“THE MAKING OF THOMAS AQUINAS’ SUMMA THEOLOGIAE,” by Bernard McGinn  

Wednesday, May 23, 4:30pm

Swift Hall, Third Floor Lecture Hall

The Summa Theologiae of Thomas Aquinas stands among the finest expressions of the Catholic “understanding of faith” (intellectus fidei). Over a thousand commentaries have been written on it. A leading historian of Medieval Christian thought, Bernard McGinn will explore Thomas’s reason for writing the Summa and its principles, structure, and originality.

Bernard McGinn is the Naomi Shenstone Donnelley Professor Emeritus of Historical Theology and of the History of Christianity in the Divinity School and the Committees on Medieval Studies and on General Studies at the University of Chicago. His current long-range project is a seven-volume history of Christian mysticism in the West under the general title The Presence of God, four volumes of which have appeared: The Origins of Mysticism; The Growth of Mysticism;The Flowering of Mysticism; and The Harvest of Mysticism in Medieval Germany.