SHEER JOY, CONVERSATIONS WITH THOMAS AQUINAS ON CREATION SPIRITUALITY
Matthew Fox
Foreword by Rupert Sheldrake, Afterword by Bede Griffiths
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"The nature of things is not subject to human power, but only to divine power, whose will all things obey." Thomas Aquinas, ST II-II, q. 66, a. 1
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"Our being, living and moving are themselves caused by God. In another sense things are said to be in God, as in the one who knows them, in which sense they are in God through their proper ideas, which in God are not distinct from the divine essence." Thomas Aquinas, 'Summa Theologica', I, q. 18, a. 4, ad 1
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"God has produced a work in which the likeness of God is clearly reflected – that is, the world itself." Thomas Aquinas, In Jn 1.10, n. 136
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"There is no existing thing that does not have some virtue….The effects of the unfailing virtue of God proceed both to human beings and to animals, and to plants and to all natural things." Thomas Aquinas, 'Commentary on Dionysius's Divine Names', n. 751, 755
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"Creativity is something we are all ultimately responsible for. It comes from inside us in a unique way." Matthew Fox
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"There is nothing that does not share in goodness and beauty. Each thing is good and beautiful by its proper form. Everything images the divine goodness in its way." Thomas Aquinas, DDN, n. 355, p. 115
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"Virtue increases by being exercised. If it is not exercised it grows weak." Thomas Aquinas, In Mt 25, p. 232
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"All things – not only those that have knowledge, but also those without….All things are destined and directed by God to good, and this is done in such a way that in each one is a principle by which it tends of itself to good as if seeking good itself, as if reaching for it of its own accord. For this reason it is said in the Book of Wisdom (8:1) that divine wisdom 'orders all things sweetly' because each one by its own motion tends to that for which it has been divinely destined." Thomas Aquinas, 'On Truth', q. 22, a. 1
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"The principal inclination of each part is toward common action conducive to the good of the whole." Thomas Aquinas, 'Summa Theologica', q. 26, a. 3
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"Reason is nothing other than the light of divine brightness reflected in the soul." Thomas Aquinas, 'Commentary on the Psalms', 36, p. 279
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"The entire universe is one dominion and realm, governed by one ruler." Thomas Aquinas, In Meta XII, L. 12, p. 925
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"God brings a healing peace to us whether we live in joy or in sorrow." Matthew Fox
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"Fear makes people slaves. Love sets them free." Thomas Aquinas, Sermo, p. 97
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"There is a kind of wealth or treasure hidden inside each one of us that must not be buried." Matthew Fox
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"To know God in some fashion is natural for the human intelligence no matter what state it is in." Thomas Aquinas, 'ST II, q. 13, a. 1, ad 1
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"God so communicates the divine goodness to created beings that one thing that receives it can transfer it to another." Thomas Aquinas, CG II, ch. 59 n. 16
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"Every single creature leads to the knowledge of the first and highest One, which is infinite in every perfection." Thomas Aquinas, 'Commentary on Peter Lombard's Book of Sentences', III Sent. 1.3, ad 3
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"We choose our lives, we make them, we cocreate them, we give birth to them by the 'inward' choices we make." Matthew Fox
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"These (morphic) fields, according to the hypothesis of formative causation, contain an inherent memory, a kind of pooled or collective memory of the species. They organize not only bodily development but also instinctive behavior and mental activity….Tthere is no doubt that much of the medieval conception of the soul as an invisible animating principle has been carried over into the field concept. This is particularly clear in the case of magnets, which were believed from ancient times until the seventeenth century to have magnetic souls within and around them. Today we would say that the properties of magnets depend on the magnetic fields within and around them. In the context of electro-magnetic fields, and particularly the properties of such fields expressed in holograms, I find (Thomas) Aquinas opens up an amazing vista of thought by inviting us to compare the pervasive nature of the soul with that of God: 'The whole human soul is in the whole body and also in every part of the body, just as God is present to the entire universe." See Rupert Sheldrake's 'A New Science of Life, Los Angeles: Tarcher, 1982, and 'The Presence of the Past', New York: Vintage, 1989
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"Life is about light and darkness, joy and emptiness, pain and praise." Matthew Fox
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"The intellectual soul as comprehending universals has a power extending to the infinite. Since our intellect is infinite in power, so it knows the infinite….Aristotle said that the soul is in a certain sense 'all things'. The human being is called 'a little world' because all creatures of the world are in a way found in the human being…indeed, each intellectual substance is, in a way, all things. For it may comprehend the entirety of being through its intellect." Thomas Aquinas, 'Summa Theologica', 'Summa contra Gentiles'
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"Prophetic words are many in and of themselves, but they are one in their origin." Thomas Aquinas, In Jer 1, p. 579
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"God is the universal good, embracing pure spirits and humanity and all creatures. Every creature is entirely of God." Thomas Aquinas, ST I, q. 60, a. 5
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"Compassion is our capacity to treat others as ourselves – a sign of our radical interdependence." Matthew Fox
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"In fact, the desire for joy is inherently stronger than the fear of sadness." Thomas Aquinas, 'Summa Theologica', q. 35, a. 6
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