New Book on Divine Simplicity

Dominican Father Juan José Herrera shares the news of his recently published book, La simplicidad divina según santo Tomás de Aquino. This study contains a preface by Fr. Serge-Thomas Bonino (available here, with an English précis here). An excerpt:

In the first section, focused mainly on the historical aspect, Father Herrera contextualizes the third question [of the Prima pars] by outlining the history of the problem of the divine simplicity in Latin theology, updating the sources - both distant and close - of St. Thomas´ reflection and measuring the impact of Greco-Arab philosophy on Aquinas´ reflection. In the second section, more focused on doctrine, he gathered with precision and clarity the theoretical elements that allow for a better understanding of the critical points of St. Thomas´ teaching on the divine simplicity. This sound erudition is never lost in the unimportant but further contributes to the understanding of Aquinas´ metaphysic and theological thinking. Following this rich commentary step by step, will help the reader encounter a precise, solid and rich knowledge about St. Thomas´ thinking on this essential question.

Some philosophers of the analytical tradition fail in applying in a strict way the logical rules of human language to St. Thomas´ discourse about God without taking into account neither its theological context nor its metaphysic foundations; thus, preventing a correct reading of St. Thomas´ texts. Father Herrera´s merit of confronting the objections that the contemporary analytical philosophers – avid of philosophical theology – pose on the subject of the divine simplicity is not minor. He arrives at the wise conclusion that the misunderstanding is radical and it´s originated in the very core: How and according to which methods and categories must Aquinas be read if we want to truly understand him?

The full table of contents for this volume is available on the publisher’s page.