The age-old problem of the existence of evil and the question of free will is not just a modern-day exercise for theologians. Aquinas addressed these issues in his day and age and author Timothy Renick‚ in Aquinas for Armchair Theologians‚ provides a quite excellent explanation of how Aquinas attempted to answer the fore-mentioned issues. This paper will review Renick’s endeavor to enlighten us on how Thomas Aquinas’ answers to evil and free will are foundational to theology. The first question
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In Questions 50-52 and 71 by Aquinas‚ he discusses habits and how a habit is a “disposition of a subject which is in a state of potentiality either to a form or operation” (ST I-II‚ q.50‚ a. 1). Based on this definition‚ it shows how people are morally responsible for their habits because even though it is a disposition‚ it has the potential to form the habit‚ but it has not actually happened yet without the person’s choice. That’s an important thing to remember because sometimes habits become so
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claim that the book of Job is of little help in resolving the problem of suffering and evil. The book of Job is about a “blameless and upright man” who God tested. The test consisted of Job losing his family‚ land and health‚ due to a bet between God and Satan whether Job would keep his faith after he lost everything; his health‚ his wealth and his family. The main theme throughout the story of Job is that you will be rewarded for suffering and it is a test of faith. However ‚ in my opinion this is
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St. Francis and Clare March 11th‚ 2013 Francis Bernardone was born in Assisi during the middle ages. His dream as a child was to become a knight. However‚ once he began to fulfill his dream‚ he realized that God was calling him to do something else so he returned home. He began to pray and read the Gospel. Later in the movie‚ St. Francis started visiting the lepers outside of the city. People started to worry about St. Francis because he was spending more time with the lepers than he spent working
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Thomas Aquinas proposes a number of laws that exist in the world. He believes that God is responsible for eternal law. Aquinas points out that eternal law the way the universe is structured. He understands that a rational being must exist‚ who is responsible for the structure of the universe‚ and that rational being must be God. This category of law applies to all things in the universe ranging from rocks to human beings. All of these things have natural tendencies that they are designed to perform
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St. Augustine believed that God made a perfect world‚ but that God’s creatures turned away from God of their own free will and that is how evil originated in the world. Augustine assumes that evil cannot be properly said to exist at all‚ he argues that the evil‚ together with that suffering which is created as punishment for sin‚ originates in the free nature of the will of all creatures. According to Augustine‚ God has allowed evil to exist in the world because it does not conflict with his righteousness
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Aquinas Fifth Way of proving the existence of God Question: Briefly summarize Aquinas’ Fifth Way of proving the existence of God. What counter-argument does Hume cite in answer to this argument from Design? What is John Hick’s answer to Hume’s argument from Evil? Is he right? Thomas Aquinas theorized five different logical arguments to prove the existence of God utilizing scientific hypotheses and basic assumptions of nature. In the fifth of his famous "Five Ways"‚ Aquinas sets forth
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1. Describe a time when you experienced a significant period of suffering. How did you deal with that experience? How did you find comfort in the midst of suffering? I was suffering an unimaginable loss and feeling betrayed‚ my son‚ 5 years of age‚ was taken from me as the result of 2 men‚ one an abusive tyrant and the other bi-sexual‚ my ex-husbands. The two of them had conspired against me. My son was ripped from me and very serious allegations of child abuse were alleged. They were all lies;
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In “The Apology” Socrates reveals a profound defense that no one knowingly does evil. Socrates defense does not rely on the right to freely expressing ones ideas‚ but rests entirely on revealing the ignorance of his accusers. This defense begins after Meletus declares that Socrates solely corrupts the youth by himself; everyone else in Athens helps the youth. Socrates creates an analogy and compares Meletus statement to horses and horse-trainers. Socrates exposes that horse-trainers must have many
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Suffering is an effect of original sin. “Suffering is the penal consequence of wilful disobedience to the law of God” (Catholic Encyclopedia: Evil). Pain can bring about two different ends‚ which depends on how one responds to his suffering‚ the Catholic Church teaches “God is infinitely good and all his works are good. Yet no one can escape the experience of suffering or the evils which seem to be linked to the limitations proper to creatures: and above all to the question of moral evil” (Catechism
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