Aquinas Idea Of God: A Comparative Analysis
The idea of God is intense, as both of these analyses have shown. Aquinas’ idea of God is “Ipsum esse subsistens,” or Subsistent Act of Existing Itself (Magee, 2015). To speak of God as a self-subsistent being is to say He “Just Is.” He articulates every creature is “fundamentally composed of essence and existence.” In order for everything to exist, there must be a First Cause and Aquinas says God is that cause because without it, nothing exists. God is infinite simplicity and perfect. Aquinas and Tillich both see God as Being Itself (Fesser, 2011). Tillich places God “above God.” He writes, “God does not exist.” However, this is not in an attempt to deny God, but to demonstrate that God transcends everything. My understanding