Timothy M Renick, author of "Aquinas for Armchair Theologians", questions why if God created a world of boundless goodness then why Satan (evil) exist. He also mentions that "If God is truly all-powerful (or omnipotent), then surely God has the power to eliminate Satan if he so chooses" (pg. 32). Many of his questions reflected on cultural and religious related questions that he believed others wonder. Renick did note that Aquinas admits that God does not make evil and only makes good. However, if evil is not a substance or a thing and does not exist at all then what then is evil?
Also he is strict of law. For example of his defense of the law is, “Man remember until an hour before the Devil fell, God
Mackie starts off by claiming this reply limits God’s supposed abilities. If God is incapable of creating good without also creating evil, then how can God be omnipotent? Logically, he cannot. Mackie also states that the idea of evil being a counterpart to good creates relativism between the two and become forms of comparison. This ignites the idea that God believes not in goodness but in the better.
Explain why or why not? Yes he does because he is trying to get rid of evil just like Priests do. He is always wanting what is best for others and is trying to help people. 9.
God 's existence has been a continuous debate certainly for centuries. The issue of God 's existence is debatable because of the different kind of controversies that can be raised from an "Atheist as being the non-believer of God" and a "Theist who is the believer of God". An atheist can raise different objections on the order of the universe by claiming that the science is a reason behind the perfection of the universe. In Aquinas 's fifth argument, he claims that the order of the universe cannot be explained by chance, but only by design and purpose. To explain this order of the universe he concludes that, there is an intelligent being whom we call "God".
In Saint Thomas Aquinas argument the second way, Aquinas argues for the existence of God, making use of efficient causes and premises to help us conclude that God exists. In the following words I would argue that Saint Thomas Aquinas’s argument formulated in the second way leads to a valid argument, which concludes that there must be a first cause and that God exists. Aquinas second way is an argument that God is the first cause and he is essential to everything on earth because nothing would have the power to fuel its self without the intermediate cause which is God. An example is a painter using a paintbrush to paint as he moves his hand, paint is applied on the wall but if he stops, the paint would not fly from the brush to the wall, stopping
the cosmological argument seems to be successful in both its first and second stages that the cosmos exists and it has a first cause. Its third point the first cause is God is more contentious, but it is far from easy to decline. Aquinas ' appreciation of God is a practical one God is not just an appropriate thing that might or might not exist. God is existence in its accomplishment or completeness. accepting that our compassionate accessible us on to such an existence is a common aspiration for do we not all want to know a more perfect reality?
Hi Folks, How’s your week been. I will admit, I have been quite lazy and have not done a blog the past few weeks. Work and life can certainly get in the way and can drain a person’s essence and willpower. Frankly, people need to recharge their batteries and try an escape the monotony. Hence, I will be taking a trip to a couple of fairs in Minnesota in the coming days.
JL Mackie was persuasive in his argument by showing that belief in an almighty God is not rational. He proves this by posing the problem of evil. According to JL Mackie, if God exists and is omniscient, omnipotent, and good then evil would not exist. However, evil exists in this world, sometimes in the form of undeserved suffering (diseases that affect humans, earthquakes, famines ...) and others perpetrated by man (murders, wars ...). If God exists and has the capability to be powerful, good, omniscient and omnipotent, why would he let evil be perpetrated?
He can do all things. If God is good and the opposite of good is evil, then evil cannot be all-powerful. In fact, this proves that the better you are, the more powerful you become. “Therefore, since He who can only do good can do all things, then those who do evil cannot do all things. ”[8]
For example, there are religions which view God as a physical object or as one that has a body. Therefore, Aquinas observes that Anselm’s definition can only work with those who define God in one way. Secondly, he observes that even if all people were to understand the meaning of the word “God”, it would then only subsist in people’s imagination and not physically. However, his claims can be refuted on the basis that, when one says that “no greater God can be conceived”, then one would only be talking about God. The word God is what you call a being that is above all understanding.
All creatures in this world have an ability to do whatever it is willing to do. As an illustration, a mother uses drugs, yells at her son every day, forces him to do what he does not want to, and also violently abuses him. One day, that boy kills his mother. That is murder, and that is evil. God might see that, but he let it happen due to two possibilities.
PAPER #2 History of philosophy: Philosophy 20B Thomas Aquinas reasons that “God is one” in the Summa theologiae, part one, question eleven, article three. Using three proofs, one on “Gods simplicity,” the second on “the infinity of Gods perfection” and the last based on “the unity of the world.” The following will be Dissecting and providing explanations along with criticism. As well, what it is meant by “God is one”.
Thomas Aquinas was greatly influenced by Aristotle and it clearly reflected through his works. Aquinas adopted Aristotle’s theories of place, motion, and time making them his primary source of inspiration to his own philosophical thoughts. Aristotle wasn’t the only inspiration in St. Thomas Aquinas but he was the most important one related to God and living. He believed that God and the natural world were connected, and that Aristotle’s thought that all living things had soul, including plants and animals were true. Because of his idea of the existence of God which was influenced by Aristotle, and the ways of living the Church wouldn’t approve his work, the archbishop of Paris declared his thoughts as profanation.
Title: Critical evaluation of existence of god Name: Lokesh Singh Roll No. : 13110054 Word Count: 1010 Critical evaluation of existence of god There are many theories and explanations on the concept of god. God is a word which has different meanings for different persons, for example, for an atheist god is just an idea or concept which is evolved by time. But for others this is far greater than that. Many philosophers thought about the definition of god. St. Anselm is the one of the great philosopher who clarified the definition of god and gave an argument about existence of god.
