Contents
Contents
1. The Summa Contra Gentiles and Its Context
1.1 Aquinas’s Life
1.2 Aquinas’s Writings
1.3 When and Why Did Aquinas Write the Summa Contra Gentiles?
1.4 Aquinas Explains Himself
2. Approaching the Question of God’s Existence (SCG 1,10–12)
2.1 Kinds of Natural Theology (SCG 1,10–11)
2.2 Faith versus Demonstration (SCG 1,12)
2.3 Comments on the Above
2.3.1 Should Natural Theology Not Be Avoided Altogether?
2.3.2 “God Exists” as Self-Evident
3. Arguing for God’s Existence (SCG 1,13)
3.1 Argument One
3.1.1 “Everything That Is Moved Is Moved by Another”
3.1.2 “There Is No Procession to Infinity among Movers and Things Moved”
3.2 Argument Two
3.3 Three More Arguments
3.3.1 The First Argument
3.3.2 The Second Argument
3.3.3 The Third Argument
3.4 What Has Aquinas Achieved in the Natural Theology Offered in SCG 1,13?
3.4.1 Some Initial Problems
3.4.2 Aquinas on Motion in SCG 1,13
3.4.3 Aquinas on Efficient Causation
3.4.4 Existence and Nonexistence in SCG 1,13
4. God as Eternal and Simple (SCG 1,14–27)
4.1 Divine Eternity (SCG 1,15)
4.2 God as Lacking Passive Potency and Matter (SCG 1,16 and 17)
4.3 God as Noncomposite (SCG 1,18)
4.4 God as Simple (SCG 1,20–27)
4.5 Comments on Aquinas on Divine Simplicity
5. Talking about God (SCG 1,28–36)
5.1 The General Picture
5.2 SCG 1,28–36: Details
5.3 How to Assess SCG 1,28–36?
6. Goodness, Oneness, and Infinity (SCG 1,37–43)
6.1 Why Is It True That God Is Good? (SCG 1,37)
6.1.1 Comments on SCG 1,37
6.2 Is God Goodness Itself? (SCG 1,38)
6.3 Is there Evil in God? (SCG 1,39)
6.4 God as the Good of Every Good and as the Highest Good (SCG 1,40–41)
6.5 Oneness and Infinity (SCG 1,42–43)
6.6 A Note on Aquinas’s “God Is Good” and “There Is No Evil in God”
6.6.1 Why Aquinas Might Be Thought to Be Wrong in SCG 1,37–41
6.6.2 Responses to the Above
6.7 Moving On
7. God’s Knowledge (SCG 1,44–71)
7.1 Aquinas on Knowledge
7.2 Aquinas on God’s Knowledge (SCG 1,44–71)
7.2.1 God as Intelligent (SCG 1,44)
7.2.2 “God’s Understanding Is the Divine Essence” (SCG 1,45)
7.2.3 God Understanding through the Divine Essence and as Understanding God (SCG 1,46–48)
7.2.4 God’s Knowledge of What Is Not God (SCG 1,49–50)
7.2.5 What God’s Knowledge Is Not (SCG 1,56–58)
7.2.6 Some Specifics Concerning What God Knows Other Than God (SCG 1,63–71)
7.3 Thinking about SCG 1,44–71
8. God’s Will, Life, and Blessedness (SCG 1,72–102)
8.1 Aquinas on Will
8.2 Aquinas on Life
8.3 Aquinas on Blessedness
8.4 Aquinas on Will in God (SCG 1,72–96)
8.4.1 There Is Will in God (SCG 1,72)
8.4.2 God’s Will Is God’s Essence (SCG 1,73)
8.4.3 God Principally Wills the Divine Essence (SCG 1,74)
8.4.4 In Willing Himself God Wills Other Things (SCG 1,75)
8.4.5 God Wills Himself and Other Things by One Act of Will (SCG 1,76)
8.4.6 That God Wills Many Things Does Not Undermine God’s Simplicity (SCG 1,77)
8.4.7 God’s Will Extends to Singular Goods (SCG 1,78)
8.4.8 God Wills Things That Do Not Yet Exist (SCG 1,79)
8.4.9 God Wills His Being and Goodness of Necessity (SCG 1,80)
8.4.10 God Does Not Will Other Things Necessarily (SCG 1,81)
8.4.11 God Cannot Will What Is in Itself Impossible (SCG 1,84)
8.4.12 God’s Will Does Not Abolish Contingency in Things and Does Not Impose Absolute Necessity on Them (SCG 1,85)
8.4.13 A Reason Can Be Assigned to the Divine Will (SCG 1,86)
8.4.14 Nothing Can Be the Cause of God’s Willing (SCG 1,87)
8.4.15 There Is Free Choice in God (SCG 1,88)
8.4.16 There Are No Passions of the Appetites in God (SCG 1,89)
8.4.17 There Is Delight and Joy in God (SCG 1,90)
8.4.18 There Is Love in God (SCG 1,91)
8.4.19 Virtues Can Be Ascribed to God (SCG 1,92)
8.4.20 In God There Are Moral Virtues That Deal with Actions (SCG 1,93)
8.4.21 There Are Contemplative Virtues in God (SCG 1,94)
8.4.22 God Cannot Will Evil (SCG 1,95)
8.4.23 God Hates Nothing (SCG 1,96)
8.5 Aquinas on God’s Life (SCG 1,97–99)
8.6 God’s Blessedness (SCG 1,100–102)
8.7 Some Comments on SCG 1,72–102
8.8 Moving on to SCG 2
9. God as Omnipotent Creator (SCG 2,1–29)
9.1 The Bringing Forth of Things into Being (SCG 2,6)
9.2 Power in God (SCG 2,7–10)
9.3 God and Relations (SCG 2,11–14)
9.4 God as Creator (SCG 2,15–21)
9.4.1 Argument One
9.4.2 Argument Two
9.4.3 Argument Three
9.4.4 Argument Four
9.4.5 Argument Five
9.4.6 Argument Six
9.4.7 Argument Seven
9.5 Creation “from Nothing” (SCG 2,16)
9.6 Creation Is Not a Motion or a Change (SCG 2,17–19)
9.7 What Can Create? (SCG 2,20–21)
9.8 God as Omnipotent (SCG 2,22–29)
9.9 Some Comments on SCG 2,1–29
9.9.1 Relations
9.9.2 Omnipotence
10.1 Can There Be Created Yet Necessary Things? (SCG 2,30)
10.2 Must Creatures Always Have Existed? (SCG 2,31–38)
10.2.1 Arguments Based on What God Is (SCG 2,32)
10.2.2 Arguments Based on What Creatures Are (SCG 2,33)
10.2.3 Arguments Based on What Is Involved in Making (SCG 2,34)
10.2.4 Aquinas’s Responses to the Arguments Based on What God Is (SCG 2,35)
10.2.5 Aquinas’s Responses to the Arguments Based on What Creatures Are (SCG 2,36)
10.2.6 Aquinas’s Responses to the Arguments Based on What Is Involved in Making (SCG 2,37)
10.3 Proving That the World Is Not Eternal (SCG 2,38)
10.4 Distinction among Creatures (SCG 2,39–45)
10.4.1 Distinction Is Not the Result of Chance (SCG 2,39)
10.4.2 Is Matter the First Cause of the Distinction of Things? (SCG 2,40)
10.4.3 Does Diversity Derive from Different Agents? (SCG 2,41)
10.4.4 The First Cause of the Distinction in Things Is Not the World of Secondary Agents (SCG 2,42)
10.4.5 Distinction Does Not Result from a Secondary Cause Introducing Forms into Matter; Nor Does It Result from Differences in Merit or Demerit (SCG 2,43 and 44)
10.4.6 The True First Cause of the Distinction of Things (SCG 2,45)
10.5 Some Comments on SCG 2,30–45
11. Intellectual Creatures (SCG 2,46–101)
11.1 Why Intellectual Creatures? (SCG 2,46)
11.2 What Can Be Said of Intellectual Substances in General? (SCG 2,47–55)
11.2.1 Will (SCG 2,47)
11.2.2 Freedom of Choice (SCG 2,48)
11.2.3 Body (SCG 2,49)
11.2.4 Immateriality (SCG 2,50)
11.2.5 Intellectual Substance and Material Form (SCG 2,51)
11.2.6 Created Forms as Not Divine (SCG 2,52)
11.2.7 Act and Potency (SCG 2,53)
11.2.8 Substance, Being, Form, and Matter (SCG 2,54)
11.2.9 Created Intellects as Incorruptible (SCG 2,55)
11.3 Soul and Body in People (SCG 2,56–90)
11.3.1 Intellect and People: The Overall Account
11.3.2 Intellect and People: Some Details
11.4 Created Intellects That Are Not United to Bodies (SCG 2,91–101)
11.5 Reflecting on SCG 2,46–101
11.6 Moving On
12. Agents, Ends, Evil, and Good (SCG 3,1–15)
12.1 Agents and Ends (SCG 3,2–3)
12.2 Evil (SCG 3,4–15)
12.2.1 The Big Picture in SCG 3,4–15
12.2.2 SCG 3,4–15: Some Details
12.3 Some Comments on SCG 3,1–15
12.3.1 Acting for Ends
12.3.2 Evil and Privation
13. The End of All Things and of People in Particular (SCG 3,16–63)
13.1 Creatures Aiming at God (SCG 3,16–25)
13.2 Ultimate Felicity for Humans (SCG 3,26–63)
13.2.1 What Ultimate Human Felicity Is Not: 1 (SCG 3,26–36)
13.2.2 What Ultimate Human Felicity Is Not: 2 (SCG 3,38–48)
13.2.3 Ultimate Human Happiness and Separate Substances (SCG 3,41–46)
13.2.4 Beatitude (SCG 3,49–63)
13.3 The Value of SCG 3,16–63
14. Providence at Work (SCG 3,64–110)
14.1 God as Acting in All Things (SCG 3,65–70)
14.2 What Divine Providence Does Not Exclude (SCG 3,71–74)
14.2.1 Evil (SCG 3,71)
14.2.2 Contingency (SCG 3,72)
14.2.3 Freedom of Choice (SCG 3,73)
14.2.4 Fortune and Chance (SCG 3,74)
14.3 Providence and Singulars (SCG 3,75–76)
14.4 Providence and Secondary Causes (SCG 3,77–83)
14.4.1 Some More Objections to Belief in Divine Providence (SCG 3,94–96)
14.5 Providence and Prayer (SCG 3,95–96)
14.6 Miracles (SCG 3,98–102)
14.6.1 Preliminaries (SCG 3,98–100)
14.6.2 Miracles Directly (SCG 3,101–102)
14.7 Magic and Demons (SCG 3,104–110)
14.8 Is Aquinas Right about Divine Providence?
14.8.1 Creaturely Causality and Human Choosing
14.8.2 God’s Knowledge and What It Might Be Thought to Necessitate
14.8.3 Miracles
15. Providence in Relation to Rational Creatures (SCG 3,111–163)
15.1 Rational Creatures and Providence (SCG 3,111–113)
15.2 People and Laws: The General Picture (SCG 3,114–116)
15.3 Love of Neighbor, Right Faith, Worship of God, Marriage, Sex, Food, and Nature (SCG 3,117–129)
15.3.1 Loving Our Neighbor (SCG 3,117)
15.3.2 Right Faith (SCG 3,118)
15.3.3 Our Dependence on Our Senses and the Worship of God (SCG 3,119–120)
15.3.4 Latria (SCG 3,120)
15.3.5 Bodily and Sensible Things (SCG 3,121)
15.3.6 Fornication and Marriage (SCG 3,122–125)
15.3.7 Is Sexual Intercourse Intrinsically Sinful? (SCG 3,126)
15.3.8 Food (SCG 3,127)
15.3.9 Human Relations (SCG 3,128)
15.3.10 “According to Nature” (SCG 3,129)
15.4 Divine Counsels (SCG 3,130–138)
15.5 Rewards and Punishments (SCG 3,142–146)
15.6 Grace (SCG 3,147–163)
15.7 Some Reflections on SCG 3,111–163
16. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (SCG 4,2–26)
16.1 Aquinas’s General Approach to the Trinity in SCG 4,2–26
16.2 SCG 4,2–26: Some Details
16.2.1 Scripture and the Second Person of the Trinity (SCG 4,2–9)
16.2.2 Could There Be Generation in God? (SCG 4,10–14)
16.2.3 The Holy Spirit as Divine (SCG 4,15–26)
16.3 Is Aquinas Right on the Trinity?
17. God Incarnate (SCG 4,27–49)
17.1 The Incarnation and Heresy (SCG 4,28–39)
17.2 Reasoning Concerning the Incarnation (SCG 4,40–49)
17.2.1 Arguments against Belief in the Doctrine of the Incarnation (SCG 4,40)
17.2.2 How to Understand the Incarnation (SCG 4,41)
17.2.3 Some Elaboration on SCG 4,41 (SCG 4,42–48)
17.2.4 Replies to the Arguments in SCG 4,40 (SCG 4,49)
17.3 Some Comments on SCG 4,27–49
18.1 The Suitability of the Incarnation (SCG 4,50–55)
18.1.1 Original Sin (SCG 4,50–52)
18.1.2 The Suitability of the Incarnation (SCG 4,53–55)
18.1.2.1 Arguments against the Suitability of the Incarnation (SCG 4,53)
18.1.2.2 Why the Incarnation Was Suitable (SCG 4,54)
18.1.2.3 Replies to the Arguments in SCG 4,53 (SCG 4,55)
18.2 Sacraments (SCG 4,56–78)
18.2.1 The Need for Sacraments (SCG 4,56)
18.2.2 Sacraments of the Old Law and Sacraments of the New Law (SCG 4,57)
18.2.3 Baptism and Confirmation (SCG 4,59–60)
18.2.4 The Eucharist (SCG 4,61–69)
18.2.4.1 What the Eucharist Is According to SCG 4,63–68
18.2.5 Penance (SCG 4,70–72)
18.2.6 Extreme Unction (SCG 4,73)
18.2.7 Orders (SCG 4,74–77)
18.2.8 Matrimony (SCG 4,78)
18.3 Resurrection, the Life to Come, and the End of the World (SCG 4,79–97)
18.3.1 The Main Line of Thought in SCG 4,79–97
18.4 Some Comments on SCG 4,79–97
18.4.1 Original Sin
18.4.2 The Resurrection of the Body