Dubbed the "Dumb Ox" by his classmates for his shyness, Saint Thomas Aquinas proved to be possessed of the rarest brilliance, justifying the faith of his teacher, Albertus Magnus, and sparking a revolution in Christian thought. Chesterton's unsurpassed examination of Aquinas' thinking makes his philosophy accessible to listeners of any generation.Étienne Gilson, the twentieth century's foremost authority on Aquinas, has said of this work, "I consider...

"Thomas Aquinas is one of the giants of medieval philosophy, a thinker who had - and who still has - a profound influence on Western thought. Aquinas was a controversial figure in his time who was often engaged in fierce theological debates. He was the foremost classical proponent of natural theology, and the father of the Thomistic school of philosophy and theology. This Very Short Introduction will look at Aquinas in a historical context, and explore...