Nature and Nature's God: A Philosophical and Scientific Defense of Aquinas' Unmoved Mover Argument

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Publisher : CUA Press
ISBN 13 : 0813236673
Total Pages : 320 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (132 download)

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Book Synopsis Nature and Nature's God: A Philosophical and Scientific Defense of Aquinas' Unmoved Mover Argument by : Daniel Shields

Download or read book Nature and Nature's God: A Philosophical and Scientific Defense of Aquinas' Unmoved Mover Argument written by Daniel Shields and published by CUA Press. This book was released on 2023-05-26 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Aquinas's first proof for God's existence is usually interpreted as a metaphysical argument immune to any objections coming from empirical science. Connections to Aquinas's own historical understanding of physics and cosmology are ignored or downplayed. Nature and Nature's God proposes a natural philosophical interpretation of Aquinas's argument more sensitive to the broader context of Aquinas's work and yielding a more historically accurate account of the argument. Paradoxically, the book also shows that, on such an interpretation, Aquinas's argument is not only consistent with modern science, but actually confirmed by the history of science, from classical mechanics through 19th century thermodynamics to contemporary cosmology. The first part of the book considers Aquinas's argument in its historical context, exploring the key principles that everything in motion is moved by something else and that an infinite regress of causes is impossible. The structure of the First Way is analyzed and the argument is connected both with Aquinas's Third Way?a new interpretation of which is also proposed?and Aquinas's second proof from motion in the Summa contra Gentiles. To complete the account of what natural philosophy?prior to metaphysics?can demonstrate about God, a chapter on Aquinas's teleological argument (the Fifth Way) is also included. The second part of the book tracks the history of modern science from Copernicus to today, showing how Aquinas's argument fared at each major turn. The first chapter shows how Newton's understanding of inertia and conservation of momentum supports the idea that motion cannot continue forever without God's causality, and integrates a modern understanding of inertia and gravity with the principles of Thomistic natural philosophy. The second chapter considers the first and second laws of thermodynamics, showing how they too support Aquinas's contention that motion cannot continue forever without God's causality. This chapter also discusses statistical mechanics and contemporary cosmology, demonstrating that science continues to support Aquinas's unmoved mover argument. The final chapter turns to modern biology as well as cosmological fine-tuning to show that modern science also continues to support Aquinas's teleological argument. The result is not only a satisfying defense of Aquinas's natural philosophical proofs for God's existence, but a primer on the broader project of integrating Thomistic natural philosophy with modern science.

Nature and Nature's God

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Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9780813236681
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (366 download)

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Book Synopsis Nature and Nature's God by : Daniel Shields

Download or read book Nature and Nature's God written by Daniel Shields and published by . This book was released on 2023 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Aquinas' first proof for God's existence is usually interpreted as a metaphysical argument immune to any objections coming from empirical science. Connections to Aquinas' own historical understanding of physics and cosmology are ignored or downplayed. Nature and Nature's God proposes a natural philosophical interpretation of Aquinas' argument more sensitive to the broader context of Aquinas' work and yielding a more historically accurate account of the argument. Paradoxically, the book also shows that, on such an interpretation, Aquinas' argument is not only consistent with modern science, but actually confirmed by the history of science, from classical mechanics through 19th century thermodynamics to contemporary cosmology.The first part of the book considers Aquinas' argument in its historical context, exploring the key principles that everything in motion is moved by something else and that an infinite regress of causes is impossible. The structure of the First Way is analyzed and the argument is connected both with Aquinas' Third Way--a new interpretation of which is also proposed--and Aquinas' second proof from motion in the Summa contra Gentiles. To complete the account of what natural philosophy--prior to metaphysics--can demonstrate about God, a chapter on Aquinas' teleological argument (the Fifth Way) is also included.The second part of the book tracks the history of modern science from Copernicus to today, showing how Aquinas' argument fared at each major turn. The first chapter shows how Newton's understanding of inertia and conservation of momentum supports the idea that motion cannot continue forever without God's causality, and integrates a modern understanding of inertia and gravity with the principles of Thomistic natural philosophy. The second chapter considers the first and second laws of thermodynamics, showing how they too support Aquinas' contention that motion cannot continue forever without God's causality. This chapter also discusses statistical mechanics and contemporary cosmology, demonstrating that science continues to support Aquinas' unmoved mover argument. The final chapter turns to modern biology as well as cosmological fine-tuning to show that modern science also continues to support Aquinas' teleological argument. The result is not only a satisfying defense of Aquinas' natural philosophical proofs for God's existence, but a primer on the broader project of integrating Thomistic natural philosophy with modern science.

The Nature of God

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Author :
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1134809662
Total Pages : 232 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (348 download)

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Book Synopsis The Nature of God by : Gerard Hughes

Download or read book The Nature of God written by Gerard Hughes and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2005-08-04 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: First published in 1995. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

On the Nature and Existence of God

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Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 1107142350
Total Pages : 351 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (71 download)

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Book Synopsis On the Nature and Existence of God by : Richard M. Gale

Download or read book On the Nature and Existence of God written by Richard M. Gale and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2016-08-26 with total page 351 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This influential book evaluates the arguments for the existence and nature of God that emerged in the late twentieth century.

Providence and Science in a World of Contingency

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Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1000437418
Total Pages : 242 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (4 download)

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Book Synopsis Providence and Science in a World of Contingency by : Ignacio Silva

Download or read book Providence and Science in a World of Contingency written by Ignacio Silva and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2021-09-30 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Providence and Science in a World of Contingency offers a novel assessment of the contemporary debate over divine providential action and the natural sciences, suggesting a re-consideration of Thomas Aquinas’ metaphysical doctrine of providence coupled with his account of natural contingency. By looking at the history of debates over providence and nature, the volume provides a set of criteria to evaluate providential divine action models, challenging the underlying, theologically contentious assumptions of current discussions on divine providential action. Such assumptions include that God needs causally open spaces in the created world in order to act in it providentially, and the unfitting conclusion that, if this is the case, then God is assumed to act as another cause among causes. In response to these shortcomings, the book presents a comprehensive account of Aquinas’ metaphysics of natural causation, contingency, and their relation to divine providence. It offers a fresh and bold metaphysical narrative, based on the thought of Thomas Aquinas, which appreciates the relation between divine providence and natural contingency.

The Failure of Natural Theology

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Publisher : New Studies in Theology Series
ISBN 13 : 9781952599378
Total Pages : 266 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (993 download)

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Book Synopsis The Failure of Natural Theology by : Jeffrey D Johnson

Download or read book The Failure of Natural Theology written by Jeffrey D Johnson and published by New Studies in Theology Series. This book was released on 2021-09-15 with total page 266 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Aristotle's cosmological argument is the foundation of Aquinas's doctrine of God. For Thomas, the cosmological argument not only speaks of God's existence but also of God's nature. By learning that the unmoved mover is behind all moving objects, we learn something true about the essence of God-principally, that God is immobile. But therein lies the problem for Thomas. The Catholic Church had already condemned Aristotle's unmoved mover because, according to Aristotle, the unmoved mover is unable to be the moving cause (i.e., Creator) and governor of the universe-or else he would cease to be immobile. By seeking to baptize Aristotle into the Catholic Church, however, Thomas gave his life to seeking to explain how God can be both immobile and the moving cause of the universe. Thomas even looked to the pantheistic philosophy of Pseudo-Dionysius for help. But even with Dionysius's aid, Thomas failed to reconcile the god of Aristotle with the Trinitarian God of the Bible. If Thomas would have rejected the natural theology of Aristotle by placing the doctrine of the Trinity, which is known only by divine revelation, at the foundation of his knowledge of God, he would have rid himself of the irresolvable tension that permeates his philosophical theology. Thomas could have realized that the Trinity alone allows for God to be the only self-moving being-because the Trinity is the only being not moved by anything outside himself but freely capable of creating and controlling contingent things in motion.

Aquinas on God

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Publisher : Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.
ISBN 13 : 1409477681
Total Pages : 204 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (94 download)

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Book Synopsis Aquinas on God by : Dr Rudi te Velde

Download or read book Aquinas on God written by Dr Rudi te Velde and published by Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.. This book was released on 2013-05-28 with total page 204 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Aquinas on God presents an accessible exploration of Thomas Aquinas' conception of God. Focusing on the Summa theologiae – the work containing Aquinas' most systematic and complete exposition of the Christian doctrine of God – Rudi te Velde acquaints the reader with Aquinas' theological understanding of God and the metaphysical principles and propositions that underlie his project. Aquinas' conception of God is dealt with not as an isolated metaphysical doctrine, but from the perspective of his broad theological view which underlies the scheme of the Summa. Readers interested in Aquinas, historical theology, metaphysics and metaphysical discourse on God in the Christian tradition will find this new contribution to the studies of Aquinas invaluable.

God, Freedom, and Evil

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Publisher : Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
ISBN 13 : 1467421685
Total Pages : 132 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (674 download)

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Book Synopsis God, Freedom, and Evil by : Alvin Plantinga

Download or read book God, Freedom, and Evil written by Alvin Plantinga and published by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. This book was released on 1989-03-21 with total page 132 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In his discussion of natural theology (arguments to prove the existence of God) and natural atheology (arguments for the falsehood of theistic belief) Plantinga focuses on two of the traditional arguments: the ontological argument as an example of natural theology, and the problem of evil as the most important representative of natural atheology. Accessible to serious general readers.

Does God Have a Nature?

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Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 164 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (91 download)

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Book Synopsis Does God Have a Nature? by : Alvin Plantinga

Download or read book Does God Have a Nature? written by Alvin Plantinga and published by . This book was released on 1980 with total page 164 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sets of contingent objects, perhaps, are as contingent as their members; but properties, propositions, numbers and states of affairs, it seems, are objects whose non-existence is quite impossible. If so, however, how are they related to God? Suppose God has a nature: a property he has essentially that includes each property essential to him. Does God have a nature? And if he does, is there a conflict between God's sovereignty and his having a nature? How is God related to such abstract objects as properties and propositions? These are the questions I want to explore. - Introduction.

God and the Natural Law

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Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 296 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (91 download)

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Book Synopsis God and the Natural Law by : Fulvio Di Blasi

Download or read book God and the Natural Law written by Fulvio Di Blasi and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Translation of: Dio e la legge naturale: una rilettura di Tommaso d'Aquino.

A History and Critique of Methodological Naturalism

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Publisher : Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN 13 : 1498283748
Total Pages : 247 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (982 download)

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Book Synopsis A History and Critique of Methodological Naturalism by : Joseph B. Onyango Okello

Download or read book A History and Critique of Methodological Naturalism written by Joseph B. Onyango Okello and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2016-07-21 with total page 247 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Methodological naturalism is the thesis that only natural features can be factored into any legitimate explanation. Moreover, the thesis contends, any attempt to explain natural phenomena by appealing to supernatural features is unscientific and, therefore, illegitimate. This book argues that nothing inherently problematic afflicts possible appeals to supernatural agency in the attempt to explain select phenomena in nature. Reputable philosophers of the ancient and medieval periods, as well as prominent scientists of the early modern era, invoked supernatural agency in their attempts to understand nature. For them, miraculous interventions in nature by a supernatural agent were not unreasonable. However, the super-naturalistic worldview has been replaced by methodological naturalism. The assumptions of two pivotal figures--David Hume and Charles Darwin--brought about this change. This book shows that this change was motivated by unscientific means. Hence, the change itself remains inconsistent with the assumptions of methodological naturalism.

God and Natural Order

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Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1317915011
Total Pages : 388 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (179 download)

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Book Synopsis God and Natural Order by : Shaun C. Henson

Download or read book God and Natural Order written by Shaun C. Henson and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-12-04 with total page 388 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In God and Natural Order: Physics, Philosophy, and Theology, Shaun Henson brings a theological approach to bear on contemporary scientific and philosophical debates on the ordered or disordered nature of the universe. Henson engages arguments for a unified theory of the laws of nature, a concept with monotheistic metaphysical and theological leanings, alongside the pluralistic viewpoints set out by Nancy Cartwright and other philosophers of science, who contend that the nature of physical reality is intrinsically complex and irreducible to a single unifying theory. Drawing on the work of theologian Wolfhart Pannenberg and his conception of the Trinitarian Christian god, the author argues that a theological line of inquiry can provide a useful framework for examining controversies in physics and the philosophy of science. God and Natural Order will raise provocative questions for theologians, Pannenberg scholars, and researchers working in the intersection of science and religion.

Five Proofs for the Existence of God

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Publisher : Ignatius Press
ISBN 13 : 1621641333
Total Pages : 338 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (216 download)

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Book Synopsis Five Proofs for the Existence of God by : Edward Feser

Download or read book Five Proofs for the Existence of God written by Edward Feser and published by Ignatius Press. This book was released on 2017-08-18 with total page 338 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Five Proofs of the Existence of GodÊprovides a detailed, updated exposition and defense of five of the historically most important (but in recent years largely neglected) philosophical proofs of God's existence: the Aristotelian proof, the Neo-Platonic proof, the Augustinian proof, the Thomistic proof, and the Rationalist proof. Ê This book also offers a detailed treatment of each of the key divine attributes -- unity, simplicity, eternity, omnipotence, omniscience, perfect goodness, and so forth -- showing that they must be possessed by the God whose existence is demonstrated by the proofs.Ê Finally, it answers at length all of the objections that have been leveled against these proofs. Ê This book offers as ambitious and complete a defense of traditional natural theology as is currently in print.Ê Its aim is to vindicate the view of the greatest philosophers of the past -- thinkers like Aristotle, Plotinus, Augustine, Aquinas, Leibniz, and many others -- that the existence of God can be established with certainty by way of purely rational arguments.Ê It thereby serves as a refutation both of atheism and of the fideism which gives aid and comfort to atheism. Ê

On the Nature and Existence of God

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Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 1316565327
Total Pages : 351 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (165 download)

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Book Synopsis On the Nature and Existence of God by : Richard M. Gale

Download or read book On the Nature and Existence of God written by Richard M. Gale and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2016-08-26 with total page 351 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: First published in 1991, Richard M. Gale's classic book is a response to and critique of new, contemporary arguments for the existence of God from analytical philosophers. Considering concepts including time, free will, personhood, actuality and the objectivity of experience, Gale evaluates the new versions of cosmological, ontological, pragmatic and religious experience arguments that emerged in the late-twentieth century. Presented in a fresh twenty-first-century series livery, and including a specially commissioned preface written by Paul K. Moser, illuminating its enduring importance and relevance to philosophical enquiry, this influential work has been revived for a new generation of readers.

Man and Nature in God

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Publisher : Transaction Publishers
ISBN 13 : 9781412827942
Total Pages : 168 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (279 download)

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Book Synopsis Man and Nature in God by : Lloyd E. Sandelands

Download or read book Man and Nature in God written by Lloyd E. Sandelands and published by Transaction Publishers. This book was released on with total page 168 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Cast as ideology by the "isms" of humanism, naturalism, and postmodernism, today's subjective standpoint has turned the question of truth into one question of politics. The unhappy result has been and continues to be a profound and deadly misunderstanding of nature as well as man, epitomized in contemporary American culture today. Taking this as his starting point, Sandelands suggests how we can save ourselves from our mortifying philosophical error, thereby claiming our true relation to nature, and reinvigorating our sexual lives. He identifies the need for a natural philosophy that takes God to be the starting point of self-understanding."

Divine Action, Determinism, and the Laws of Nature

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Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 042964275X
Total Pages : 160 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (296 download)

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Book Synopsis Divine Action, Determinism, and the Laws of Nature by : Jeffrey Koperski

Download or read book Divine Action, Determinism, and the Laws of Nature written by Jeffrey Koperski and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2019-11-28 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A longstanding question at the intersection of science, philosophy, and theology is how God might act, or not, when governing the universe. Many believe that determinism would prevent God from acting at all, since to do so would require violating the laws of nature. However, when a robust view of these laws is coupled with the kind of determinism now used in dynamics, a new model of divine action emerges. This book presents a new approach to divine action beyond the current focus on quantum mechanics and esoteric gaps in the causal order. It bases this approach on two general points. First, that there are laws of nature is not merely a metaphor. Second, laws and physical determinism are now understood in mathematically precise ways that have important implications for metaphysics. The explication of these two claims shows not only that nonviolationist divine action is possible, but there is considerably more freedom available for God to act than current models allow. By bringing a philosophical perspective to an issue often dominated by theologians and scientists, this text redresses an imbalance in the discussion around divine action. It will, therefore, be of keen interest to scholars of Philosophy and Religion, the Philosophy of Science, and Theology.

God Without the Supernatural

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Publisher : Cornell University Press
ISBN 13 : 9780801432552
Total Pages : 280 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (325 download)

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Book Synopsis God Without the Supernatural by : Peter Forrest

Download or read book God Without the Supernatural written by Peter Forrest and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 1996 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Peter Forrest expounds a program of best-explanation apologetics. He contends that since the existence of God would provide the best possible explanation of various facts, those facts support theism. Among the facts cited are the suitability of the universe for life, the regularity of the universe, the human capacity for intellectual progress, the experience of a moral order, and various forms of beauty. The beauty that interests Forrest as evidence for the existence of God includes sensuous beauty; the beauty of the natural order, as revealed by the sciences; and the beauty of necessity discovered by mathematicians. In addressing the need for an adequate motive for creation, Forrest conjectures that God created the universe for embodied persons not for their life on earth alone but also for an afterlife. Forrest acknowledges the speculative nature of such an account. He suggests that philosophical speculation is also required to defend theism against the charge that it is too extravagant a hypothesis to be warranted. Providing a speculative defense against the argument from evil, he explains how such speculations can be used to support best-explanation arguments without the conclusions themselves being rendered purely speculative.