--- In [email protected], "george_deforest" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > Jonathan Chadwick wrote: > > > > One interesting "comprehensive" philosophical-ethical view > > that is making a comeback these days (mostly in Catholic circles, > > but not exclusively so) is "natural law theory." > > Believe it or not, M.'s version is both deeper and better > > (or at least less intellectualistic) than all of that. > > In any event, we certainly do not teach ethics in K-12 here. > > Catholic Natural Law theory overview: > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_law#Contemporary_Catholic_Understan\ > ding >
Per excerpts below, Aquinas was interesting, parallel in some ways to logic and frameworks found in the TMO worldview. Aquinas borrowed heavily from Greeks and other traditions. I have a hard time hearing some of aquinas' words through the mouth of Jesus. The height of Greeks philosophy preceeded Christ. If Christ wanted to incorporate such into his message, he could have. >From this arises the question about the pure message of christ vs centuries of overlays from other philosophies, moderated and absorbed into christianity and Aquinas oriented Catholicism. Hinduism seems to thrive and live the ideal that there is no one founder, and spiritual knowledge will always be a blend of past phrophets and seers. But christianity, by its name, implies "the teachings of christ" not "a teaching began by christ and moderated, shifted, repackaged, blended, changed, parts thrown away, and updated with many other traditions, thinkers, seers, stumbling neer-do-wells and hoodlums." In TMO I see both currents -- lots of blending of various currents of Hinduism, with modern thought and knowledge. On the other hand, an insistance that on pure vedic teaching is "worthy". Excerpts on Aquinas -- the key thinker in Catholic Natural Law theory ---------------------------- >From the above article. To know what is right, one must use one's reason and apply it to Aquinas' precepts. The most important is the primary precept, self preservation. There are also four subsidiary precepts: procreation, education of children, living in society, and worshipping God (veneration). ------- Aquinas viewed theology, or the sacred doctrine, as a science, the raw material data of which consists of written scripture and the tradition of the church. These sources of data were produced by the self-revelation of God to individuals and groups of people throughout history. Faith and reason, while distinct but related, are the two primary tools for processing the data of theology. Aquinas believed both were necessary - or, rather, that the confluence of both was necessary - for one to obtain true knowledge of God. Aquinas blended Greek philosophy and Christian doctrine by suggesting that rational thinking and the study of nature, like revelation, were valid ways to understand God. According to Aquinas, God reveals himself through nature, so to study nature is to study God. The ultimate goals of theology, in Aquinas' mind, are to use reason to grasp the truth about God and to experience salvation through that truth. --- Aquinas denied that human beings have any duty of charity to animals because they are not persons. Otherwise, it would be unlawful to use them for food. But this does not give us license to be cruel to them, for "cruel habits might carry over into our treatment of human beings."[17] --- [Substitute God for "Being" or Brahman] Concerning the nature of God, Aquinas felt the best approach, commonly called the via negativa, is to consider what God is not. This led him to propose five positive statements about the divine qualities:[18] 1. God is simple, without composition of parts, such as body and soul, or matter and form. 2. God is perfect, lacking nothing. That is, God is distinguished from other beings on account of God's complete actuality. 3. God is infinite. That is, God is not finite in the ways that created beings are physically, intellectually, and emotionally limited. This infinity is to be distinguished from infinity of size and infinity of number. 4. God is immutable, incapable of change on the levels of God's essence and character. 5. God is one, without diversification within God's self. The unity of God is such that God's essence is the same as God's existence. In Aquinas's words, "in itself the proposition 'God exists' is necessarily true, for in it subject and predicate are the same." In this approach, he is following, among others, the Jewish philosopher Maimonides.[19] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Aquinas ----------- The Quinquae viae, or Five Ways, are five proofs of the existence of God summarized by St. Thomas Aquinas in his Summa Theologiae. These proofs take the form of philosophical arguments: 1. The argument of the unmoved mover (ex motu). * Some things are moved. * Everything that is moved is moved by a mover. * An infinite regress of movers is impossible. * Therefore, there is an unmoved mover from whom all motion proceeds. 2. The argument of the first cause (ex causa). * Some things are caused. * Everything that is caused is caused by something else. * An infinite regress of causation is impossible. * Therefore, there must be an uncaused cause of all caused things. 3. The argument of contingency (ex contingentia). * Many things in the universe may either exist or not exist. Such things are called contingent beings. * It is impossible for everything in the universe to be contingent. * Therefore, there must be a necessary being whose existence is not contingent on any other being(s). 4. The argument of degree (ex gradu). * Various perfections may be found in varying degrees throughout the universe. * These degrees of perfections assume the existence of the perfections themselves. 5. The argument of design (ex fine). * All designed things have a designer. * The universe is designed. * Therefore, the universe has a designer. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quinquae_viae
