In this post we will cover the “big picture” of the
Summa and find out how
the religious life fits into it.
After devoting the first question of the
Prima Pars (First Part) to
investigating the nature and extent of sacred doctrine, St. Thomas says the
following by way of introduction to the rest of the
Summa: "Because
the chief aim of sacred doctrine is to teach the knowledge of God, not only as
He is in Himself, but also as He is the beginning of things and their last end,
and especially of rational creatures, as is clear from what has been already
said, therefore, in our endeavor to expound this science, we shall treat: (1)
Of God; (2) Of the rational creature's advance towards God; (3) Of Christ, Who
as man, is our way to God."
We see in these three points the bumper sticker version of what St.
Thomas himself wants to cover in the three parts of
the
Summa. We note here that the religious life is treated in the
Secunda Pars (Second Part), which is about
"the rational creature's advance towards God."
For the sake of completeness, this is how St. Thomas introduces the
Prima
Pars: "In treating of God there will be a threefold division: For we
shall consider (1) Whatever concerns the Divine Essence; (2) Whatever concerns
the distinctions of Persons; (3) Whatever concerns the procession of creatures
from Him." So, we have (1) God as One (Essence), then (2) God as Three
(Persons), and finally (3) creation's procession from God. I must say that, in
my years of theological study here at the Dominican House of Studies, I have rather
enjoyed my study of the
Prima Pars -
I would highly recommend it - but this is all we have time to say about it for
now.
In introducing the
Secunda Pars, St. Thomas says this:
"Since, as Damascene states, man is said to be made to God's image, in so
far as the image implies an intelligent being endowed with free-will and
self-movement: now that we have treated of the exemplar, i.e., God, and of
those things which came forth from the power of God in accordance with His
will; it remains for us to treat of His image, i.e., man, inasmuch as he too is
the principle of his actions, as having free-will and control of his
actions."
In the
Secunda Pars, then, St. Thomas will focus on man, who, because
he is in God's image insofar as he shares in the faculties of intellect and
will, is also (i.e., along with God) the principle of his actions. The
religious life is treated by St. Thomas
as something that assists in the realization of God's image in us, something by
which man as a rational creature advances toward God.

St. Thomas goes on to introduce his division of the
Secunda Pars:
"In this matter we shall consider first the last end of human life; and
secondly, those things by means of which man may advance towards this end, or
stray from the path: for the end is the rule of whatever is ordained to the
end." It is interesting here to note that, while St. Thomas later divides
the
Secunda Pars into the
Prima Secundae (First Part of the
Second Part) and the
Secunda Secundae (Second Part of the Second Part),
that is not the division he uses here. The division he gives in this
introduction has as its first part only the first five questions of the
Prima
Secundae, which are called the "Treatise on the Last End." The
second part of the division he gives in this introduction, then, encompasses
the other 109 questions of the
Prima Secundae as well as all 189
questions of the
Secunda Secundae. So, we note that these first five
questions on the last end are quite important as providing the context for the
other 298 questions of the
Secunda Pars. We also note that St. Thomas
has much to say about "those things by means of which man may advance
towards this end or stray from the path." His treatment of the religious
life is found at the very end of these “other 298 questions.” Is he is saving
the best for last?