About Summa

Launched in July 2007, Summatheologica – Interfaith Dialogue, is one of the first blogs devoted to interfaith dialogue among Latter-day Saints, Evangelicals and Catholics.  Since 2007, Summa has highlighted audio and video lectures and articles by individuals who participate in the Evangelical-Mormon dialogue, or present subject matter relevant to various faith communities.  Summa also offers critique and commentary on audio lectures, books, articles and other resources relating to interfaith dialogue, Christian history, philosophy and theology.

Summa is not primarily apologetic in nature and the goal is to treat other faiths with respect, civility, and charity and provide responsible treatments of ideas and doctrine in other faith communities.  Summa embraces the principle that “If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.” Joseph Smith to John Wentworth, 1842.

Why Did you Choose Summa Theologica?

Summa Theologica is the title of a seminal work by St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), an Italian Catholic philosopher and theologian in the scholastic tradition.  Thomas drew freely from Muslim (Averroes), Jewish (Rabbi Moses or Maimonides) and Greek (Aristotle, who Thomas simply referred to as The Philosopher) sources in his writings. In that sense, he is a good model for interfaith dialogue and discussion.

No better guide could have been chosen than the clear-minded, analytic, synthetic, and sympathetic Thomas Aquinas. His extraordinary patience and fairness in dealing with erring philosophers, his approbation of all that was true in their writings, his gentleness in condemning what was false, his clear-sightedness in pointing out the direction to true knowledge in all its branches, his aptness and accuracy in expressing the truth — these qualities mark him as a great master not only for the thirteenth century, but for all times” (Catholic Encylopedia).

For these reasons, I’ve borrowed the moniker ‘aquinas’ (note: using a lowercase ‘a’) and hope to offer patience and fairness in dealing with these challenging issues.

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Comment Policy

Please comment.  All comments are moderated to benefit you, the reader, and to ensure high-quality discussion.  I welcome civil, charitable, courteous and responsible comments. I reserve the right to edit comments for clarity, style, length or other considerations.  Comments made by others do not necessarily represent my views.