my dissertation 001

This is the final paper I submitted for my history course in 1997 while I was pursuing my M. Div at Ontario Theological Seminary (now called Tyndale University.)

The purpose of the assignment was to comprehend Summa Theologica, Part One, Question 2 (The Existence of God) and write a paper on our findings. Therefore, you will need to read this article by Thomas Aquinas first.

Here is a summary of my arguments:

1. The existence of the Supreme Being is knowable and the knowing required His participation.
2. There is no need to have God’s continuous participation in the process of knowing His existence.
3. The essence of God is knowable
4. It is not possible to understand the essence of God by the created intellects alone (what I called “mere human initiative,”) but with the Supreme Being’s active participation. Because of this, not everyone is able to see God’s essence.
5. The essence of God cannot be comprehended.