Theocentric Approach

“The Search for the Truth about God”

Philosophy became the search for the ultimate

causes of things, eventually leading to the truth
about God. Man’s ideal was to contemplate God
and His creation, his action was to conform to the
natural moral law implanted in his reason.
The relation of faith to reason, the existence and
unity of God, the object of theology and
metaphysics, the problems of knowledge, of
universals, and of individuation.
 THOMAS AQUINAS
 He 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, the Doctor
Communis, and the Doctor Universalis.
 St. Thomas Aquinas

He synthesized Greek thought and Church

doctrine into a Christian Philosophy. He
conceptualized human nature based on
Aristotelian thoughts, with some often
(Platonic) modifications.
“Man is a substantially united body and
soul”
“Aquinas’ Argument for the
Existence of God ”
3 TYPES OF
MIRACLE
1. Events done by
God which nature
could never do…

The Miracle of Fatima known

as “The Miracle of the Sun”
2. Events in which God does something
which nature can do but not in this
order…

Raising Lazarus
from
the dead
3. An event which could happen naturally
but God breaks the rules of nature…

The “Healing Priest”

Rev. Fr. Fernando
Suarez
 -Is this portion evident or not?
-Does this mean that it is not true?
-Is this proposition “God exists” evident?
Five Demonstrations
of God’s Existence
 1. “The Argument from Motion”

a. If motion exists in the world, then there must

be a mover, the origin of motion.
b. But motion does exist in the world.
c. therefore, there exists a mover (and that is
God).
 2. “The Argument from Efficient Cause”

a. If there exists a series of efficient causes in the

world, then there exists a first efficient cause,
which is itself uncaused.
 2. “The Argument from Efficient Cause”…
continuation…

b. But there exists in reality a series of efficient

causes in which each is subordinated to its
superior.
c. Therefore, a first efficient cause exists which is
itself uncaused (and that is God)
 3.“The Argument from Contingency”

a. If contingent beings exist, then there must be a

necessary being.
b. But contingent beings exist in the world.
c. Therefore, there exists a necessary being (and
that is God)
 4.“The Argument from the Degrees of
Perfection”

a. If various degrees of perfection exist among

beings in the universe, then there must be
some being that possesses the highest degree
of perfection.
 4.“The Argument from the Degrees of
Perfection”…continuation…

b. But different levels of perfection or

development exist among things in the universe.
c. Therefore, there exists a most perfect being
(and that is God).
 5.“The Argument from Design”

a. If there is design, then there must be a

designer, the more huge the design, the more
intelligent must be the designer.
b. But there exists a huge and amazing design in
the universe.
c. Therefore, there exists a great designer (and
that is God)
 What Aquinas
Suggested?
 An INTERVENTIONIST
GOD, who only acts on
certain almost random
occasions.

 A God who is in effect a

little more than a spectator
of human affairs.
 ST. AUGUSTINE
 Latin name Aurelius Augustinus
 He studied rhetoric in Carthage
 Indulged in many love affairs
 Baptize into Christianity at the
age of 33
 Bishop of Hippo
His thinking was dominated by two themes,
“The sinfulness of human beings ” and “The
inscrutability of God ”.
1. Man as a Rational Soul Using a Mortal
and Earthly Body

- “all living things are ensouled”

 2. Augustine’s Concept of Evil

-evil as a temporary corruption of an

essential state of goodness.
 3. Augustine’s Concept of Freedom

-man enjoys freedom of action

-God’s laws indicate the existence of human
freedom.
-man has been given the gift of free choice
so that he can do and perform what is right.
4. Augustine’s Concept of Love
(the order of love)

-love is the principle of unity, of

contemplation, of meaning.
5. Augustine’s Argument for the Existence of
God
Thank you!!!