De Sortibus
A Letter to a Friend about the Casting of Lots
Translated by Peter Carey
Foreword by Andrew Davison
Imprint: Cascade Books
This book makes De Sortibus, Thomas Aquinas's letter to a friend on the casting of lots, available in clear English for the first time. The letter was written around 1270 and was prompted by the question of whether lots could be used to seek God's will in the appointment of a bishop. We've all tossed a coin, or pulled straws to see who goes first, or opened the Bible to see if we could resolve an issue with a message from God. These are the kinds of things that Aquinas talks about to show us when casting lots is a good idea and when it's just superstition. The translation is accompanied by an introduction that sets the letter in its historical context, a brief overview of the life of Thomas Aquinas, and eight short essays that shine light from different angles onto this delightful work. This letter serves as a great gateway into the thought and method of one of the world's greatest thinkers.
Peter Carey was ordained a Dominican priest as a young man. After he left the Dominicans, he taught English as a second language and had a long career in banking in New York, before he returned to the priesthood in the Episcopal Church.
“This entertaining volume presents Thomas Aquinas, the renowned Dominican saint-scholar, discussing the practice of lot-drawing and similar ventures of chance. Thomas affirms that such gambling can be appropriate in practical matters where moral certainty cannot be reached otherwise. These reflections are now put before us in Father Peter Carey’s lucid English translation of Thomas’s text, helpfully supplemented with brief essays by other esteemed Thomas scholars. Readers will enjoy and benefit from this work.”
—Bruce Williams, OP, Pontifical Angelicum University, Rome
“Among the many wordy and warring interpreters of our faith, Thomas Aquinas is distinguished by the sweet thoroughness of his calm and broad reason. This letter to a friend on ‘the casting of lots’ is a wonderful oasis of broad and grounded clarity, and helpfully accompanied by insightful essays from Anglican authors on Scripture, tradition, and reason. Treat yourself in this harried time, and consider the Holy Spirit when next you flip a coin.”
—Rebecca Lyman, The Church Divinity School of the Pacific
“If grace perfects nature, then the guidance of the Holy Spirit exceeds without overriding our best shared practices of discernment. This is the wisdom of Thomas’s lovely treatise on casting lots—reading omens and stars, drawing ‘straws,’ rolling dice. Carey’s translation and commentary, along with brief essays by eminent scholars, make this an ideal introduction to an ‘Anglican’ Thomas.”
—Anthony D. Baker, Seminary of the Southwest
“Thomas Aquinas is the greatest of all medieval theologians. If that fact alone has kept you till now from attempting to read his work, I highly recommend that you begin with Peter Carey’s translation of De Sortibus: A Letter to a Friend about the Casting of Lots, in which Saint Thomas shows himself to be humane, imaginative, fanciful, and at times even humorous and romantic. Enter the Middle Ages by a door you didn’t even know was there—and have fun.”
—Thomas Cahill, author of Mysteries of the Middle Ages
“Peter Carey’s De Sortibus, produced during the dark days of the pandemic, is like a flowering plant miraculously appearing in a crevice of a concrete wasteland. What a pleasure to read this formerly untranslated letter by Thomas Aquinas and its accompanying essays by Anglican and Roman scholars. It reminds me as an Anglican committed to the ecumenical vision how much Aquinas has to offer that vision with his comprehensive use of biblical, patristic, and classical sources accompanied by his balanced and reasonable approach to the matter in hand. Aquinas truly belongs to the whole Christian family. May they all be one.”
—Andrew R. St. John, St. Thomas Church Fifth Avenue, New York
“Peter Carey has done us a great service in translating this short work by Aquinas. The expert commentaries included alongside the translation light up Aquinas’s gem of a text and remind us that we still have much to learn from the Angelic Doctor, even in his littlest writings. I warmly commend this wonderful edition of De Sortibus to newcomers and seasoned readers of Aquinas alike.”
—Nathan Lyons, University of Notre Dame, Australia
“Thomas Aquinas’s works, like his reputation, can be daunting. But if you’d like to find a good place to start, you can find no better place to begin than with Peter Carey’s delightful translation of De Sortibus.”
—Mark Larrimore, The New School, New York
“Peter Carey’s translation of De Sortibus: A Letter to a Friend about the Casting of Lots reveals Aquinas’s keen skill in the art of discernment. The book sheds light on an ancient form of divination, itself rendered an appropriate tool for discernment in a variety of circumstances. If you wish to learn more about Aquinas’s pastoral sensitivity and theological acuity—and how these are woven together for the good of Christian community—read this book!”
—Amy Bentley Lamborn, The University of the South, Sewanee
“Peter Carey presents a welcome translation of Saint Thomas Aquinas’s delightful, wise, and often surprising letter—almost a mini-treatise—on the casting of lots. As we move into a future marked by ever-greater uncertainty, we might do well to meditate on Thomas’s prudent reflections about the human need to act and to decide upon action even in the face of insufficient knowledge. The introduction and the accompanying essays are an added bonus and bear witness to the sometimes neglected history of Anglican interest in Saint Thomas Aquinas.”
—Jacob Sherman, Professor and Chair of Philosophy and Religion, California Institute of Integral Studies