He could have written a novel, but He wrote a play, and entrusted it to characters who goof their lines. But even an imperfect play is better than a perfect formula, especially if it ends happily. And thats the point [St. Thomas] Aquinas quotes from Augustine: God brings good out of evil. The most spectacular example of that, for Aquinas, would be the death and Resurrection of Christ. Here is the worst thing that ever happened—the deliberate murder of the most perfect Man Who ever lived. Here is the worst thing that ever happened—Deicide—the murder of God. And Christians celebrate this as Good Friday, because out of this evil came the greatest good—Redemption. Thats the traditionally Christian answer to the problem of evil. Its not original with Aquinas. But I think its appealing because deep down we all agree with its premise, that its better to have free human beings—even if some of them do terrible things by misusing their power of free will, to choose to do great evils to other human beings—that that kind of world is better than a world of happy robots or trained animals. Aquinas God has the same love of freedom that we do. -Dr. Peter Kreeft
Posted on: Thu, 15 Jan 2015 22:37:05 +0000
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