The Summa Contra Gentiles of Saint Thomas Aquinas: The Second Book
Translated by Fathers of the English Dominican Province
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The opening
CHAPTER I CONNECTION OF THE FOREGOING WITH THE SEQUEL
CONNECTION OF THE FOREGOING WITH THE SEQUEL
/ meditated on all Thy works: I meditated upon the works of Thy hands (Ps, cxlii. 5).
It is impossible to know a thing perfectly unless we know its operation: since from the mode and species of its operation we gauge the measure and quality of its power, while the power of a thing shows forth its nature: because a thing has naturally an aptitude for work according as it actually has such and such a nature.
Now the operation of a thing is twofold, as the Philosopher teaches (9 Metaph.); one that abides in the very worker and is a perfection of the worker himself, such as to sense, to understand, and to will; and another that passes into an outward thing, and is a perfection of the thing made that results from it, such as to heat, to cut, and to build.
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About this edition
- The words
- Fathers of the English Dominican Province's English translation, copied word for word.
- Left out
- Page numbers and running heads from the printed pages, in 8 places
- The half-title ("THE SUMMA CONTRA GENTILES") and a speck read as "»" (2 blocks)
- The censors' and bishops' approvals (Nihil obstat, Imprimatur) (15 blocks)
- The title page and opening pages before chapter 1, in 2 places
- The library's date stamp ("NOV", "1945'") and the printer's line "Made and Printed in Great Britain" (3 blocks)
- The printed table of contents (the app makes its own)
- The library's shelf label at the end of the scan ("6862 .A3E6 V.2", "THIS BOOK CANKOT BE DESENSITIZED") (4 blocks)
- Notes and pages added by translators, editors or publishers