God and Suffering: How Could God Allow Evil? | Fr. Thomas Petri, O.P.
Jul 31, 2021
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Fr. Thomas Petri, O.P. discusses the nature of evil, suffering, and God's omnipotence. Concepts from St. Thomas Aquinas are used to explain evil as a deficiency, the role of free will in moral evil, and the philosophical underpinnings of theodicy.
Existence is active participation in God's being, with everything existing through God's essence.
Evil is attributed to absence of goodness in choices, emphasizing human free will and redemption through Jesus Christ.
Deep dives
Nature of God and Evil
God is described as being holy and the very act of existence. St. Thomas Aquinas emphasizes that God's essence is existence itself. This view highlights that existence is an active participation in God's being, where everything exists through actively participating in God's existence.
Existence and Goodness
St. Thomas Aquinas posits that all beings actively participate in existence as a continuous act. God is seen as actively conferring existence to all things, similar to how fire imparts heat to a pan. Everything existing is grounded in God's existence, with different levels of goodness reflecting varying degrees of participation in God's being.
Physical and Moral Evil
Aquinas distinguishes between physical evil, resulting from the inherent relationships between creatures, and moral evil, arising from human free choice. Physical evil denotes the suffering experienced by one creature while another flourishes. Moral evil, on the other hand, emerges from free choices that deviate from goodness and order.
Reasoning Behind Evil in God's Plan
The concept of malum penae (evil of punishment) and malum culpa (evil of fault) sheds light on the complexities of God's plan regarding evil. While acknowledging the reality of evil, Aquinas attributes it to the absence of goodness or order in certain choices. The theological perspective transcends attributing evil directly to God, emphasizing instead the role of human free will and the ultimate redemption through Jesus Christ.
This lecture was delivered for the University of Texas, El Paso Chapter on 4/28/2021.
For information on upcoming events, please visit our website at www.thomisticinstitute.org.
About the Speaker:
Father Thomas Petri, O.P. is the Vice President and Dean of the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception at the Dominican House of Studies, where he also serves as an assistant professor of moral theology and pastoral studies. Ordained a priest in 2009, he holds a Doctorate in Sacred Theology from The Catholic University of America.
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