<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>Fundamental to theology is the ordering of all things to God, yet this ordering is directly tied to the topic of relation. Thus, while the category of relation is inherited by Aquinas from ancient philosophy, it mostly shows up in Aquinas’ theological treatments. This paper will look specifically at the distinction between God and creatures as understood through Aquinas’ use of mixed relations. It will provide an expository treatment of Aquinas’ use of mixed relation in attempt to bridge his philosophy and theology while seeking to encourage and aide others to more actively incorporate the category of relation in theological work, as Aquinas himself did.</p></abstract>

Fundamental to theology is the ordering of all things to God, yet this ordering is directly tied to the topic of relation. Thus, while the category of relation is inherited by Aquinas from ancient philosophy, it mostly shows up in Aquinas’ theological treatments. This paper will look specifically at the distinction between God and creatures as understood through Aquinas’ use of mixed relations. It will provide an expository treatment of Aquinas’ use of mixed relation in attempt to bridge his philosophy and theology while seeking to encourage and aide others to more actively incorporate the category of relation in theological work, as Aquinas himself did.

Aquinas on Relations: A Topic Which Aquinas Himself Perceives as Foundational to Theology

European Journal for the Study of Thomas Aquinas

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Fundamental to theology is the ordering of all things to God, yet this ordering is directly tied to the topic of relation. Thus, while the category of relation...

Aquinas on Relations: A Topic Which Aquinas Himself Perceives as Foundational to Theology

Published Online: Jun 08, 2020

Page range: 15 - 32

Received: Dec 12, 2019

Accepted: May 08, 2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ejsta-2020-0002

Keywords
mixed relation, Thomistic theology, Creator, creature, accident

© 2020 Mikail Whitfield, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Aquinas on Relations: A Topic Which Aquinas Himself Perceives as Foundational to Theology

Published Online: Jun 08, 2020

Page range: 15 - 32

Received: Dec 12, 2019

Accepted: May 08, 2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ejsta-2020-0002

Keywordsmixed relation, Thomistic theology, Creator, creature, accident

© 2020 Mikail Whitfield, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
mixed relation, Thomistic theology, Creator, creature, accident