Augustine and Thomas Aquinas on Deism
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Religious thought throughout the centuries has been diverted numerous times into various philosophical avenues. One of these is the deist view. Deism pictures a God who is remote from man, one who has created man but has then left him to his own devices. Having created man with the power to reason, deists contended, God expected man to use those reasoning powers on his own. In contrast with the beliefs of deism, St. Augustine saw God as one who was concerned with every action of man, and St. Thomas Aquinas saw God more precisely from the Catholic viewpoint. As religious thought progressed throughout the centuries, the deist viewpoint gave way to the theist concept of a remote and uninvolved God, which eventually led to the idea of God intimately involved in the affairs of men's lives and concerned that their hearts be directed toward Him. This was a pivotal transition in the realm of Christian thought, and one that has had enduring effect on the body of Christ, as it not only changed the image that men had of God but also their relationship with Him and their understanding of their responsibility toward Him. This paper will examine deism, St. Augustine's ideas, and those of St. Thomas Aquinas, arguing that each of these men is the most influential philosopher of his era. The study of deism provides interesting background to the study of both St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas. As Bilynskyj points out, the deistic view "may b
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s that it is "an enquiry into the Summum Bonum: the supreme good, which provides the happiness all human beings seek" (Kent). He sees happiness as "the enjoyment of God, a reward granted in the afterlife for virtue in this life" and virtue as being "a gift of God, and founded on love, not on the wisdom prized by philosophers" (Kent). Augustine's notions of governance are rooted in the need for obedience to authority, but he sees those in authority as being servants to others rather than rulers (Pejza).
Although I do not agree with all of Augustine's ideas, I do have much in common with him. Like Augustine, I contend that a person's acts(even the sex act(should not be evaluated for the acts alone but for the condition of the heart that precipitates them. I admire Augustine's insistence that people come to God with a true heart, not a pose of empty religion that means nothing and is meant only to impress those around them rather than the One who counts the most. God looks "on the heart," and it is clear from Jesus' forgiveness of multiple sinners that once their hearts had changed, their sins were no longer an issue (1 Samuel 16:7, KJV). I also agree with Augustine's literal interpretation of the Bible, only disagreeing
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Approximate Word count = 2729
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page)
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