scholarly journals Sobre la simplicidad divina y la predicación de múltiples atributos en Avicena y Tomás de Aquino / On Divine Simplicity and the Predication of Multiple Attributes in Avicenna and Thomas Aquinas

2016 ◽  
Vol 23 ◽  
pp. 147
Author(s):  
Luis Xavier LÓPEZ-FARJEAT
Keyword(s):  
Thomas Aquinas ◽  
Divine Simplicity ◽  
Summa Theologiae ◽  
Divine Attributes ◽  
Multiple Attributes ◽  
The Way

In In I Sent., d. 2, q. 1, aa. 1-3 Thomas Aquinas deals with divine simplicity and the predication of the divine attributes. There, he seems to take some distance from Avicenna, specifically when Avicenna avers that God lacks a quiddity. However, in the Summa theologiae Aquinas assumes, as he previously does both in In I Sent., d. 8, q. 1, a. 1 and in De ente et essentia, that there is an identity between the essentia/quiddity and the esse in God, while this statement would also be held by Avicenna. I will show how back to the Commentary on the Sentences Aquinas has detected the existing tension between the two thesis held by Avicenna, and I will also analyze the way in which he addresses both these theses.

scholarly journals “I AM has sent me to you:” How Thomas Aquinas’ understanding of the divine names illuminates the way in which he reconciles impassibility and compassion in God

Lumen et Vita ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Bigelow Reynolds
Keyword(s):  
Thomas Aquinas ◽  
The Other ◽  
Human Knowledge ◽  
Summa Theologiae ◽  
Divine Attributes ◽  
Knowledge Of God ◽  
God's Love ◽  
Hebrew Scripture ◽  
The One ◽  
The Way

Contemporary debates on divine impassibility generally offer two options: either affirm a suffering God who loves and cares, or uphold an impassible God who turns a blind eye to the cries of his people. For Thomas Aquinas, divine impassibility (along with the other divine attributes: simplicity, infinity, immutability, etc.) is not inconsonant with divine compassion. God’s unchangeable nature affirms, not undermines, God’s ability to love. This paper, acknowledging the inadequacy of these two incomplete and dichotomous categorizations, will argue that Thomas’ understanding of the divine names in the Summa Theologiae, 1a, q. 13 illuminates the way in which he reconciles impassibility and compassion in God.It is not the goal of this paper to defend either the idea that God does or does not suffer, nor to affirm or deny the doctrine of divine impassibility on a scale any larger than the work of Thomas and selected contemporary scholars who assist in the project of unpacking and analyzing his thought. It is the goal of this paper to examine in as close a way as possible how Thomas’ defense of divine impassibility can be placed in dialogue with his understanding of the way that humans know and name God, ultimately revealing the inadequacy in the polarizing assumption that an immutable God cannot love.I will begin by analyzing the structure and implications of Thomas’ defense of divine impassibility in Question 9. This will be followed by an analysis of how, in Thomas’ understanding, human knowledge of God, including God’s attribute of impassibility, affects human capacity to name God, here drawing heavily on the insights David Burrell. I will then explore the theological and scriptural implications of Thomas’ assertion that “The One Who Is” is the most appropriate name for God, ultimately arguing that an understanding of the Hebrew scripture from which this name is drawn reveals that God’s love and compassion on behalf of his suffering people is not opposed to but rather relies upon his unchanging nature.

scholarly journals O AGIR SALVADOR DE JESUS SEGUNDO SANTO TOMÁS DE AQUINO

2010 ◽  
Vol 41 (113) ◽  
pp. 39
Author(s):  
Juvenal Savian Filho
Keyword(s):  
Saint Thomas Aquinas ◽  
Thomas Aquinas ◽  
Summa Theologiae ◽  
13Th Century ◽  
Efficient Cause ◽  
The Way

Este artigo investiga o modo como Santo Tomás de Aquino, na questão 48 da tertia pars da Summa theologiae, estuda o ato salvador de Jesus: sintetizando as expressões bíblicas em cinco categorias teológicas centrais, ele as relativiza (no sentido de que cada uma delas só faz sentido em relação com as outras) e dá certa preferência a uma delas, aquela que considera o agir salvador de Jesus ao modo de uma causa eficiente. Mas o que isso significa? Busca-se investigar também se, embora com sua linguagem típica do século XIII, esse texto tomasiano guarda ou não alguma atualidade para a soteriologia cristã.ABSTRACT: This article investigates the way Saint Thomas Aquinas studies the saving act of Jesus (at question 48 of his Summa theologiae, Tertia Pars). By sinthetizing the Biblical expressions in five central theological categories, he renders them relative because each only makes sense when related to the others, and he prefers that which considers the saving act of Jesus as an efficient cause. But, what does that mean? Finally, this article aims at finding out whether despite its typical 13th century language, this text of the Summa can be considered updated and important to Christian Soteriology.

scholarly journals Theology as a Sacrament of Hope

Lumen et Vita ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margaret Blume
Keyword(s):  
Thomas Aquinas ◽  
Good News ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Poetic Form ◽  
Summa Theologiae ◽  
The Tempest ◽  
Dramatic Structure ◽  
Ordinary Time ◽  
The Way

In his exegesis of the Transfiguration, Thomas Aquinas says that the vision of divine glory was given to Peter, James, and John in order to prepare them for Christ’s imminent Passion and Resurrection (Cf. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae III, Q.45). The brilliance of Christ’s face shining like the sun (cf. Mt. 17:2) strengthened the apostles so that they would not lose heart during the darkness that would come, but would wait for Christ’s splendor to be revealed again after the Resurrection. The entire mystery is an icon of hope, for it shows that visions of glory are always given as part of a journey towards their fulfillment. “It is good for us to be here,” Peter recognized, but the apostles were not brought up to the mountain to remain there. The revelation sent them back down the mountain to fare forward in hope. In this paper, I would like to suggest that the work of theology is meant to share in the mystery of the Transfiguration, and thus cultivate the virtue of hope. In this task, theology can learn from literature, for the way of revealing is as important as the message to be revealed. I would like to propose Shakespeare’s The Tempest as a model. In its dramatic structure and wonder-inspiring poetic form, The Tempest participates in the mystery of the Transfiguration, sending the audience away from the strange island refreshed and reoriented, set on the way with Prospero towards freedom. The play challenges theology to present the Good News of the Gospel in a way that makes the glory of the Lord visible by the radiance of its form, and interrupts into ordinary time, like the storm with which The Tempest begins, so that the revelation is not an end in itself.  If theology is able to set human beings on a journey by cultivating patience and wonder in the very way it reveals, then it will effect the mysteries that it signifies, and truly impart Christian hope.

Divine Simplicity and the Grammar of God-talk: Comments on Hughes, Tapp, and Schärtl

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 89-104
Author(s):  
Otto Muck SJ
Keyword(s):  
Thomas Aquinas ◽  
Divine Simplicity ◽  
Divine Attributes ◽  
Adequate Understanding ◽  
First Cause ◽  
Different Parts ◽  
Simplicity Of God

Different opinions about the simplicity of God may be connected with different understandings of how abstract terms are used to name the properties which are affirmed of a being. If these terms are taken to signify parts of that being, this being is not a simple one. Thomas Aquinas, who attributes essence, existence and perfections to God, nevertheless thinks that these are not different parts of God. When essence, existence and perfections are attributed to God, they all denominate the same, the Being of the first cause. For Aquinas, this is a consequence of his way of introducing the language about God by basing it upon the philosophical ways leading to God as first cause. Awareness of this connection between Divine attributes and the arguments for God’s existence is crucial for an adequate understanding of Aquinas’ position.

‘Counsel, Comfort, and Conscience’ in More’s Letters to Fellow Prisoner Nicholas Wilson

Moreana ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 46 (Number 176) (1) ◽  
pp. 49-64
Author(s):  
John F. Boyle
Keyword(s):  
Thomas Aquinas ◽  
Summa Theologiae ◽  
Thomas More ◽  
Tower Of London

This is a study of the two letters of Thomas More to Nicholas Wilson writ-ten while the two men were imprisoned in the Tower of London. The Dialogue of Comfort against Tribulation illuminates the role of comfort and counsel in the two letters. An article of Thomas Aquinas’ Summa theologiae is used to probe More’s understanding of conscience in the letters.

scholarly journals Grace Presupposes Nature: The Structure of the Summa and an Illustration by the Virtue of Patience in Light of Christ

2021 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-78
Author(s):  
Tyler Pellegrin
Keyword(s):  
Human Nature ◽  
Thomas Aquinas ◽  
Summa Theologiae ◽  
Christian Life ◽  
Natural Virtues

Abstract The first part of this essay argues that the very structure and ordering of Thomas Aquinas’ Summa Theologiae manifests a departure from the typical theological position of his time regarding natural acquired virtues. Resting on a conviction that grace presupposes nature, Aquinas uniquely holds that natural virtues perfective of human nature can be acquired prior to grace, which can be elevated and incorporated by grace into the properly Christian life. The second part of this essay offers a case study of the virtue of patience that illustrates the argument of the first part of the paper.

The Contemporary Reception of Aquinas on the Natural Knowledge of God

2021 ◽  
pp. 595-611
Author(s):  
David VanDrunen
Keyword(s):  
Natural Theology ◽  
Thomas Aquinas ◽  
Christian Faith ◽  
Natural Order ◽  
Reformed Theology ◽  
Summa Theologiae ◽  
Human Reason ◽  
Natural Knowledge ◽  
Knowledge Of God ◽  
Attributes Of God

This chapter considers key themes from Thomas Aquinas’ view of the natural knowledge of God, or natural theology, from the opening of his Summa theologiae. It is written from the perspective of Reformed theology, which has traditionally supported natural theology of a certain kind, despite its recent reputation as an opponent of natural theology. According to Thomas, natural theology is insufficient for salvation and is inevitably laden with errors apart from the help of supernatural revelation. But human reason, operating properly, can demonstrate the existence and certain attributes of God from the natural order, and this natural knowledge constitutes preambles to the articles of the Christian faith. The chapter thus engages in a critically sympathetic analysis of these themes and suggests how a contemporary reception of Thomas might appropriate them effectively.

A Metafísica de Copleston e o Debate com Russell

2021 ◽  
Vol 76 (4) ◽  
pp. 1331-1362
Author(s):  
Alexander Maar
Keyword(s):  
Thomas Aquinas ◽  
Higher Order ◽  
History Of Philosophy ◽  
Bertrand Russell ◽  
Ultimate Cause ◽  
History Of ◽  
First Cause ◽  
The Way

Father Frederick Copleston is best known for his carefully crafted works History of Philosophy and Thomas Aquinas. Copleston’s most notable metaphysical thesis is his interpretation of the argument from contingency, which he sees as the superior choice for theists. He draws on Aquinas and distinguishes between causa fieri and causa esse to argue that God is a higher order (vertical) cause of contingent causal series (horizontal). Copleston presents God not as a temporal first cause, but an ontologically ultimate cause necessary to explain a contingent universe. His contribution changed the way we read Aquinas. Copleston’s willingness to debate his thesis with different philosophical perspectives is illustrated by his acceptance to discuss God’s existence with Bertrand Russell, in 1948. This BBC radio debate epitomises the dispute between theists and atheists from the 1940s onwards. I undertake to expound and comment Copleston’s contribution to metaphysics, present relevant parts of the debate and provide criticism.

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