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Aquinas on God's Relation to the World
Author(s) -
McWhorter Matthew R.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
new blackfriars
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1741-2005
pISSN - 0028-4289
DOI - 10.1111/j.1741-2005.2012.01483.x
Subject(s) - immutability , relation (database) , perplexity , philosophy , denial , criticism , epistemology , doctrine , theology , literature , psychoanalysis , psychology , art , computer security , database , artificial intelligence , computer science , blockchain , language model
Aquinas’ denial that God has a real relation with the world results in the difficulty of understanding how God creates, knows, wills, and loves the world without entering into a real relation with the world. Because of this perplexity, the contemporary philosopher William Lane Craig argues that Aquinas’ doctrine is ‘extraordinarily implausible.’ After reviewing Aquinas’ teaching in the Summa theologiae , I consider Craig's criticism and then attempt to defend Aquinas’ teaching. In this defense, I consider Aquinas’ teaching as heir to Aristotle, Lombard, and Augustine. I also look at Aquinas’ teaching in relation to his discussions of the divine immutability, knowledge, will, and love.