Teachings of the Catholic Church - Questions     

William Carroll, “Aquinas on Creation and the Metaphysical Foundations of Science”:

1. According to Prof. Carroll, how is creation depicted by the English poet John Milton in Paradise Lost?  How is this similar to the view of the contemporary German theologian Jürgen Moltmann?

2. According to Carroll, what is the problem with a “god-of-the-gaps”?
 
3. What sort of a challenge does modern chaos theory present to the classical mechanics of someone like Pierre Simon Laplance?

4. According to Thomas Aquinas, once things are created, do they truly exist, or do they exist only accidentally or partially?

5. If, according to Aquinas, creatures really do have their own being, what does this mean about the possibility of their acting as true, autonomous causes in the world?

6. According to Aquinas, “the same effect is not attributed to a natural cause and to divine power in such a way that it is partly done by God, and partly by the natural agent; rather it is wholly done by both.”  Explain how this is possible.

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