Summa Theologica (Eiximenis) facts for kids

The Summa Theologica is an important book written by a smart thinker named Francesc Eiximenis. He wrote it in Latin, which was the main language for scholars back then. This book was likely finished around the early 1400s.

It's part of a special type of book called a summa. These books were like big encyclopedias of knowledge, especially about theology, which is the study of religious beliefs. During the Middle Ages, summae were considered the most advanced way to organize and explain deep thoughts about faith.

Finding the Summa Theologica

Sadly, only some parts of the Summa Theologica have survived over time. These pieces were discovered in the old records of the cathedral of Valencia in Spain.

A Valencian Franciscan friar named León Amorós found them. He carefully copied them down and shared them with the world in 1959. His findings were published in a historical magazine called Archivum Franciscanum Historicum.

What the Book is About

The most important part of the Summa Theologica that we still have talks about something called predestination. This is a complex idea about whether our future is already decided by God.

Francesc Eiximenis had planned to write more about this topic in another big book he was working on, called the Fourth Book of the Christian. But he never finished that part.

The other sections of the Summa Theologica that were found discuss different philosophical and religious ideas. These include:

• Quid est suppositum (What a "supposition" is).
• Quid est persona (What a "person" is).
• Quid est persona secundum Ricardum (What a "person" is, according to a thinker named Richard of Saint Victor).
• Quid demonstratio propter quid (What a "demonstration because of the cause" is).
• Quid demonstratio quia (What a "demonstration why" is).
• Quomodo Deus sit intelligibilis (How God can be understood).
• De lumine (About light, in a philosophical sense).
• De prescientia Dei (About God's knowing things before they happen).

When Was It Written?

León Amorós, the friar who found the book, believed that the Summa Theologica was written around the same time as another of Eiximenis's famous works, the Vida de Jesucrist (which means "Life of Jesus Christ").

He thought this because the Vida de Jesucrist often mentions the Summa Theologica. These mentions only appear in the Vida de Jesucrist and no other books by Eiximenis. We know that Eiximenis finished the Vida de Jesucrist in the early 1400s. This helps us guess when the Summa Theologica was also created.

Online Versions

You can read parts of the Summa Theologica online:

• Read it in the NARPAN Electronic Library.
• Find the Summa Theologica as part of Eiximenis's complete works (in Catalan and Latin).