Aquinas is one of the great theological philosophers. Here, through the power of translation, are the basic tenets of his philosophical thought. Unlike his philosophical comrade Augustine, whose Grecian predecessor was the pagan philosopher Plato, Aquinas is the spiritual descendant of the pagan philosopher Aristotle. Plato and Aristotle's lives overlapped in time; they did not entirely agree but their combination is rather akin to seeing the sun and the moon in the sky at the same time - the combined power of them both is astronomical and they are both treasured by Christian and non-Christian alike for the might of their thought and the ability to communicate and teach it. Thomas Aquinas is one of millions to benefit from generations of humans who have managed to preserve their thought, and to test it, such that the proverbial wheat is separated from the chaff and truth is divided from the fiction of error.

The Introduction explains that the thirteenth century exposed the brilliance of Arabian philosophers in addition to the Grecian and Catholic ones. Augustine was delivered as an opponent to Aquinas, and the former overcame the latter just as Plato and Aristotle have repeatedly wrangled for position as "top Grecian philosopher aside from Socrates". Readers are taken through various points of the Summa Theologica, which is in fact a profound tome, written in Latin after the manner of the scholars of his era. Finally, there are two other points. First, Thomas Aquinas was canonized within fifty years of his death. Second, in 1880, the Catholic Church made him the Patron Saint of schools which is why, if you live in a town where there are Catholics, it is likely that there is at least one St. Thomas Aquinas School. The intended audience is undergraduates at university.

Does Nature reveal God? Many answer obviously yes, while for others the truth is no; the coexistence of these opposing conclusions show that this absolutely fundamental metaphysical question seems difficult to penetrate despite the prolific evidence of a correct answer. Just as being a thirteen-year-old is new to everyone who is living it as a new condition, philosophy is always new for those participating in it whether the ideas presented are themselves new or not. Like culture and technology, philosophy has changed and developed over the millennium. Whether or not this accurately indicates progress is another challenge. Again, for many the answer is obviously yes, which is an attitude made famous by the German philosopher Hegel. This introduction to Aquinas will be all there is to it for some, and the inspiration to learn a great more of the philosopher's thought for others.