On Creation [Quaestiones Disputatae de Potentia Dei, Q. 3]
Overview
Thomas Aquinas wrote his Disputed Questions on the Power of God (Quaestiones Disputatae de Potentia Dei) in Rome in 1265–1266. Begun, though probably not completed, before he wrote the first part of his famous work, the Summa Theologiae, the de Potentia Dei considered 10 questions that evoked lively debate in Thomas’ day and continue to do so in our own.
This volume includes a new English translation of Question 3, in which Thomas takes up questions and ideas about divine and human freedom, whether or not the world is created, the problem of evil, the efficacy of creatures, and the status of the developing human embryo. It offers a comprehensive treatment of creation and the metaphysics and anthropology Thomas employs in considering the general creation of the universe and the particular creation of each human being.
Susan C. Selner-Wright’s translation of the critical Leonine edition is intended to make Thomas’ contribution to the current discussion more accessible. It constitutes a focused but extended example of Thomas at the height of his intellectual powers. We find him here in conversation with 50 different source works, engaged with the ideas of pagan, Christian, Islamic, and Jewish thought, and demonstrating his understanding of philosophy and theology as distinct but complementary disciplines. Throughout the text, Selner-Wright directs the reader to Thomas’ own sources, related texts elsewhere in Thomas’ corpus, and secondary sources. Philosophical notes give background for particular claims or arguments and trace important philosophical principles at work throughout the text.
In the Logos edition, this volume is enhanced by amazing functionality. Important terms link to dictionaries, encyclopedias, and a wealth of other resources in your digital library. Perform powerful searches to find exactly what you’re looking for. Take the discussion with you using tablet and mobile apps. With Logos Bible Software, the most efficient and comprehensive research tools are in one place, so you get the most out of your study.
This volume is part of Thomas Aquinas in Translation (8 vols.). Take a look at the whole set.
- Includes a new English translation of Aquinas’ Question 3
- Makes Aquinas’ philisophical discussion more accessible
- Offers translator’s notes to navigate referencing across texts
- Title: On Creation
- Author: Thomas Aquinas
- Series: Thomas Aquinas in Translation
- Publisher: Catholic University of America
- Print Publication Date: 2011
- Logos Release Date: 2014
- Pages: 202
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
- Subjects: God (Christianity) › Omnipotence--History of doctrines--Middle Ages, 600-1500; Creation › History of doctrines--Middle Ages, 600-1500
- ISBNs: 9780813217987, 0813217989
- Resource ID: LLS:CRTNQSTNSDSPTTD
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2024-03-25T19:31:06Z
Thomas Aquinas (1225–7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, Catholic priest, and Doctor of the Church. An immensely influential philosopher, theologian, and jurist in the tradition of scholasticism, he is also known within the latter as the Doctor Angelicus and the Doctor Communis. He was the foremost classical proponent of natural theology and he argued that reason is found in God. His influence on Western thought is considerable, and much of modern philosophy developed or opposed his ideas, particularly in the areas of ethics, natural law, metaphysics, and political theory.
Unlike many currents in the Church of the time, Aquinas embraced the philosophy of Aristotle—whom he called “the Philosopher”—and attempted to synthesize Aristotelian philosophy with the principles of Christianity.
His best-known works are the Disputed Questions on Truth (1256–1259), the Summa contra Gentiles (1259–1265), and the unfinished but massively influential Summa Theologica (1265–1274). His commentaries on Scripture and on Aristotle also form an important part of his body of work. Furthermore, Thomas is distinguished for his eucharistic hymns, which form a part of the Church’s liturgy. The Catholic Church honors Thomas Aquinas as a saint and regards him as the model teacher for those studying for the priesthood, and indeed the highest expression of both natural reason and speculative theology. In modern times, under papal directives, the study of his works was long used as a core of the required program of study for those seeking ordination as priests or deacons, as well as for those in religious formation and for other students of the sacred disciplines (philosophy, Catholic theology, church history, liturgy, and canon law).
Thomas Aquinas is considered one of the Catholic Church’s greatest theologians and philosophers. Pope Benedict XV declared: “This (Dominican) Order . . . acquired new luster when the Church declared the teaching of Thomas to be her own and that Doctor, honored with the special praises of the Pontiffs, the master and patron of Catholic schools.”