Jacques
Maritain Center : Readings
Of God and His Creatures
An Annotated Translation (With some Abridgement) of the Summa Contra Gentiles of Saint Thos Aquinas by Joseph Rickaby, S.J., M.A. Lond: B.Sc. Oxon., Author of "Aquinas Ethicus" etc. etc. (London: Burns and Oates, 1905).Piae memoriae Leonis XIII Sacerdotis Magni qui in vita sua suffulsit domum et in diebus suis corroboravit templum.
Translator's Preface
Book I: Of God As He Is In Himself
1 : The Function of the Wise Man3 : That the Truths which we confess concerning God fall under two Modes or Categories
6 : That there is no Lightmindedness in assenting to Truths of Faith, although they are above Reason
7 : That the Truth of Reason is not contrary to the Truths of Christian Faith
8 : Of the relation of Human Reason to the First Truth of Faith
9 : The Order and Mode of Procedure in this Work
11 : Rejection of the aforesaid Opinion and Solution of the aforesaid Reasons
13 : Reasons in proof of the Existence of God
14 : That in order to a Knowledge of God we must proceed by the method of Negative Differentiation
15 : That God is Eternal
16 : That in God there is no Passive Potentiality
18 : That in God there is no Composition
21 : That God is His own Essence
22 : That in God Existence and Essence are the same
23 : That in God there is no Accident
24 : That the Existence of God cannot be characterised by the addition of any Substantial Differentia
25 : That God is not in any Genus
26 : That God is not the Formal or Abstract Being of all things
28 : That God is Universal Perfection
29 : How Likeness to God may be found in Creatures
30 : What Names can be predicated of God
32 : That nothing is predicated of God and of other Beings synonymously
34 : That the Things that are said of God and of Creatures are said analogously
35 : That the several Names predicated of God are not synonymous
36 : That the Propositions which our Understanding forms of God are not void of Meaning
38 : That God is His own Goodness
39 : That in God there can be no Evil
40 : That God is the Good of all Good
42 : That God is One
43 : That God is Infinite
44 : That God has Understanding
45 : That in God the Act of Understanding is His very Essence
46 : That God understands by nothing else than by His own Essence
47 : That God perfectly understands Himself
48 : That God primarily and essentially knows Himself alone
49 : That God knows other things besides Himself
50 : That God has a Particular Knowledge of all things
51 : Some Discussion of the question how there is in the Divine Understanding a Multitude of Objects
53 : How there is in God a Multitude of Objects of Understanding
54 : That the Divine Essence, being One, is the proper Likeness and Type of all things Intelligible
55 : That God understands all things at once and together
56 : That there is not Habitual Knowledge in God
57 : That God's Knowledge is not a Reasoned Knowledge
58 : That God does not understand by Combination and Separation of Ideas
59 : That the Truth to be found in Propositions is not excluded from God
60 : That God is Truth
62 : That the Truth of God is the First and Sovereign Truth
63 : Arguments of those who wish to withdraw from God the Knowledge of Individual Things
64 : A list of things to be said concerning the Divine Knowledge
65 : That God knows Individual Things
66 : That God knows things which are not
67 : That God knows Individual Contingent Events
68 : That God knows the Motions of the Will
69 : That God knows Infinite Things
70 : That God knows Base and Mean Things
71 : That God knows Evil Things
72 : That God has a Will
73 : That the Will of God is His Essence
74 : That the Object of the Will of God in the first place is God Himself
75 : That God in willing Himself wills also other things besides Himself
76 : That with one and the same Act of Will God wills Himself and all other beings
78 : That the Divine Will reaches to the good of Individual Existences
79 : That God wills things even that as yet are not
80 : That God of necessity wills His own Being and His own Goodness
81 : That God does not of necessity love other things than Himself
82 : Arguments against the aforesaid Doctrine, and Solution of the same
83 : That God wills anything else than Himself with an Hypothetical Necessity
84 : That the Will of God is not of things in themselves Impossible
85 : That the Divine Will does not take away Contingency from things
86 : That Reason can be assigned for the Divine Will
87 : That nothing can be a Cause to the Divine Will
88 : That there is Free Will in God
89 : That there are no Passions in God
90 : That there is in God Delight and Joy
91 : That there is Love in God
92 : In what sense Virtues can be posited in God
93 : That there are in God the Virtues which regulate Action
94 : That the Contemplative (intellectual) Virtues are in God
95 : That God can will no Evil
97 : That God is Living
99 : That the Life of God is everlasting
100 : That God is Happy
101 : That God is His own Happiness
102 : That the Happiness of God is most Perfect, and exceeds all other Happiness
Book II: God The Origin of Creatures
1 : Connexion of what follows with what has gone before4 : That the Philosopher and the Theologian view Creatures from different Standpoints
5 : Order of matters to be treated
6 : That it belongs to God to be to other Beings the Principle of Existence
7 : That there is in God Active Power
8 : That God's Power is His Substance
9 : That God's Power is His Action
10 : In what manner Power is said to be in God
11 : That something is predicated of God in relation to Creatures
12 : That the Relations, predicated of God in regard of Creatures, are not really in God
13 : How the aforesaid Relations are predicated of God
15 : That God is to all things the Cause of their being
16 : That God has brought things into being out of nothing
17 : That Creation is not a Movement nor a Change
18 : Solution of Arguments against Creation
19 : That Creation is not Successive
21 : That it belongs to God alone to create
22 : That God is Almighty
23 : That God's action in creation is not of Physical Necessity, but of Free Choice of Will
24 : That God acts by His Wisdom
25 : In what sense some things are said to be Impossible to the Almighty
26 : That the Divine Understanding is not limited to certain Fixed Effects
28 : That God has not brought things into being in discharge of any Debt of justice
30 : How Absolute Necessity may have place in Creation
31 : That it is not necessary for Creatures to have existed from Eternity
32, 35 : Reasons alleged for the Eternity of the World on the part of God, with Answers to the same
33, 36 : Reasons alleged for the Eternity of the World on the part of Creatures, with Answers to the same
38 : Arguments wherewith some try to show that the World is not Eternal, and Solutions of the same
41 : That the Variety of Creatures does not arise from any Contrariety of Prime Agents
44 : That the Variety of Creatures has not arisen from Variety of Merits and Demerits
45 : The real Prime Cause of the Variety of Creatures
47 : That Subsistent Intelligences are Voluntary Agents
48 : That Subsistent Intelligences have Free Will
49 : That Subsistent Intelligence is not Corporeal
52 : That in Created Subsistent Intelligences there is a Difference between Existence and Essence
53 : That in Created Subsistent Intelligences there is Actuality and Potentiality
55 : That Subsistent Intelligences are Imperishable
57 : Plato's Theory of the Union of the Intellectual Soul with the Body
58 : That Vegetative, Sentient, and Intelligent are not in Man Three Souls
59 : That the Potential Intellect of Man is not a Spirit subsisting apart from Matter
61 : That the aforesaid Tenet is contrary to the Mind of Aristotle
62 : Against the Opinion of Alexander concerning the Potential Intellect
64 : That the Soul is not a Harmony
65 : That the Soul is not a Body
66 : Against those who suppose Intellect and Sense to be the same
67 : Against those who maintain that the Potential Intellect is the Phantasy
68 : How a Subsistent Intelligence may be the Form of a Body
73 : That the Potential Intellect is not One and the Same in all men
75 : Confutation of the Arguments which seem to prove the Unity of the Potential Intellect
76 : That the Active Intellect is not a separately Subsisting Intelligence, but a Faculty of the Soul
79 : That the Human Soul does not perish with the Body
82 : That the Souls of Dumb Animals are not Immortal
85 : That the Soul is not of the Substance of God
86 : That the Human Soul is not transmitted by Generation
87 : That the Human Soul is brought into being by a Creative Act of God
88, 89 : Arguments against the Truth of the Conclusion last drawn, with their Solution
91 : That there are Subsistent Intelligences not united with Bodies
93 : That Intelligences Subsisting apart are not more than One in the same Species
94 : That an Intelligence Subsisting apart and a Soul are not of one Species
96 : That Intelligences Subsisting apart do not gather their Knowledge from Objects of Sense
97 : That the Mind of an Intelligence Subsisting apart is ever in the act of understanding
98 : How one Separately Subsisting Intelligence knows another
100 : That Intelligences Subsisting apart know Individual Things
Book III: God the End of Creatures
1 : Preface to the Book that follows2 : That every Agent acts to some End
3 : That every Agent acts to some Good
4 : That Evil in Things is beside the Intention of the Agent
5, 6 : Arguments against the Truth of the Conclusion last drawn, with Solutions of the same
7 : That Evil is not a Nature or Essence
8, 9 : Arguments against the aforesaid Conclusion, with Answers to the same
10 : That the Cause of Evil is Good
11 : That Evil is founded in some Good
12 : That Evil does not entirely swallow up Good
14 : That Evil is an Accidental Cause
15 : That there is not any Sovereign Evil, acting as the Principle of all Evils
16 : That the End in view of everything is some Good
17 : That all things are ordained to one End, which is God
18 : How God is the End of all things
19 : That all things aim at Likeness to God
20 : How things copy the Divine Goodness
21 : That things aim at Likeness to God in being Causes of other things
24 : That all things seek Good, even things devoid of Consciousness
25 : That the End of every Subsistent Intelligence is to understand God
26 : That Happiness does not consist in any Act of the Will
27 : That the Happiness of Man does not consist in Bodily Pleasures
28, 29 : That Happiness does not consist in Honours nor in Human Glory
30 : That Man's Happiness does not consist in Riches
31 : That Happiness does not consist in Worldly Power
32 : That Happiness does not consist in Goods of the Body
34 : That the Final Happiness of Man does not consist in Acts of the Moral Virtues
37 : That the Final Happiness of Man consists in the Contemplation of God
39 : That Happiness does not consist in the Knowledge of God which is to be had by Demonstration
40 : That Happiness does not consist in the Knowledge of God by Faith
41 - 45 : [That we cannot find happiness in this life by sharing an angel's natural knowledge of God]
46 : That the Soul in this Life does not understand itself by itself
47 : That we cannot in this Life see God as He essentially is
48 : That the Final Happiness of Man is not in this Life
51 : How God is seen as He essentially is
52 : That no Created Substance can of its Natural Power arrive to see God as He essentially is
53 : That a Created Intelligence needs some influx of Divine Light to see God in His Essence
54 : Arguments against the aforesaid Statements and their Solutions
55 : That the Created Intelligence does not comprehend the Divine Substance
56 : That no Created Intelligence in seeing God sees all things that can be seen in Him
57 : That every Intelligence of every Grade can be partaker of the Vision of God
58 : That one may see God more perfectly than another
59 : How they who see the Divine Substance see all things
60 : That they who see God see all things in Him at once
61 : That by the Sight of God one is made partaker of Life Everlasting
62 : That they who see God will see Him for ever
63 : How in that Final Happiness every Desire of Man is fulfilled
64 : That God governs things by His Providence
65 : That God preserves things in Being
66 : That nothing gives Being except in so much as it acts in the Power of God
67 : That God is Cause of Activity in all Active Agents
68 : That God is everywhere and in all things
69 : Of the Opinion of those who withdraw from Natural Things their Proper Actions
70 : How the Same Effect is from God and from a Natural Agent
71 : That the Divine Providence is not wholly inconsistent with the presence of Evil in Creation
72 : That Divine Providence is not inconsistent with an element of Contingency in Creation
73 : That Divine Providence is not inconsistent with Freedom of the Will
74 : That Divine Providence is not inconsistent with Fortune and Chance
75 : That the Providence of God is exercised over Individual and Contingent Things
76 : That the Providence of God watches immediately over all Individual Things
77 : That the arrangements of Divine Providence are carried into execution by means of Secondary Causes
78 : That Intelligent Creatures are the Medium through which other Creatures are governed by God
81 : Of the Subordination of Men one to another
88 : That other Subsistent Intelligences cannot be direct Causes of our Elections and Volitions
89 : That the Motion of the Will is caused by God, and not merely by the Power of the Will
90 : That Human Choices and Volitions are subject to Divine Providence
91 : How Human Things are reduced to Higher Causes
92 : In what sense one is said to be Fortunate, and how Man is aided by Higher Causes
93 : Of Fate, whether there be such a thing, and if so, what it is
94 : Of the Certainty of Divine Providence
95, 96 : That the Immutability of Divine Providence does not bar the Utility of Prayer
96 : That God does not hear all Prayers
97 : How the Arrangements of Divine Providence follow a Plan
100 : That the things which God does beyond the Order of Nature are not contrary to Nature
101 : Of Miracles
102 : That God alone works Miracles
103 : How Separately Subsisting Spirits work certain Wonders, which yet are not true Miracles
104 : That the Works of Magicians are not due solely to the Influence of the Heavenly Spheres
105 : Whence the performances of Magicians derive their Efficacy
107 : That the Subsistent Intelligence, whose aid is employed in Magic, is not Evil by Nature
109 : That in Spirits there may be Sin, and how
108, 110 : Arguments seeming to prove that Sin is impossible to Spirits, with Solutions of the same
114 : That it was necessary for a Law to be given to Man by God
115 : That the main purpose of the Divine Law is to subordinate Man to God
116 : That the End of the Divine Law is the Love of God
117 : That by the Divine Law we are directed to the Love of our Neighbour
118 : That by Divine Law men are obliged to a Right Faith
119 : That by certain Sensible Rites our mind is directed to God
120 : That the Worship of Latria is to be paid to God alone
121 : That the Divine Law directs man to a Rational Use of Corporeal and Sensible Things
123 : That Marriage ought to be Indissoluble
124 : That Marriage ought to be between one Man and one Woman
125 : That Marriage ought not to take place between Kindred
126 : That not all Sexual Intercourse is Sin
127 : That of no Food is the Use Sinful in itself
128 : How the Law of God relates a man to his Neighbour
130 : That the Divine Government of Men is after the manner of Paternal Government
131 : Of the Counsels that are given in the Divine Law
132, 135 : Arguments against Voluntary Poverty, with Replies
133, 136 : Of various Modes of Living adopted by the Votaries of Voluntary Poverty
134 : In what the Good of Poverty consists
137 : Arguments against Perpetual Continence, with Replies
139 : Against those who find fault with Vows
140 : That neither all Good Works nor all Sins are Equal
141 : That a Man's Acts are punished or rewarded by God
142 : Of the Difference and Order of Punishments
143 : That not all Punishments nor all Rewards are Equal
144 : Of the Punishment due to Mortal and Venial Sins respectively in regard to the Last End
145 : That the Punishment whereby one is deprived of his Last End is Interminable
146 : That Sins are punished also by the experience of something Painful
147 : That it is Lawful for judges to inflict Punishments
148 : That Man stands in need of Divine Grace for the Gaining of Happiness
149 : That the Divine Assistance does not compel a Man to Virtue
150 : That Man cannot merit beforehand the said Assistance
152 : That the Grace which constitutes the State of Grace causes in us the Love of God
153 : That Divine Grace causes in us Faith
154 : That Divine Grace causes in us a Hope of future Blessedness
155 : Of Graces given gratuitously
156 : That Man needs the Assistance of Divine Grace to Persevere in Good
157 : That he who falls from Grace by Sin may be recovered again by Grace
158 : That Man cannot be delivered from Sin except by Grace
159 : How Man is delivered from Sin
161 : That a Man already in Mortal Sin cannot avoid more Mortal Sin without Grace
162 : That some Men God delivers from Sin, and some He leaves in Sin
163 : That God is Cause of Sin to no Man
164 : Of Predestination, Reprobation, and Divine Election
Book IV: Of God in His Revelation
1 : Preface2 : Of Generation, Paternity, and Sonship in God
3 : That the Son of God is God
4, 9 : The Opinion of Photinus touching the Son of God and its Rejection
5 : Rejection of the Opinion of Sabellius concerning the Son of God
6 : Of the Opinion of Arius concerning the Son of God
7 : Rejection of Arius's Position
8 : Explanation of the Texts which Arius used to allege for himself
12 : How the Son of God is called the Wisdom of God
17 : That the Holy Ghost is true God
18 : That the Holy Ghost is a Subsistent Person
20 : Of the Effects which the Scriptures attribute to the Holy Ghost in respect of the whole Creation
22 : Of the Effects attributed to the Holy Ghost in the attraction of the Rational Creature to God
23 : Replies to Arguments alleged against the Divinity of the Holy Ghost
24 : That the Holy Ghost Proceeds from the Son
26 : That there are only Three Persons in the Godhead, Father and Son and Holy Ghost
27 : Of the Incarnation of the Word according to the Tradition of Holy Scripture
28 : Of the Error of Photinus concerning the Incarnation
29 : Of the Error of the Manicheans concerning the Incarnation
32, 33 : Of the Error of Arius and Apollinaris concerning the Soul of Christ
34 : Of the Error of Theodore of Mopsuestia concerning the Union of the Word with Man
35 : Against the Error of Eutyches
36 : Of the Error of Macarius of Antioch, who posited one Operation only and one Will only in Christ
39 : The Doctrine of Catholic Faith concerning the Incarnation
41 : Some further Elucidation of the Incarnation
40, 49 : Objections against the Faith of the Incarnation, with Replies
45 : That Christ was born of a Virgin without prejudice to His true and natural Humanity
46, 47 : That Christ was conceived by the Holy Ghost
54 : Of the Incarnation as part of the Fitness of Things
55 : Points of Reply to Difficulties touching the Economy of the Incarnation
50 : That Original Sin is transmitted from our First Parent to his Posterity
51, 52 : Arguments against Original Sin, with Replies
56 : Of the Need of Sacraments
57 : Of the Difference between the Sacraments of the Old and of the New Law
58 : Of the Number of the Sacraments of the New Law
59 : Of Baptism
60 : Of Confirmation
61 : Of the Eucharist
63 : Of the Conversion of Bread into the Body of Christ
64 : An Answer to Difficulties raised in respect of Place
65 : The Difficulty of the Accidents remaining
66 : What happens when the Sacramental Species pass away
67 : Answer to the Difficulty raised in respect of the Breaking of the Host
68 : The Explanation of a Text
69 : Of the kind of Bread and Wine that ought to be used for the Consecration of this Sacrament
70 : That it is possible for a man to sin after receiving Sacramental Grace
71 : That a man who sins after the Grace of the Sacraments may be converted to Grace
72 : Of the need of the Sacrament of Penance, and of the Parts thereof
73 : Of the Sacrament of Extreme Unction
74 : Of the Sacrament of Order
75 : Of the Distinction of Orders
76 : Of the Episcopal Dignity, and that therein one Bishop is Supreme
77 : That Sacraments can be administered even by Wicked Ministers
78 : Of the Sacrament of Matrimony
79 : That through Christ the Resurrection of our Bodies will take place
81 : Some Points of Reply to Difficulties on the Resurrection
82 : That Men shall rise again Immortal
83 : That in the Resurrection there will be no use of Food or Intercourse of the Sexes
84 : That Risen Bodies shall be of the same Nature as before
85 : That the Bodies of the Risen shall be otherwise organised than before
86 : Of the Qualities of Glorified Bodies
88 : Of Sex and Age in the Resurrection
89 : Of the Quality of Risen Bodies in the Lost
91 : That Souls enter upon Punishment or Reward immediately after their Separation from their Bodies
92 : That the Souls of the Saints after Death have their Will immutably fixed on Good
93 : That the Souls of the Wicked after Death have their Will immutably fixed on Evil
94 : Of the Immutability of the Will of Souls detained in Purgatory
95 : Of the General Cause of Immutability in all Souls after their Separation from the Body
97 : Of the State of the World after the judgement
Afterword