eriences of mankind are a response to the world rather than a self-evident (behavioral) understanding of it.
These three varied approaches to the connection between God, the world, and mankind will be compared and contrasted. This paper will also seek to address the broader question of evil in the world, and why, if God is to be revealed as perfect in goodness, wisdom, and power, does there appear to be evil in the world at all?
As he first set out to expound his "Treatise on God" (Summa Theologica, p. 3), Aquinas found it necessary to establish a separation between the "philosophical sciences" and the "sacred science" of the Church, and that it was indeed necessary to draw upon both as inspired of God. The principal philosophies with which Aquinas dealt were those of the ancient Greeks and Romans, particularly Plato and Aristotle, but he also expanded some of the lines of reasoning of the early Church fathers such as St. Augustine and St. Anselm, as well as those of some Jewish thinkers, such as Maimonides.
Aquinas maintained that while there are mys
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