God in Himself: Aquinas' Doctrine of God as Expounded in the Summa Theologiae (Oxford Theological Monographs)

During the post-Vatican I period, in the course of the Church's anti-Modernist campaign, Roman Catholic scholars isolated St. Thomas Aquinas's philosophical theology from its neo-Platonism, and other scholars have also tended to treat the various parts of his Summa Theologiae without regard to their historical context. Here, Hankey contends that Thomas Aquinas was less of an Aristotelian than is commonly supposed, and that a proper appreciation of his work requires us to take fuller notice of his reliance on neo-Platonism. In setting out his case, Hankey pays special attention to the influence of Proclus, providing a critical exposition of his work. The author also supports his position by making a careful analysis of the first forty-five questions of the Summa Theologiae . The author contends that Aquinas was less of an Aristotelian than is commonly supposed, and that we should take fuller notice of his reliance on neo-Platonism. The influence of Proclus in particular is examined.