Summa Theologica - Essay Example

RUNNING HEAD: Summa Theologica: Thomas Aquinas’ Views Summa Theologica: A Discussion on Thomas Aquinas’ Views Summa Theologica: A Discussion on Thomas Aquinas’ Views Thomas Aquinas is one of the known philosopher and theologian. The paper is aimed to explore questions regarding faith, thus, his views can be considered of importance. In his work entitled Summa Theologica he presented important issues regarding faith such as the existence of God and the creation of the world. Aquinas presented 3 ways of proving the existence of God.

One is that God is the first mover of things since in the world, everything that had been in motion was set in motion by another. Without God, there is an infinite quest for the first mover. Second evidence of the existence of God is based on the concept of efficient cause which means that one thing can only cause change to another. This will result in a chain of questioning the first cause, thus, the existence of God is the answer. The third evidence that Aquinas presented is also based on the chain of causes.

According to him, one thing owes existence to another which is based on the view of “possibility and necessity.” This means that an object’s existence is based on pre-existing things. He argued that all things exist due to a certain need by another and only God exists for His own reason (Aquinas, 1996; Kretzmann and Stump, 1993). These three proofs can be contradicted by most contemporary theories of the existence of things. But in this case Aquinas is theorizing the existence of God through scientific views.

Faith is the main evidence in the existence of God since he is the first mover, the first cause and the one who exists based on his own reason. Aquinas’s views on the existence of God though had been refuted by most philosophers specifically in the rise of the concepts of evolution and intelligent design. Basically evolution is the scientific view of the existence of the different entities, both living and non-living in the world as advocated by Charles Darwin. This is the main contradicting view against the religious views of creation.

On the other hand, through the continuous study of the said issue, the rise of the concept of intelligent design occurred which is known to be the bridge between the two concepts. It falls between the two concepts. It in fact intersects the two fields of study, science and theology. Based on the said view, the universe existed due to intelligent causes such as natural selection. Thus, it unites the two views (Dembski, 2002). Although, experts from both sides are questioning the said view, the message of unity can be considered as an important merit.

Other philosophers such as Rene Descartes presented views on the existence in everyday life. He surmised that man exists for his own aims and reasons. The line “I think therefore I am” is one of his basic philosophies. Although it did not explain the reason for the existence of things, it presented a way for an organism or a person to exist. When one view one self to have the capability, he can. This is similar for different objects that exist for their own reasons (Descartes, 2008).

Science and technology’s greatest contribution to contemporary life is logic. Through this, people learn to rationalize. Not every part of the world can be reached by modern technology but even in its absence human civilization has the power to exist. The paper is an important view on the matter that even in the simplest actions and events in human life, complex processes which can be considered exceptional and extraordinary happens.ReferencesAquinas, T. (1996). Summa Theologica of St.

Thomas Aquinas. New Advent Inc.Dembski, W.A. (2002). Intelligent Design: A Bridge Between Science and Theology. InterVarsity Press.Descartes, R. (2008) Discourse on Method. Translated by John Veitch. Cosimo, Inc.Kretzmann, N. and Stump, E. (1993). The Cambridge Companion to Aquinas. Cambridge University Press.