Summa contra Gentiles Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
The Summa contra Gentiles was written by St. Thomas Aquinas during the years from 1258 to 1264. This is written to tie in with Summa Theologica. That work was written for a Christian audience in mind while the Summa Contra Gentiles was written for the gentiles or the unbelievers. Thus, he does not appeal to scripture and other church fathers in this work as he does in the other one as the unbelievers would not accept the authority of those works. Instead he attempts to ground knowledge of God in reason.The first book of Summa Contra Gentiles deals with Aquinas' natural theology, and to that end he has three major themes. The first is the proof of God's existence as a first efficient cause. Aquinas does not believe God can be proven a priori, but instead his existence must be inferred by his effects.
After Aquinas has proven the existence of the first efficient cause (God), he attempts to show that God could not possess certain qualities. Among them are a lack of passive potentiality, that it is not made up of matter, and that it is incorruptible.
The third part of the first book is an attempt to equate positive attributes with God. These are attributes which are commonly applied to the Christian god such as he is wise, he is merciful, and he is just.
Thomas Aquinas has written many books of which Summa Contra Gentiles is the second most famous. Thomas' most famous book is Summa Theologica but Summa Contra Gentiles is a close second.
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