Saint Thomas Aquinas: The Dumb Ox
by G.K. Chesterton
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Book Summary Information
Author: G.K. ChestertonBrand: Random House
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1974-02-15
ISBN: 0385090021
Number of pages: 192
Publisher: Image
Book Reviews of Saint Thomas Aquinas: The Dumb Ox
Book Review: The Dumb Ox
Summary: 5 Stars
G. K. Chesterton is a man that needs no introduction. He was one of the greatest Christian scholar/writer in the first half of the 20th century. His Orthodoxy did a great deal in converting C. S. Lewis (if you read Chesterton, he sounds like Lewis, or rather, visa versa). Chesterton produces chiastic phrasing and little quips that inspire and educate. He was a Roman Catholic, but very educated in the ways of Protestants (though some of his criticisms of Protestantism are invalid seventy years later).
This book is not an introduction to St. Thomas for the student, it is not a biography for the historian, nor is it an examination of Thomistic philosophy. Instead, it is a combination of all three, but never resting too long in one camp or the other. His first chapter Chesterton (who, interestingly enough, was also a scholar of St. Francis) does something that only his mind could do. He draws distinct parallels between two monks who never met and seemingly have nothing in common, St. Francis of Assisi, and St. Thomas Aquinas. One was a thinker who wrote books, the other a doer who loved poetry. The comparison of the two is Chesterton at his best, and can hardly be done justice here.
Chesterton's simple goal is to get people interested in Aquinas "so that they can go read about him in better books." Which, is a very odd statement, considering that his short book is widely regarded as the greatest book on Aquinas.
Aquinas is a little studied and less understood (especially by Protestants). This is a shame considering that his mind is quite possibly the greatest in Church history. Chesterton says in this short book what most scholars would have taken a book more than twice the length to say, and he says it without putting his audience to sleep. He doesn't spend too much time putting Aquinas in historical context, only a few pages, but these pages are some of the most enlightening pages I have read dealing with the world in the time of St. Thomas.
Chesterton is a masterful storyteller (his mystery novels are well known). The stories he chooses to tell are very well chosen. The story of St. Thomas visting St. Louis, king of Paris, is (like a good sermon illustration) humorous, and very telling. I think that clearing up things that are sometimes misunderstood and over generalized was a very wise task to set out to do in such a short work. For instance, "the dumb ox" was what St. Thomas' fellow monks called him, not specifically because they thought he was of a lower intelligence (though, it may have been implied), but because he was so quite. Furthermore, while it is true that St. Thomas was rather large, it is an exaggeration that his fellow monks had to cut a piece of the table out in order to for his to sit. Oddly enough, this was one of the few "facts" I knew about St. Thomas before I took any interest in studying him. Finally, Chesterton's articulation of St. Thomas as a "runaway Abbot" is very enlightening. Just like St. Francis, St. Thomas always choose to be away from the spotlight.
I cannot help to think that the 350 plus pound Catholic in the 1920's saw something of himself in the fat Italian monk. For when he is defending or articulating St. Thomas' view, it feels as if he is defending his own. It is as if he is saying, "No, no you have me, I mean St. Thomas, all wrong."
I believe that you are aware by now of how much I loved this book. It was both inspiring and very enjoyable to read. This has cleared up confusion in my mind about St. Thomas, but the greatest thing it did, was to inspire me to study him further.
Summary of Saint Thomas Aquinas: The Dumb Ox
A trade paperback edition of the classic portrait of Thomas Aquinas, one of the greatest of Christian philosophers, by one of the greatest of modern religious writers.It is known that when the great Catholic writer G.K. Chesterton began his book on Saint Thomas Aquinas (who is, quite possibly, the most influential of all Christian theologians), "his research for the project consisted of a very casual perusal of a few books on his subject." To say that Chesterton was no authority is an understatement. To say further that he has written a masterpiece of elucidation may also be an understatement. Etienne Gilson, the chief scholar of Aquinas in the 20th century, said flatly "I consider it as being without possible comparison the best book ever written on St. Thomas. Nothing short of genius can account for such an achievement.... Chesterton was one of the deepest thinkers who ever existed; he was deep because he was right; and he could not help being right; but he could not either help being modest and charitable, so he left it to those who could understand him to know that he was right, and deep."
So how has he accomplished this feat? By simplifying, as his editor says, without oversimplifying. He turns his own lack of intimate knowledge to his advantage by concentrating on the core elements of Aquinas' thinking: his affirmation of the goodness of creation; his defense of common sense; and "the primacy of the doctrine of being." In this way he grasps--and helps us grasp--the importance of Aquinas for us today. As Raymond Dennehy has written, it's as if Chesterton is saying to us "the truths [Aquinas] was getting at--the basic principles of reality and reason--are in themselves really quite simple. Your basic intuitions were right all along." --Doug Thorpe
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