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Summa Made Simple


Summa Made Simple Study Notes

These notes are my personal attempt to follow the Summa Made Simple podcast and draw out the heart of what St Thomas Aquinas is teaching in each episode.

The Summa Made Simple podcast is the work of Fidel Namisi, a good friend of mine, who has taken on the valuable task of making the Summa Theologiae more accessible to ordinary Catholics. His aim is to help listeners approach the richness of St Thomas Aquinas without being overwhelmed by the technical language and structure of the text. These notes are therefore built around his episodes and are intended to help me study, remember, and reflect on the key ideas he explains.

The aim is not to replace the Summa Theologiae, or the podcast itself, but to create a simple study index where I can slowly gather the main question, Aquinas’s core teaching, the podcast commentary, and a short takeaway from each episode. 

Disclaimer on the Use of AI

These study notes are prepared with the assistance of artificial intelligence to help summarise and organise the content of the Summa Made Simple podcast episodes. While care is taken to capture the main ideas faithfully, the summaries may contain errors, omissions, or misunderstandings of the original meaning intended by the speaker or by St Thomas Aquinas.

Please therefore use these notes with discretion. They are intended as a personal study aid and should not replace listening to the original podcast episode or reading the relevant section of the Summa Theologiae. Please report errors in the comments so that I can update the repository.

Episode Index

Fortitude, Courage and Resilience

Ep 1 — So What If Fortitude Is A Virtue?
Summa reference: ST II-II, Q123, A1
Study notes: Read study notes

Ep 2 — Fortitude And Endurance
Summa reference: ST II-II, Q123, A6
Study notes: Read study notes

Ep 3 — Catching Feelings
Summa reference: ST II-II, Q123, A10
Study notes: Read study notes

Ep 4 — When Doing Good Doesn't Feel Good
Summa reference: ST II-II, Q123, A8
Study notes: Read study notes

Ep 5 — Martyrdom at Your Doorstep
Summa reference: ST II-II, Q124, A5
Study notes: Read study notes

Ep 6 — The Sin of Fear
Summa reference: ST II-II, Q125, A1
Study notes: Read study notes

Ep 7 — The Faces of Resilience
Summa reference: ST II-II, Q128, A1
Study notes: Read study notes

Honour, Greatness of Soul and Vainglory

Ep 8 — The Hunger for Honor
Summa reference: ST I-II, Q2, A2; ST II-II, Q129, A1
Study notes: Read study notes

Ep 9 — How to Grow Great: The Practical Side of Magnanimity
Summa reference: ST II-II, Q129, A3
Study notes: Read study notes

Ep 10 — The Sin of Presumption: The Fallacy Behind “My Body, My Choice”
Summa reference: ST II-II, Q130, A1
Study notes: Read study notes

Ep 11 — When Ambition Turns Toxic
Summa reference: ST II-II, Q131, A1
Study notes: Read study notes

Ep 12 — The Trap of Vainglory
Summa reference: ST II-II, Q132, A1
Study notes: Read study notes

Ep 13 — The Real Reason We Fight, Sulk, and Never Apologize
Summa reference: ST II-II, Q132, A4–A5
Study notes: Read study notes

Ep 14 — When Your Heart Shrinks
Summa reference: ST II-II, Q133, A1–A2
Study notes: Read study notes

Ep 15 — When Big Spending Is A Virtue
Summa reference: ST II-II, Q134
Study notes: Read study notes

Patience, Perseverance and Spiritual Endurance

Ep 16 — Patience Is Not What You Think
Summa reference: ST II-II, Q136, A1; ST I-II, Q38
Study notes: Read study notes

Ep 17 — Why Most People Don't Finish
Summa reference: ST II-II, Q137, A1 and A4
Study notes: Read study notes

Ep 18 — The Enemies of Perseverance
Summa reference: ST II-II, Q138, A1–A2
Study notes: Read study notes

Temperance, Abstinence and Fasting

Ep 19 — The Virtue That Maximizes Pleasure
Summa reference: ST II-II, Q141, A1
Study notes: Read study notes

Ep 20 — The Virtue That Saves Your Soul From Chaos
Summa reference: ST II-II, Q141, A2
Study notes: Read study notes

Ep 21 — The Dictatorship of Desire
Summa reference: ST II-II, Q146; ST II-II, Q147, A1
Study notes: Read study notes

Ep 22 — The Sin Nobody Warned You About
Summa reference: ST II-II, Q142, A1
Study notes: Read study notes

Ep 23 — The Toddler Running Your Life
Summa reference: ST II-II, Q142, A2
Study notes: Read study notes

Ep 24 — You Can Fast Your Way Into Sin
Summa reference: ST II-II, Q147, A5–A6
Study notes: Read study notes

Gluttony and Sobriety

Ep 25 — When Your Plate Becomes Your God
Summa reference: ST II-II, Q148, A1–A2
Study notes: Read study notes

Ep 26 — The 5 Forms of Gluttony That Have Nothing to Do with Overeating
Summa reference: ST II-II, Q148, A3–A4
Study notes: Read study notes

Ep 27 — The 6 Hidden Effects of Gluttony
Summa reference: ST II-II, Q148, A5–A6
Study notes: Read study notes

Ep 28 — The Real Problem With Alcohol
Summa reference: ST II-II, Q149
Study notes: Read study notes

Ep 29 — Drunk… But Not Guilty?
Summa reference: ST II-II, Q150, A1
Study notes: Read study notes

Ep 30 — Drunkenness Isn’t the Worst Vice. Here’s Why.
Summa reference: ST II-II, Q150, A2–A3
Study notes: Read study notes

Ep 31 — You Knew Where This Was Going
Summa reference: ST II-II, Q150, A4
Study notes: Read study notes

Chastity, Virginity and Lust

Ep 32 — Your Desires Make A Terrible God
Summa reference: ST II-II, Q151, A1–A2
Study notes: Read study notes

Ep 33 — The Virtue That Makes No Sense Today
Summa reference: ST II-II, Q152, A1–A2
Study notes: Read study notes

Ep 34 — Is Virginity a Virtue? Aquinas on Chastity, Marriage, and Heroic Virtue
Summa reference: ST II-II, Q152, A3
Study notes: Read study notes

Ep 35 — Virginity or Marriage: Which Is Better?
Summa reference: ST II-II, Q152, A4
Study notes: Read study notes

Ep 36 — The Desire That Makes You Stupid
Summa reference: ST II-II, Q153, A1–A2
Study notes: Read study notes

Ep 37 — Why Some Choices Matter More Than Others
Summa reference: ST II-II, Q153, A3
Study notes: Read study notes

Ep 38 — Every Vice Has A Boss
Summa reference: ST II-II, Q153, A4
Study notes: Read study notes

Ep 39 — The Daughters of Lust, Part 1: How Lust Blinds the Mind
Summa reference: ST II-II, Q153, A5
Study notes: Read study notes

Ep 40 — The Daughters of Lust, Part 2: Rashness, Thoughtlessness, and Messed Up Priorities
Summa reference: ST II-II, Q153, A5
Study notes: Read study notes

Ep 41 — The Daughters of Lust, Part 3: How Lust Takes Over Your Words
Summa reference: ST II-II, Q153, A5
Study notes: Read study notes

Ep 42 — The Logic Behind Sexual Morality, Part 1
Summa reference: ST II-II, Q154, A1
Study notes: Read study notes

Ep 43 — The Logic Behind Sexual Morality, Part 2: Why Sex Has Boundaries
Summa reference: ST II-II, Q154, A1
Study notes: Read study notes

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