St. Thomas’ Proof for the Lord of Lords from the Cause of Causes

Apply

St. Thomas’ Proof for the Lord of Lords from the Cause of Causes

Journal Title: Biblica et Patristica Thoruniensia - Year 2015, Vol 8, Issue 3

Abstract

n this study I examine the argument for the existence of God from finality formulated by St. Thomas Aquinas in the prologue to his commentary Super Evangelium Sancti Ioannis. Of particular interest is accounting for his characterization of this argument as the via efficacissima. I suggest two reasons for this appellation: first, philosophically, because this demonstrates the existence of God from the cause of causes and thus supplies intelligibility and explanation even for the via manifestior of efficient causality. Second, theologically, because its conclusion imparts an understanding of God as the Lord of Lords, by whose Divine Providence the world is ordered and governed. In this way, then, Thomas philosophically begins to explicate the theological implications of the Verbum of St. John’s Gospel.

Authors and Affiliations

Catherine Peters

Keywords

Thomas Aquinas Gospel of John Medieval Commentaries Scriptural Exegesis Final Causality Teleology Divine Providence

The Future of Biblical Thomism: Reflections on the French translation of Thomas Aquinas’s commentaries on Paul’s Letters to the Philippians and the Colossians

Przyszłość tomizmu biblijnego: refleksje nad francuskim przekładem komentarzy św. Tomasza z Akwinu do Listów św. Pawła do Filipian i Kolosan.

EP ID EP192565
DOI 10.12775/BPTh.2015.019
Views 67
Downloads 0