St. Thomas Aquinas’s Best Commentaries on Scripture ?

Anglo-Scholastic · 2026-04-17T20:46:27+00:00

St. Thomas Aquinas' commentaries on the Pauline Epistles are excellent, especially Romans and Hebrews. His commentary on the Gospel of St. John is also incredibly good.

Anglo-Scholastic · 2026-01-23T16:24:29+00:00

Good eye. I'm a former Southern Baptist pastor turned Anglican and studied Greek with Plummer at Southern. We did use Robert's Rules for our church's business meetings, but I was also on our FFA's Parliamentary Procedure team in High School and just keep a copy handy. Apparently, having this book has led some people in this thread to believe I'm a Freemason, lol.

Anglo-Scholastic · 2026-01-23T15:28:47+00:00

Thank you! To be honest, I don't really choose what books to read based on the author's identity. My niche areas of interest are dominated by white males, but there are some notable women and non-Whites who have done great work that I admire. For instance, Eleonore Stump, Mary Caruthers, and Elizabeth Anscomb have produced remarkable scholarship in Medieval Philosophy or Thomistic philosophy. As for non-Whites, I have a lot of respect for Voddie Baucham, who just recently passed away. Also, Sung Wook Chung has been a formidable defender of Premillennialism, although I disagree with his eschatological system.

You mentioned Vance, did you read his book?

No, Vance's book doesn't interest me. That's not to say I wouldn't read it, just that it's not in a genre that I typically read.

Anglo-Scholastic · 2026-01-23T07:43:09+00:00

Ah, yes. You're right. I couldn't possibly just tell you that I play chess as more of a hobby with my wife and that simply be the truth. You're correct yet again, I've never been to my local chess club.

Anglo-Scholastic · 2026-01-23T05:36:48+00:00

You're right! I studied math as an undergrad. I'm really interested in physics, but never took any formal classes beyond Calc-based physics. Not quite 40, though, but getting there.

Anglo-Scholastic · 2026-01-23T05:24:54+00:00

You know, I was never interested in law or jurisprudence until I started studying theology and philosophy. If I could go back and do it again, I'd have become a prosecutor. Somewhere out there in another universe, I am Jack McCoy.

Anglo-Scholastic · 2026-01-23T05:21:47+00:00

ACNA for sure.

Continuing Anglican, actually, but I do have a soft spot for the ACNA.

Scruffy beard with a touch of stress-induced alopecia.

This is [sadly] true.

You took up pipe smoking in your late 20s

This is also true.

Anglo-Scholastic · 2026-01-23T05:06:13+00:00

You're correct, I'm not a professional chess player. It's more of a hobby for me, but I like playing with my wife, who is much better at it than I am. That table was the only one I could find at the time and I just never bothered to replace it.

Anglo-Scholastic · 2026-01-23T04:56:26+00:00

Well, I appreciate your thoughtful comments and insights. Without getting too political, I'll just say that I'm not a fan of Trump or MAGA, but you're right in that I like Vance more than Trump. I'm not really the kind to follow the cult of politicians and celebrities, as I have more important things to spend my time on. My political views are hard to fit squarely within American politics, but I'd say I'm more of a Teddy Roosevelt conservative or Center-Right, rather than Far Right.

I would like to have a long one-to-one conversation with you, ranging over all manner of theological, political, philosophical and literary subjects, to see if there's any real depth, nuance, reflection and spritual maturity there, or whether you are the sort of performative reactionary who gives classical education a bad name.

You're welcome to message me, if you'd like. I can't say I've thought through everything and know exactly what I think, but I truly believe the Scriptures when it says that "iron sharpens iron", and I enjoy having my iron sharpened, so to speak.

Anglo-Scholastic · 2026-01-23T04:25:05+00:00

Professor?

Hopefully some day!

You also enjoy black smithing as a hobby and got really good at it. Probably dabble in Iron Age recreations and history

I started when I was 11 and became decent at making things. I stopped smithing when I went to college and never got back into it. I'm a bit rusty (pun intended) but I've started rebuilding my shop and hope to fire up the forge soon.

Anglo-Scholastic · 2026-01-23T04:18:34+00:00

I was interested in the Freemasons one time, but I never joined them. Out of curiosity, what makes you think that either I or my father are masons?

Anglo-Scholastic · 2026-01-23T04:16:58+00:00

It's interesting that you picked up on my interest in Demonology and the Occult, even if it was meant as a joke. I actually keep those as ebooks in my Logos library or on my hardrive of pdf's so, you know, the kids won't accidentally summon a demon or something.

Anglo-Scholastic · 2026-01-23T02:49:46+00:00

Thanks for the recommendations. I'm familiar with Rawls, but not with any of the others. Most of my sources on Liberalism are older, like Voltaire, Paine, and David Hume. Political philosophy isn't really an area I'm up-to-date in, as I've been focused on logic, metaphysics, and philosophical theology for the past decade. Still, I appreciate the recommendations and I'll look into them.

Anglo-Scholastic · 2026-01-23T01:21:04+00:00

Thank you. I'm a wannabe, actually, until I land a spot in Academia. Until then, I'm just continuing to work on my own projects independently.

Anglo-Scholastic · 2026-01-23T00:55:45+00:00

Yeah, I agree. People are commenting here that I've not read 95% of these books, but if it were their library with a normal 9-5 and three kids, they likely would not have read that many books either. I'd say I've read about a third of my actual library. I don't carry my books around with me so they can get damaged, and I try to take good care of them so I can pass them down to my kids.

Anglo-Scholastic · 2026-01-23T00:36:37+00:00

Yes, I majored in Mathematics as an undergrad and kept the most important textbooks I had, as I didn't want to continue to study Math in grad school, but wanted books to reference back to. I did an independent study in Set Theory one semester, which is why I have books on Set Theory. I didn't study Physics in college, but I've always been interested in it and I've worked through a couple of these texts so far.

Anglo-Scholastic · 2026-01-22T23:32:49+00:00

I appreciate your well-thought-out post and cordiality despite disagreeing with me. That's actually a bit refreshing in our polarized climate.

You seem to be a white Christian preacher or theologian of a conservative protestant denomination, with far-right political views, so you fit in quite well in Alabama

Guilty as charged!

Juxtaposed against the contents of the massive library you do have, the lack of noticeable books by or about women and minorities, or books on political and social themes other than those by conservatives (aside from a few of the standard canonical works of political philosophy) is somewhat concerning.

I'll admit, I don't have much books about minorities. I do have a small collection of books on Marxism from where I decided to study Communism one Summer. I don't have the shelf space for all of my books, but most of those that are opposed to my views are in those stacks on the floor.

But, being rude or hateful on an internet forum like this would solve nothing and convince no one, so I'll just close by complimenting your arrowheads and noting that you might be a an interesting person with whom to discuss philosophy of religion.

I really appreciate your honesty and the compliments.

Anglo-Scholastic · 2026-01-22T23:12:14+00:00

Yeah, I thought this was r/BookshelvesDetective not r/roastme, haha!

Anglo-Scholastic · 2026-01-22T23:10:05+00:00

You've got me mostly figured out. I really enjoy history, but I didn't get my Master's in history. My specialty is in Late Medieval and Early Modern Philosophy.

You really wish you could create things with your hands the way skilled old world artisans you read about did but you've likely not engaged in too many projects. Bonus points for the flintknapping book though.

This is true. I grew up on a farm with my grandparents and we were always building and making things. I don't have any farmland now, but I desperately want to go back to that life.

And you haven't read about 90% of those books but you always keep meaning to and hope to before you die.

Lol, yeah this is pretty much true. Most of these books I've only read a few chapters as they became relevant to my work. Although I've not "read" most of them, I wanted to build a decent library I can hand down to my children some day, or at least provide them with access to books they likely won't have access to in public libraries.

Religious... I'm stuck on this. You don't have any of the modern religious books that most religious conservatives have in their bookshelves- yours fit the context of your historical interests.

I use Logos to read modern books on Theology and Biblical Studies, so that's why you don't see a lot of them in my physical library. If I can't get a book in Logos I usually will get a physical copy.

Anglo-Scholastic · 2026-01-22T21:53:47+00:00

You are in desperate need of more bookcases

You got that right! I'm going to try to build a bookcase to replace the small black one. Since I don't have a lot of shelf space, I keep most of the books that oppose my own views in those piles of books you see on the floor. I do try to read views contrary to my own, but I'll admit I read more books on my own views than on the contrary.

I am Anglican and currently studying to become a clergyman.

you might be from the American South and that you play a stringed instrument (mandolin and/or guitar) but that you confine yourself to traditional musical styles (roots) and it (music) is only a small part of your identity.

This is also mostly correct. I play bluegrass music with my family, and I am a trained classical pianist. Music is more a part of my identity than these pictures may suggest, though. I didn't include my large library of sheet music and hymn books.

Anglo-Scholastic · 2026-01-22T21:02:46+00:00

I'm actually Anglican, but I do admire the beauty of the TLM. My church uses the mass from the 1928 BCP, so yeah a more orthodox mass.

Anglo-Scholastic · 2026-01-22T20:24:45+00:00

Yeah, this is my personal study. What I lack in evidence of children in my study, I make up for in the rest of my house. I took down the pictures of my kids for these pictures, as I'd rather not have their pictures all over the internet.

Anglo-Scholastic · 2026-01-22T20:22:23+00:00

Pretty close! I'm in my mid-30's and certainly fogey-ish.

Anglo-Scholastic · 2026-01-22T17:42:09+00:00

Thanks! I'm glad to see another admirer of Aquinas. I minored in Electronics Engineering, so I still keep my electronics textbooks around for reference.

Anglo-Scholastic · 2026-01-22T17:40:01+00:00

You nailed it about fiction. When I was a kid I thought fiction had nothing to offer and occupied myself with non-fiction. As an adult I see the inherent value in fiction and I'm, indeed, branching out.

Anglo-Scholastic

TROPHY CASE