On Power (De Potentia) is one of Aquinas's ''Disputed Questions'' (a systematic series of discussions of specific theological topics). It is a text which anyone with a serious interest in Aquinas's thinking will need to read. There is, however, no English translation of the De Potentia currently in print. A translation was published in 1932 under the auspices of the English Dominicans, but is now only available on a CD of translations of Aquineas coming from the InteLex Corporation. A new translation in book form is therefore highly desirable. However, the De Potentia is a very long work indeed (the 1932 translation fills three volumes), and a full translation would be a difficult publishing proposition as well as a challenge to any translator. Recognizing this fact, while wishing to make a solid English version of the De Potentia available, Fr. Richard Regan has produced this abridgement, which passes over some of the full text while retaining what seems most important when it comes to following the flow of Aquinas's thought.
On Power (De Potentia) is one of Aquinas's ''Disputed Questions'' (a systematic series of discussions of specific theological topics). It is a text which anyone with a serious interest in Aquinas's thinking will need to read. There is, however, no English translation of the De Potentia currently in print. Fr. Richard Regan has produced this abridgement, which passes over some of the full text while retaining what seems most important when
it comes to following the flow of Aquinas's thought.
This lucid translation shows Aquinas's mature treatment of creation and of divine triunity at its best, with a bonus of historical summaries of positions held (from the Greeks to early Christian tradition) on many key issues. This strategic abridgement of Aquinas's extended exposition actually enhances the reception of the arguments he marshals to make his point on the often intractable issues of free creation and divine triunity. A masterful presentation, which will serve to introduce current students of philosophical theology into the issues themselves (creation and Trinity) as well as suggest how powerfully the approach of a medieval master like Aquinas can instruct us today.
