Week 2 Course Material

Course Slides and Readings

Before the second session, please read:

• The prologue of question 50 of the Prima Pars. Link here.

• The responses (respondeo, "I answer that, ...), of the five articles of question 50 of the Prima Pars, on the substance of the angels. Link here.

• "Creation," in The Routledge guidebook to Aquinas' Summa theologiae, especially pages 81-82. Link here.

Further Reading

Optional reading:

• The responses (respondeo, "I answer that, ...), of the four articles of question 64 of the Prima Pars, on the punishment of the demons. Link here.

• "Aristotelianism and Angelology According to Aquinas," by Serge-Thomas Bonino OP, in Aristotle in Aquinas's Theology. Link here.

Assignment

After the second session, write 300 words in response to one of the following:

1. Explain why there are many different and distinct beings of different types in God's creation?

2. Explain in what way evil "exists" and how it is present in God's creation.

3. What are the two types of evil and how does this relate to Aristotle's understanding of act as being and operation (first and second act)?

4. Are angels composed of matter and form? Include in your answer references to power and act, and being and essence.

5. Describe the first few "moments" of an angel's existence.

6. Of what sins are demons capable, strictly speaking? Why?

7. "Where" are the demons?