The text is divided into three sections each focused on different aspects of the relationship between man and God.
Part 1-Structure, Scope, and Purpose
In this first section, Aquinas’s primary focus is on outlining the purpose of his beliefs and indicating some of the proofs he intends on utilizing in the book. The author details his main purpose, which is to shed light and to explore the depth of the relationship between man and God. In the first part, Aquinas examines the existence of God. He then moves on to discuss human beings and their purpose. Lastly, he examines Jesus Christ as the mediator between God and human beings.
Part 2-Proofs for the Existence of God
This section is divided into four sections. The first part argues that all beings in the world are in motion. Aquinas then points out that anything in motion is put in motion by another object also in motion and so on and so forth. Concluding his theory, Aquinas argues that all these motions must have a beginning movement that is superior to the others hence God exists as the unmoved mover.
In the second part, Aquinas states that everything under the sun has a purpose, not one exists with the cause of itself. Everything thrives dependent on the other hence there must be a first efficient and superior purpose which is God.
The third part discusses how things form and later become extinct. What exists in the present will not necessarily exist in the future hence there was a point when nothing existed. The world was void until one specific entity existed which began the cycle of all that exists in the present. The ultimate existence is God.
The fourth section outlines the gradation in which people and things are categorized; good, bad, worse, noble, wicked. All these gradations are based on what is entirely good. The definitive goodness that acts as the foundation for all gradations is God.
Part 3-Purpose of Man
In this section, Aquinas dives deep into the existence of man and how he was created in the image of God. The author also indicates that man’s happiness does not come from anything that is created including wealth and fame. Man’s true happiness and purpose only come in serving God. The ultimate purpose of man’s existence can only be found in God
Part 4-Jesus Christ
The final part of the text discusses Jesus Christ. The Son of the Most High God yet born through a normal human being and bears the body of mortals. In this section, Aquinas discusses the purpose of Jesus’s birth and his ultimate purpose to serve as the mediator between human beings and God.
