Table Of ContentTALKING ABOUT GOD
AND
TALKING ABOUT CREATION
ISLAMIC PHILOSOPHY
THEOLOGY AND SCIENCE
Texts and Studies
EDITED BY
H. DAIBER and D. PINGREE
VOLUME LVIII
TALKING ABOUT GOD
AND
TALKING ABOUT CREATION
Avicenna’s and Thomas Aquinas’ positions
BY
RAHIM ACAR
BRILL
LEIDEN•BOSTON
2005
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Acar, Rahim.
Talking about God and talking about creation : Avicenna’s and Thomas Aquinas’
positions / by Rahim Acar.
p.cm. — (Islamic philosophy, theology, and science ; v. 58)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 90-04-14477-3 (alk. paper)
1.Avicenna, 980-1037. 2. Thomas, Aquinas, Saint, 1225?-1274. 3. God—
Comparative studies. 4. Creation—Comparative studies. 5. God—History of
doctrines. 6. Creation—History of doctrines. I. Title. II. Series.
B751.Z7A35 2005
213’.092’2—dc22
2005050724
ISSN 0169-8729
ISBN 90 04 14477 3
© Copyright 2005 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands
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CONTENTS
Acknowledgements ...................................................................... ix
Introduction ................................................................................ 1
Part One: Talking About God
Chapter One Theological Language and Philosophical
Assessment .............................................................................. 25
Avicenna’s Theory of Theological Language ...................... 26
We Cannot Know and Name God in Himself .............. 26
God Is Known through Creation .................................... 28
God Has Negative and Positive Relations to
Creation .......................................................................... 30
God Has Perfections in a Different Mode from
Creation .......................................................................... 34
Perfections Are Predicated of God and Creation
according to Tashkìk ...................................................... 36
Aquinas’ Theory of Theological Language .......................... 41
We Cannot Know God’s Essence .................................... 42
God Is Known through Creation .................................... 44
God Has Negative and Positive Properties ...................... 46
God Has Perfections in a Different Mode from
Creatures ........................................................................ 48
Perfections Are Predicated of God Analogically .............. 50
The Use of the Negative Element in Aquinas’ Position .... 54
Conclusion of Chapter One .................................................. 75
Chapter Two Conception of God and Theological
Language ................................................................................ 79
Avicenna’s Conception of Divine Formal Features
and Divine Knowledge ...................................................... 81
God Is Simple .................................................................... 81
God Is Necessary and Immutable .................................... 86
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vi contents
God Is Eternal .................................................................... 89
God Knows Creatures as well as Himself ...................... 93
Aquinas’ Conception of Divine Formal Features
and Divine Knowledge ...................................................... 101
God Is Simple .................................................................... 101
God Is Necessary and Immutable .................................... 105
God Is Eternal .................................................................... 108
God Knows Creatures as well as Himself ...................... 113
Theological Language Revisited: Talking About
God in the Light of Divine Formal Features .................. 119
Conclusion of Chapter Two .................................................. 126
Part Two: Talking About Creation
Chapter Three The Nature of Creative Action .................... 131
Avicenna’s Position: Creation is Voluntary and
Necessary ............................................................................ 132
Interpretation of Avicenna’s Position ................................ 133
God Creates by Will not by Nature ................................ 136
God Freely and Necessarily Creates the Universe .......... 140
Objections Revisited .......................................................... 146
Aquinas’ Position: Creation is Voluntary and
Hypothetically Necessary .................................................... 149
God Creates by Will not by Nature ................................ 150
God’s Will Is Simple: God primarily and essentially
Wills Himself .................................................................. 155
God Freely Wills the Universe .......................................... 156
God Has Free Choice ........................................................ 159
Is the Universe Necessary? ................................................ 162
Talking About Creation: Necessity or Hypothetical
Necessity .............................................................................. 164
Conclusion of Chapter Three .............................................. 167
Chapter Four The Beginning of the Universe ...................... 169
Avicenna’s Position ................................................................ 170
What Is Creation? .............................................................. 170
Creation Is not a Change ................................................ 172
Creation as the Relation between God and the
Universe .......................................................................... 173
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contents vii
Causes Necessitate Their Effects .................................. 176
Causes and Their Effects co-Exist ................................ 177
The co-Existence of Causes and Their Effects Does
not Require that They Be Equal .............................. 181
The Efficient Cause Is the Cause only of the
Existence of Its Effect ................................................ 182
Arguments for the Sempiternity of the Universe ............ 185
The First Argument: Time and Temporal Beginning
Are not Applicable to All Things ............................ 186
The Second Argument: Temporal Posteriority
Requires a Change in God ...................................... 189
The Third Argument: Temporal Beginning Leads
to Impossible Conclusions .......................................... 193
Aquinas’ Position .................................................................... 197
What Is Creation? .............................................................. 198
Creation Is not a Change ................................................ 200
Creation as the Relation between God and the
Universe .......................................................................... 201
Real Relations of God .................................................. 201
How God Is Related to the World .............................. 204
The Sempiternity of the Universe Is Possible but not
Necessary ........................................................................ 210
Countering Avicenna’s Arguments for the Sempiternity
of the Universe .................................................................. 213
Countering the First Argument ........................................ 213
Countering the Second Argument .................................... 216
Countering the Third Argument ...................................... 222
Remarks on Arguments Concerning Sempiternity .............. 225
Conclusion of Chapter Four .................................................. 228
Conclusion .................................................................................. 231
Bibliography ................................................................................ 235
Primary Literature .................................................................. 235
Secondary Literature .............................................................. 236
Index of Authors ........................................................................ 243
Index of Topics .......................................................................... 245
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This study has grown out of my doctoral dissertation comparing
Avicenna’s and Aquinas’ positions on creation. Throughout the process
I have received support and encouragement from many people.
During the dissertation stage, David Burrell’s guidance led me to
identify the roots of the apparent differences between Avicenna’s and
Thomas Aquinas’ understandings of creative action. I appreciated
his insights as well as his thoughtful and quick comments on my
drafts. Steven Brown’s assistance in the subtle details of medieval
Christian philosophy helped clarify my arguments. He gave gener-
ously of his time and provided me with constant encouragement.
Sarah Coakley’s attention to the finer points of my discussion as well
as to its scope and shape was very valuable and her deep interest
in the philosophy of religion inspired me, as did her encouragement
to contribute to this field. Wolfhart Heinrichs assisted me with the
more difficult Arabic translations. Robert Wisnovsky was a constant
conversation partner throughout, paying close attention to my argu-
ments and helping me to present a more balanced and hopefully
more persuasive discussion.
I am grateful to Hans Daiber for encouraging me to revise and
publish my dissertation. He read the manuscript and made helpful
comments and suggestions to improve it. I would like to also thank
to Caner Dagli for copy-editing the manuscript. Without his help
the text would be drier and more ambiguous.
Among many other professors whose support I greatly appreciate
are William A. Graham, Bekir Karliga and Necip Taylan. My friends
have provided me with thoughtful conversation and warm compan-
ionship. I am grateful to them for their support in different ways
and at different stages of this work.
Although I would not have finished this work without the contri-
butions of those mentioned here, I bear sole responsibility for its
shortcomings.
A part of chapter 3, concerning Avicenna’s position regarding the
nature of creative action appeared in The Muslim World, 94/1 (2004),
Rahim Acar - 978-90-47-41592-3
