The Differences Evident Between the Epic of Gilgamesh and Summa Theology - Essay Example

The Epic of Gilgamesh and Summa Theological Question 17. Hope, Considered in Itself by St.Thomas Aquinas In the search for origins, many questions cross our minds like, how the universe was created? What is the position occupied by man in this universe? What is the origin of human existence? What is special about the human nature? Does God really exist and if so what role does he play? And lastly what does life mean to us? These are some of the questions fundamentally asked in every society while philosophers and religious leaders try their level best to find satisfying answers. The two sections from Summa Theological Question 17. Hope, Considered in itself by St. Thomas Aquinas and from the Epic of Gilgamesh have played their part in trying to get solutions to these endless questions. Though the two sections have assumed different perspectives in addressing the issues, they both share certain beliefs and reasoning. Both are developed from dialogues and narrations examining the creation of the world basing on ancient religious texts. The two sections also borrow or counter facts from the Bible especially the opening books on the existence of God, creation of human beings, the position of man before God and the punishment God directs towards sinful men. Thomas Aquinas in his writing insists on existence and argues that everything must come from somewhere thus comes up with proofs to show that God really exists. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, it was after Gilgamesh had tried to prove himself as powerful as the gods by engaging himself in immoral acts that provoked the gods to act by creating his equal after which they took away his life to show Gilgamesh that the gods exist and they are the only ones immune to death. It was at this juncture that he changed and believed in the existence of the gods. The Bible presents the ancient creation of earth, heaven, nature, humanity, time, and the relationship between woman, man and an omnipotent deity. This is an indication that creation is not all about the universe but also the society’s configuration implication and the ordering of the universe. This extension reveals the meaning of life through a number of deistic expectations that involve the free will idea and human choice. The two pieces of writing have embraced this extension by extending their scope from just explaining the existence of God and creation of mankind. The Epic of Gilgamesh tries to explain God’s extraordinary ways and powers by referring to the flood waters that are famous in Noah’s ark in the Bible. The floods story in the Bible goes parallel with the one in the epic of the Gilgamesh. Just as it was in the Genesis, floods in the Bible where God Commanded Noah to build the Ark and put all animals inside to protect them from the waters, the epic of the Gilgamesh has a similar version in trying to explain gods working .In the epic, the Lord of waters and wisdom, Ea, comes up with the revelation of approaching floods to Utnapishtin. Utnapishtin, the ancestor to Gilgamesh, constructs a boat in which he withdrew his belongings and family saving them from continuous rain that lasted for six days. A similar flood relation with the Bible is the revelation in Baghdad on the coming of deluge created by Enki, the God of freshwater. Summa Theology borrows what the Bible narrates about how the relationship between God and man should be. St. Thomas Aquinas preaches in his writing that faith and hope are what make men adhere to God. According to him, men derive both the truth and knowledge from God thus attaining perfect goodness. He insists that faith makes men adhere to God and he is the only source from where men get the knowledge of truth now that men believe that God tells them the truth. Hope makes men trust in the divine assistance to gain happiness. Though there are similarities existing among the two sections, there are a number of differences. The Epic of Gilgamesh is centered on how the Sumerian desire for immorality which was signified through the protagonist journey whose will faced frustration from the gods. In the sermon shared in the epic, the Buddha focuses its examination on the nature of suffering and human nature without referring to any divine figure. The Epic is seen to focus more on the god’s punishment to evil doings in relation to the origin of anger from the gods. Thomas Aquinas on the other hand tries to synthesize the instruments that are aimed at uniting philosophy and theology in an effort to prove the existence of the deity. Summa Theological contrary to the Epic Gilgamesh focuses on the origin and existence of a good relationship between God and man. Thomas justifies his argument by stating that nothing can originate from nothing, thus everything else has to originate from something. God has to have come from somewhere and he still exists. He goes further to explain the existence of a special relationship between God and man, thus man has to be coming from God. As the epic concentrates on the conflicts between man and the gods, summa theology has its focus on the special and good relationship between the two. The Epic of Gilgamesh has been presented in such a way that it takes after the chapters of the Bible. It conveys its message through tablets from the gods to the people. This is directly related with how the Bible is arranged in chapters and verses. The opening tablets of the epic share the same theme as the message in the Bible. In the book of Ecclesiastes, it is written that everything is in vain and is striving after the winds. Just the same way the Bible is regarded as an ancient document with themes and speeches typical of the culture and age of the Jewish and other ancient communities; The Epic has adapted a similar approach of cultural ideologies. Summa theology is arranged just like normal books in such a way that it has objectives, questions and answers with its message mainly directed to the people on how to develop a better relationship between man and God. To pass his message across, Thomas arranged his work on the basis of objections opposing his theories and then he goes to address the objections with answers. Through the responses, Thomas proves the existence of God. The Epic Gilgamesh is mainly based on the historical and ancient facts like the old stories and borrows examples from the bible while Summa theology utilizes the old and ancient facts from the Bible and other historical texts as well as modern philosophical and scientific facts in its arguments. This shows that as the epic uses the ancient facts in its search for origins, the theology borrows from every corner to prove its position in the search for origins. The God portrayed by Thomas is a supreme being coming before anything and is the source of any living or non living things thus adored by everyone. There exists only one overall being; the source of origin of everything. In the epic, God is comparable to other gods and other human beings meaning he is not the main source of origin. Gilgamesh regards himself as being more of a god than a man and uses his power to have things his own way. He uses his powers to engage in evil actions like raping women and oppressing his subjects. There exist the Enka and Ea who are the gods of fresh water and wisdom. Their actions are directly compared to the actions of God in the Bible indicating that they have similar or equal powers. Despite the differences evident between the Epic of Gilgamesh and Summa Theology, Question 17 Hope, Considered in itself by St. Thomas Aquinas, the two pieces of literature share the similarity of having the same aim of explaining the search of origins. Though varying approaches, the two sections explain the origin of God and the gods, the origin of sin, the relationship existing between man and the gods as well as God. The Epic of Gilgamesh regards the origin of things as a work of nature and does not appreciate any supreme being in control of everything. Summa Theology by St. Thomas Aquinas traces back the origin of everything to one Supreme Being called God. Works cited Aquinas, Thomas. Summa Theology: The Complete Text. New York: St. Augustines Press, 2011. Print George, Andrew. The Epic of Gilgamesh. New York: penguin Classics, 2003. Print Read More