Chapter 7, Conclusion of Question XIX & Question XXII Summary and Analysis

The layout of the Summa Theologica is designed for use in intellectual debate amongst theologians and philosophers. For ordinary readers, the format may seem a bit odd. Aquinas opens with a question. He gives a very brief essay on the topic - the length of half a printed page for example. Then he turns to the debate format. When he does this, he is assuming that the reader is aware of the main intellectual controversies of his era. For contemporary readers and for lay folk this isn't true. Because of this, some of the ideas that Aquinas writes up as counter-arguments may seem to readers as though they have come 'out of the blue'. That being said, the basic purpose is still fulfilled. Aquinas shows that his ideas can...