Thomas Aquinas on Seeing God

Katja Krause, Professor of the History of Science at the Technical University Berlin, is a historian of medieval philosophy and early science. She is currently also leading a research group on “Experience in the Premodern Sciences of Soul and Body, ca. 800–1650” at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Berlin. Prior to this dual appointment, Krause was Assistant Professor in Medieval Thought at Durham University, UK, and a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard Divinity School.

Thomas Aquinas’s Commentary on the Sentences is, alas, rarely read. Thanks to Krause’s English translation of the gigantic q. 2 of book 4, distinction 49 (on the beatific vision), however, Aquinas’s early thought on this important theological and philosophical puzzle is now accessible to a wider readership. This book is more than a text translation: It is a veritable goldmine of information about the historical and conceptual dimensions of the problem with which Aquinas grapples. Its extensive volume introduction, which lays out all the strands of discourse—Greek, Arabic, Latin—in the historical conversation that Aquinas inherited, is a must-read for scholars working in the area, while also being clear and accessible for non-specialist readers. Additionally, Krause has provided lluminating introductions that clearly and elegantly map out the concepts at issue in each article. With Krause’s aid, readers will find themselves well-equipped to plunge into these deep waters with Aquinas. - Prof. Therese Cory, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana, USA"Thomas Aquinas on Seeing God is a genuine highlight in Aquinas studies—the only available extensive study on Aquinas’s earliest account of the beatific vision in his commentary on Sentences IV.49.2. Offering a fully annotated translation of the Latin text and paving the way for a no doubt equally valuable follow-up, Krause shows in detail how resourcefully the young Aquinas developed his understanding of the beatific vision, on the shoulders of giants: his teacher Albert the Great, as well as Aristotle, Avicenna, and Averroes on the one hand, Augustine and pseudo-Dionysius on the other. Krause’s remarkable study fills an important gap in the literature by acknowledging the novelty of Aquinas’s contribution to the fiercely disputed question of the beatific vision. It seems to suggest that this question hermeneutically transcends the problem of knowledge of God and reaches into the larger ontological and theological context of man’s return to God. - Dr. Henryk Anzulewicz, Albertus Magnus Institute, Bonn, Germany"Katja Krause’s Thomas Aquinas on Seeing God underscores the importance of Thomas Aquinas’s early commentary on Sentences IV.49.2, one mostly neglected today. With her richly annotated and felicitous translation, overarching general historical introduction, and masterfully textured individual introductions to each of the seven articles of Aquinas’s treatment of the beatific vision, Krause guides the reader through the meanings, nuances, and allusions of young Aquinas’s learned teachings on ultimate human happiness and the surprising extent to which pagan Greek and Muslim philosophers helped to determine his own position on this much-debated theologicophilosophical topic. This refreshing and intelligent book will captivate neophytes in Scholasticism and seasoned Thomas scholars alike." - Prof. (emeritus) Steven Harvey, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel