10. Necessity in Creatures, the Eternity of the World, and Distinctions among Creatures (SCG 2,30–45)
Necessity in Creatures, the Eternity of the World, and Distinctions among Creatures (SCG 2,30–45)
IF CREATURES DEPEND on God’s will, does it follow that there can be no necessary beings other than God? Might we not say that “there are some things in the universe whose being is simply and absolutely necessary”?1 You might suppose that we cannot say this if only God is Being Itself who exists uncaused. Yet Aquinas actually does think that some creatures are “simply and absolutely necessary,” as we see from SCG 2,30.