Neither Enemy Nor Friend: Nature as Creation in the Theology of Saint Thomas Aquinas

This paper traces three paradigmatic responses to the presence of evil in nature. Thomas Henry Huxley depicts nature as the enemy of humanity that morality combats “at every step.” Henry Drummond views nature as benevolent, a friend of humanity, and the ultimate basis for morality. The paper argues...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Pope, Stephen J. 1955- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Wiley-Blackwell 1997
In: Zygon
Year: 1997, Volume: 32, Issue: 2, Pages: 219-230
Further subjects:B Creation
B Evil
B Henry Drummond
B Enemy
B friend
B Thomas Aquinas
B T. H. Huxley
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Summary:This paper traces three paradigmatic responses to the presence of evil in nature. Thomas Henry Huxley depicts nature as the enemy of humanity that morality combats “at every step.” Henry Drummond views nature as benevolent, a friend of humanity, and the ultimate basis for morality. The paper argues that a third view, that of Thomas Aquinas, regards nature as creation, capable of being neither enemy nor friend of humanity but rather the context within which relations of enmity or friendship develop between human beings and God.
ISSN:1467-9744
Contains:Enthalten in: Zygon
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1111/0591-2385.851997084