Course of Theology - Volume Five I - João Poinsot

This fifth volume (Part I) of John of St. Thomas’s Course of Theology continues his systematic Thomistic exposition of rational creatures, moving from angelology to a more detailed treatment of human nature within the order of creation, in line with Thomas Aquinas.

The work focuses primarily on the human soul considered in itself as a spiritual substance. John of St. Thomas analyzes its immateriality, simplicity, and intellectual operations, emphasizing its distinction from the body while also explaining its natural union with it as the form of a living human being.

A central portion is devoted to human cognition, including sensation, abstraction, and intellectual knowledge. He carefully explains how the intellect moves from sensible experience to universal concepts, maintaining a realist account of knowledge grounded in the intelligibility of being.

The volume also introduces key questions concerning the faculties of the soul, especially intellect and will, laying the groundwork for later moral and theological discussions. Throughout, Poinsot applies his characteristic scholastic precision, using careful distinctions to clarify the structure and powers of human nature.

Overall, this volume presents the human person as a rational creature situated between the purely spiritual (angels) and the material world, ordered toward truth, goodness, and ultimately God.