First off, one has to be careful reading medieval documents, which were written in a different language (usually Latin); any medievalist will tell you this.
As far as Saint Thomas and modern Catholicism, his catechism can be found here:
Catechism of the "Summa Theologica" of Saint Thomas Aquinas
It is stated:
Similarities to the Kalam argument abound.
As far as Saint Thomas and modern Catholicism, his catechism can be found here:
Catechism of the "Summa Theologica" of Saint Thomas Aquinas
It is stated:
Quote:V. OF THE CREATION
What is meant by saying that God is the Creator of all things?
It is meant that God made all things out of nothing (XLIV., XLV.).
There was then nothing at all beside God before He made all things?
Of a truth there was nothing beside God before He made all things, He Himself being by Himself, and all things else through Him (XLIV. 1).
When did God thus make all things out of nothing?
God made all things out of nothing when it pleased His will (XLIV.).
Had He so wished then, He need not have created the things He has made?
It is even so.
Why therefore did God wish to create at some given moment the things He has made?
God created the things He has made to make manifest His glory (XLIV. 4).
What is meant by this?
It is meant that God wished to make manifest the abundance of His goodness by communicating to others in part something of the infinite goodness which is none other than Himself.
It was not then through need, nor in order to acquire some perfection, that God created the things that He has made?
No, on the contrary, it was merely to give unto others something of what He Himself possesses in an infinite degree and out of sheer goodness that He created the things He has made.
Similarities to the Kalam argument abound.
