Category Archives: Aquinas

Aquinas, Free Choice, & Divine Sovereignty, Part 7

Posted on August 8, 2017 by humblesmith

This is part seven in an intermittent series on Thomas Aquinas’ view of free choice and divine sovereignty. (To see the first six parts, do a search for “Aquinas, Free Choice” in the search bar.) In Aquinas’ Summa Theologia, 1.82.1, … Continue reading →

Posted in Aquinas, Philosophy | Leave a comment

Human Agency is Consistent with First Mover Arguments

Posted on May 21, 2017 by humblesmith

In considering arguments for the existence of God, we sometimes encounter the argument of the first mover, now often referred to as the first cause. This first cause argument comes into play when we try to speak of human agency, … Continue reading →

Posted in Aquinas, Philosophy | 4 Comments

Was Aquinas An Apologist?

Posted on February 6, 2014 by humblesmith

If people know anything about Thomas Aquinas, they know his “five ways” that give reasons for the existence of God. This section of Thomas’ writings is found in many introductory philosophy texts, and if a person has read anything of … Continue reading →

Posted in Apologetics, Aquinas | 2 Comments

Can an Atheist Have an Infinite String of Dodges?

Posted on December 3, 2013 by humblesmith

The following is the first of Thomas Aquinas’ five ways of establishing the existence of God. For our immediate purpose, we are merely trying to establish a beginning of causes. That the first cause is known as God, or how … Continue reading →

Posted in Apologetics, Aquinas, Atheism, Philosophy | 20 Comments

Cosmological Argument, Sufficient Reason, & Causality

Posted on September 10, 2013 by humblesmith

Thomas Aquinas, in his massive work Summa Theologica, included five logical explanations for the existence of God. If people know anything about Aquinas, they know the five ways. Unfortunately, Aquinas is often misunderstood. A key, but often misunderstood concept is … Continue reading →

Posted in Apologetics, Aquinas, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Do You Act With A Purpose, Or Not?

Posted on February 11, 2013 by humblesmith

Modern atheist evolutionists tell us that nature is completely purposeless, yet works toward an end, namely survival. For the most part this end is assumed and never questioned. Few people seem to see a conflict in the idea that nature is mindless and … Continue reading →

Posted in Apologetics, Aquinas, Atheism, Evolution, Philosophy | 14 Comments

The Ontological Argument From a Realist Perspective

Posted on August 25, 2012 by humblesmith

The following video presents a good explanation of the ontological argument. It also allows us to examine the distinction between analytic philosophy, which the ontological argument is part of, and realist philosophy, which could be represented by the thought of … Continue reading →

Posted in Aquinas, Philosophy, Uncategorized | 19 Comments

Recommended Reading in Christian Apologetics & Theology

Posted on August 19, 2012 by humblesmith

The Christian Apologetics Journal edition of Spring 2012 (10.1) includes an excellent series of articles. This particular issue is most valuable, and includes the following: Philosophical Antecedents to Thomas Aquinas’ Second Way, by Richard Howe. In this article Howe does … Continue reading →

Posted in Aquinas, Bible, Church History, Philosophy, Theology | Leave a comment

Thomas Misunderstood: Certainty of God From What Source?

Posted on June 19, 2012 by humblesmith

Thomas Aquinas wrote a massive amount of material. He wrote much by dictating to scribes, and it is rumored that he could keep several going at once. Since he wrote many volumes, and it is written in a style that … Continue reading →

Posted in Aquinas, Philosophy, Uncategorized | 2 Comments

In Defense of a Little Philosophy

Posted on January 23, 2012 by humblesmith

Christians have, in recent years, been wary of philosophy. “Recently” has been for a gaggle of centuries now, for mistrusting philosophy and philosophers has a long tradition in Christian circles. Much of this is justified, for significant levels of bad … Continue reading →

Posted in Aquinas, Bible, Philosophy, Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Aquinas, Evolution, Providence, & Chance

Posted on January 2, 2012 by humblesmith

In Thomas Aquinas’ work titled On Truth (De Veritate), Thomas deals with whether or not the world is ruled by God’s providence, or whether all natural things happen randomly. Thomas even precedes his comments by positing a potential objector who … Continue reading →

Posted in Apologetics, Aquinas, Evolution | 5 Comments

Aquinas, Free Choice, & Divine Sovereignty, Part 5

Posted on May 14, 2011 by humblesmith

This is the fifth part of an intermittent series on Thomas Aquinas’ view of human free will and divine sovereignty. Many of the questions surrounding the problem of how much free will a human has vs. how much action God must take surrounds … Continue reading →

Posted in Aquinas, Theology | Leave a comment

Of Spaghetti Monsters and Pink Unicorns: A Refutation

Posted on April 15, 2011 by humblesmith

The Intelligent Design (ID) movement has attempted to take empirical data and draw the conclusion that naturalism could not be possible. Naturalism is physicalism, saying that all that exists is physical matter and energy, that everything that exists is the … Continue reading →

Posted in Apologetics, Aquinas, Philosophy, Skepticism | 7 Comments

Can Theology Be Demonstrated by Logical Argument?

Posted on March 20, 2011 by humblesmith

The question of whether faith can be proven by evidence or not is addressed by Thomas Aquinas in his Summa Theologica (1.1.8).  Thomas first lists the common objections: 1. Christianity is built on faith, not proven by arguments. 2. Argument … Continue reading →

Posted in Aquinas, Theology | Leave a comment

Infinity, Christian Theology, and Greek Philosophy

Posted on January 23, 2011 by humblesmith

Some have made the charge that early Christian fathers borrowed concepts from Greek philosophy and used it in forming Christian theology. The charge is that concepts like infinity, omnipresence, and omniscience are not taught in the Bible and that these … Continue reading →

Posted in Apologetics, Aquinas, Philosophy, Theology | Leave a comment

Aquinas, Free Chioce, & Divine Sovereignty, Part 4

Posted on January 8, 2011 by humblesmith

Aquinas had a strong view of God’s sovereignty, but also of human free choice. Much of his teaching is rather dense, but one of his books is refreshingly clear. In his book De Rationes Fidei (Reasons for Faith) Thomas answers … Continue reading →

Posted in Aquinas, Philosophy, Theology | Leave a comment

Aqunas, Free Choice, & Divine Sovereignty, Part 3

Posted on December 19, 2010 by humblesmith

This is part 3 of an intermittent series on Thomas Aquinas’ view of free will and divine sovereignty. In the Summa Theologica, 1.83.1, the question is posed “Whether man has free choice?” As is Thomas’ custom, he presents several objections … Continue reading →

Posted in Apologetics, Aquinas, Bible, Philosophy | Leave a comment

A Lesson on Being, from The Summa

Posted on December 17, 2010 by humblesmith

The following is a quote from Aquinas’ master work, Summa Theologica. It speaks of how God must continually uphold the universe for it to continue its existence. (The first sentence is a little dense, but after that he explains it … Continue reading →

Posted in Apologetics, Aquinas, Philosophy | Leave a comment

Soul-Body Dualism? Or Soul-Body Unity?

Posted on December 12, 2010 by humblesmith

Rene Descartes (d.1650) is often credited with starting the discussion about a distinction between mind and body. In his book Meditations, Descartes began a mental exercise that involved systematic doubt. He doubted everything he could doubt……doubting whether his senses were deceived, … Continue reading →

Posted in Aquinas, Bible, Philosophy | 8 Comments

Aquinas, Free Choice, & Divine Sovereignty, Part 2

Posted on October 16, 2010 by humblesmith

Here’s Part 2 of an intermittent series on Thomas Aquinas’ view of free choice and divine sovereignty, or God’s causation. The quotes below are from Aquinas’ commentary On Romans, Chapter 9 (paragraph 777). Romans 9 is a key passage in … Continue reading →

Posted in Aquinas, Bible | Leave a comment

Aquinas, Free Choice, and Divine Sovereignty, Part 1

Posted on September 1, 2010 by humblesmith

Thomas Aquinas dealt with the issue of divine sovereignty and man’s free choice 300 years before reformation theologians were a twinkle in their father’s eyes. As a most careful theologian, he slices the problem twelve ways to Sunday and deals … Continue reading →

Posted in Aquinas, Bible | Leave a comment