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Week 10, Tuesday
Today I handed back the students Paper #2. Everyone did quite well with the paper. In class, we covered Question 20.
Article one of Q. 20 talked about how love is the root of all the movements of the appetite and will. This means that love underlies all we do! Article 2 was concerned with the way God loves all things. It started by defining what is it to love saying that it is 'willing the good to the thing loved." God's love creates and infuses goodness into the thing loved. Creatures on the other hand start loving things because they are good. Then they try and preserve and augment the good of the other. Articles 3 and 4 talked about the ways one can love things more or less. The first love could be greater or lesser was in intensity. Our act of the will can be greater or lesser in reference to different creatures. God does not love more or less in this way. He loves all with one act of the will. The second way one can have a greater love is by willing for one a greater good. In this way St. Thomas says that God does love more and less because He wills that some people have a greater charity and therefore a greater goodness.
Homework for Friday is to read 168-170 and to complete the handout given in class.
Week 8, Friday
Question 14 and 15 dealt with God's knowledge.
We compared articles 6 and 11 as the question they asked seemed almost to be the same. Article 6, however, is pointing out that God does not know all things universally simply as beings, but He knows what is proper to each type of being. In article 11, Thomas argues that God knows singulars, that is individuals as well as the species(article 6).
Article 8 asserts that God's knowledge is the cause of things. We discussed how it is that everything God knows does not necessarily happen. St. Thomas makes the distinction between simply knowing what could be and God adding to that knowledge "an inclination to effect." That is adding His will to it.
Article 9 pointed out that whatever can be thought or done by us or by Himself is known to Him.
Article 10 says that God knows evil things "as by light is known darkness."
Article 12 says that God must know infinite things because He knows all things actual and possible. Further He knows all all our thoughts and affections which will be multiplied to infinity in eternity!
Article 13 confirms that God must know future contingent things because He knows all things.
Question 15, Article 1 talks about how the forms/ideas of things must exist in the mind of God. We recalled that Plato had said that the forms/ideas of things must exist somewhere separately from the material things of this world. He fell short insofar as he believed them to simply exist by themselves rather than in the mind of God.
Homework is to read 144-150.
Week 8, Tuesday
Homework is to read pages 134-143 and to complete this worksheet...the answers are from pages 113-133. You might try reading bulletin board too. ;)
Week 7, Friday
Dear Families,
This week we covered the questions on the immutability of God and How knowable He is. Friday, I handed back the midterm and we reviewed it. Anyone who received less than a 85 may do corrections for half credit back. Corrections can be done open book and note.
Friday we also discussed the paper options for Paper 2. The outline for this paper is due Tuesday. Homework is to read 123-133.
Concepts:
Def. of immutability
Def. of eternity
Time vs. Eternity
Nunc stans vs. Nunc Fluens
Question 12, Article 1:
A created intellect (ours) must be able to see God because 1) that is our beatitude and 2) we have a natural desire to know the cause of things.
Article 3:
In heaven we will see God as an indirect object of sense! Indirect vs. direct objects of sense.
Article 4:
We don't see God through our own powers because the "thing known is in the knower according to the mode of the knower."
Article 5:
"Light of Glory"--strengthens our intellect so that we are able to see God. Light by which God is seen.
Article 6:
Heaven is not a democracy. There are different "levels" of knowledge of God. Those who are given more of the light of glory will have more knowledge. Given more of the light of glory when have greater charity. Because where there is greater charity there is greater desire and desire makes one "apt to receive the object desired". (compare this to Plato who says that love is a desire for something that you do not have)
Article 7:
2 sense of comprehension.
Article 8:
Don't see all in God, but see all that is necessary for the perfection of our intellect and therefore all that is necessary for our fulfillment and happiness.
Article 11:
No one is able to see the essence of God in this life (article 4). We can only comprehend (in its fullest sense) material essences. Form is in the mind of knower. Mind: Form:: Potentiality: Actuality
Article 12:
Certain things about God may be known by the light of natural reason, but cannot know His essence. Can only know what we see through His sensible effects.
Week 6, Friday
Many thanks to Mrs. Davidson and Mr. Sexton for subbing for me this week! On Tuesday, Mrs. Davidson led the class in a quizbowl review and today the students took their midterm.
Homework for Tuesday is to read pages 105-112.
Week 5, Tuesday
Dear Families,
Today in class, we went through in detail how to write paper 1. Then we went through questions 4-6 of the Summa.
Concepts from Questions 4-6
Simplicity and perfection in God vs. Perfection in creation
Perfect-not wanting in actuality
4 predicables--Genus, Species, Specific difference, Accident
3 types of likeness
Creatures like God analogously
The good is that which is in some way desirable.
Good vs. Being
Prior in Idea
Understood implicitly vs. explicitly
4 causes-material, formal, efficient, final
Goodness as final cause
Good vs. Beauty
Appetitive vs. Cognitive faculties
God and Goodness
Homework: The reading for next class is pages 97-104. Paper 1 is due by email by the end of Tuesday, Oct 14th.
Week 4, Tuesday
Nota Bene: We are pushing the paper and its outline back as we are behind in going over our reading. The outline will be due next Tuesday and the Paper will need to be emailed to me by the end of Tuesday during Break week.
Dear Families,
On Friday, we went through the 2nd through 5th ways that St. Thomas gives to demonstrate the existence of God. The 1st way, which we went over during the class prior, is based on the existence of motion, the 2nd way is based on the need for a 1st efficient cause, the 3rd way is based on possibility, the fact that all created beings are “possible to be or not to be”, the 4th way is based on the gradation of perfections to be found in the world, and the 5th way is based upon the intelligibility we find in the world even among things which do not possess intelligence. Important concepts and terms from this “question” are:
Efficient Cause
Impossibility of infinite regress
Possibility vs. Necessity
Reductio ad absurdum
Necessary because of another vs. Necessary of itself
Need for Maximum in a gradation
Maximum as cause of all in that genus
Luck vs design
Today in class, we went through the first articles of Questions 3 which starts to explore the manner of God’s existence. The question started by noting that we are unable to “know”, that is to have positive knowledge of God because His essence is beyond our comprehension. Instead we know what God is not, this is called the Via Negativa. Even when we say things that seem positive such as “God is simple” we are really following the via negativa. We are composed beings and so we don’t really understand what to be “simple” means—for us it is “just not composed”, “the opposite of this.” Even when we talk about God using analogous terms—“God is wise”—we don’t have an absolute knowledge of Him. We cannot comprehend how “wise” applies to God, it is something like our being “wise”, but infinitely greater! Terms and concepts to remember are:
Preamble to articles of Faith
Three types of terms: Univocal, Equivocal, and analogous
Bodies: have to be put in motion, have potential, are not the noblest sort of being. Ergo God is not a body.
Animation means that something has life, a soul
Form—the actuality of an essence, interior structure
Matter/Prime Matter—pure potency, principle of individuation
Essence—that which something is
Perfection of composed beings owed to form, not matter
1st agent-1st efficient cause
Essence in God vs created beings
Genus vs Species
Accident vs Substance
Homework for Friday is to read pages 86-90 and to complete the handout.
Week 3, Tuesday
Dear Families,
Last week, we finished going through St. Thomas' first "Question" which serves as an introduction to Sacred Doctrine. Important terms that the students should remember from this question are:
Practical Science vs Speculative Science
Wisdom
First Principle
Metaphor
Literal sense vs. Spiritual sense
Three divisions of Spiritual sense: allegorical, moral, anagogical
On Friday, we went through the 1st two articles of the second "question" which respectively argued that the existence of God is not self-evident to us, though it is in and of itself, and that it is possible to demonstrate God's existence. These articles out of the way, today, we went line by line through Thomas' first way for demonstrating God's existence which is based on the existence of motion. Terms to remember are:
A Priori
A Posteriori
Act vs. Potency
Motion vs. Moved
Mover vs. Moved
Law of Contradiction
Homework for Friday is to reread pages 60-70 and to complete your handout.
God Bless,
Miss Russell
Week 1
Dear Families,
It was a delight to have your students in class this week! I am looking forward to a wonderful year with them.
On Tuesday, we went over the syllabus and class expectations before moving onto an intro to St. Thomas and the Summa. We discussed Peter Kreeft's list of reasons for why St. Thomas is vital in today's world.
Friday, we began to go through St. Thomas' first "Question" which deals with the purpose and scope of Sacred Doctrine. We are already behind on this so we will have to finish up on Tuesday! :)
Homework for Tuesday is to read pgs. 53-65 and to complete this worksheet.
God Bless,
Miss Russell
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