true. The pictures afterwards can be a little

1:40.0

difficult because some of these I've confirmed as many as 185 kids at once. And so that's 185

1:47.1

pictures then that you have to smile for. And yes, your cheeks get a little worn out from it.

1:53.7

Today, I want to talk about a man who you've identified as a pivotal player, someone who really is

2:00.0

one of the most important minds in the history, not just of the Catholic Church, but of Western

2:04.1

civilization. And that's Thomas Aquinas. Tell us a little bit about how you first discovered

...

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