Each chapter in this volume was originally published as an individual pamphlet by the National Headquarters of the Holy Name Society (NYC) with ecclesiastical approval given between 1941 and 1946. They have been slightly edited for this volume.
From Fr. Walter Farrell's introduction in Chapter 1:
This is the introduction to a series of pamphlets on the relationship between man and God-a series based on the Summa Theologiae and designed to meet the study club needs of Holy Name Societies throughout the country. Its aim is to cover the entire field of theology from the point of view of the layman and particularly for Holy Name men.
Why such a remarkable series is undertaken; why the project is so ambitious and systematic; why such an apparently unpopular subject as "theology" is treated in such flimsy and short-lived booklets as these; why such an erudite book as the Summa of St. Thomas Aquinas is used these questions and others which come to the mind are answered in this introductory pamphlet.
The Holy Name Society challenges its members to read this little book carefully. That's all we ask. For we know that if you read this you'll investigate the subsequent pamphlets, and if you follow through the series, you will discover new vistas, new relationships between God and man, new motivations for human conduct-all of which will be summed up in a new and revitalized society.
We firmly believe and sincerely hope that this little booklet will prove to you a pearl of great price.