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Essay / Analysis of Thomas Aquinas' quote on the existence of God
Table of contentsIntroductionExplanation of the quoteOur knowledge of GodConclusionReference listIntroductionSt. Thomas Aquinas was a Catholic preacher within the Dominican order and one of the leading medieval seekers and theologians of truth. According to Saint Thomas, “God is an intellect and we can therefore say that the universe is structured in truth”. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”?Get the original essayExplanation of the quoteIn this quote he mentions that we can construct the concept of God from our senses which give us the ability to distinguish and achieve things. What he is saying, in essence, is that we can begin to know it using our natural knowledge of observable things and see it as a distinct substance, independent in itself or immovable motive (Aquinas par. 2). He goes on to explain that He is the cause of all that is good and perfect. It is said that anything bad or negative does not come from God and is, therefore, considered evil. The existence of God is beyond human understanding – everything we illustrate about Him falls within the limited bounds of human understanding. Its topicality goes beyond our power of expression. The most accurate way to describe Him is through negation – showing what He would not be rather than what He actually is. They have intrinsic knowledge of things, but humans do not participate in the transcendent world because our senses are the most important. point of our knowledge (Aquinas par.24). However, this does not prevent us from being in contact with the divine since our souls are the center through which the divine connects to the physical. According to Saint Thomas Aquinas, there are two fundamental intellectual functions of the human being, they are linked to two essential elements of creatures: essence and existence. Furthermore, truth can be explained as a judgment about existing objects, creating an example of judgment about acts to be performed or things to be created. Thomas agrees that knowledge is possible as an effect of Enlightenment, saying that angels participate in the divine presence. Our knowledge of God Our knowledge of God, according to St. Thomas, God is considered the initial mover, one of the characters that he possesses and possesses. is immovable and immutable. This means that nothing can change God and the essence of his nature. Among the other highlighted and important negative qualities of God demonstrated by Saint Thomas, there is divine simplicity which must explain the non-existence of God. This shows the fact that God's creation is made up of many elements. One of them is quite potential and the other is real. Giving more explanation shows that God is genuine and uncaused, which makes it clear that God is not an element of being. Furthermore, the transcendent being is not repressed by matter and form, nor by substance and accident. Therefore, we explain his simplicity, God identical to his essence. For example, men can possess an intrinsic character like being kind, for example, a man is not kind, he carries kindness as his essence. However, he has other traits that belong to him as an individual. This draws a conclusion that is not similar to that of God: He is a compound substance. Therefore, if the transcendent essence were other than its mortal existence, there would be parts of actuality and being in God. We can specify that His substance would be a potentiality for His being. As God is a complete act, he should be a complete being and his essence should be existence itself..