On Creation [Quaestiones Disputatae de Potentia Dei, Q. 3]

Thomas Aquinas wrote his Disputed Questions on the Power of God (Quaestiones Disputatae de Potentia Dei) in Rome in 1265-66. Begun, though probably not completed, before he wrote the first part of his famous work, the Summa theologiae, the de potentia Dei considered ten questions that evoked lively debate in Thomas' day and continue to do so in our own.

This volume includes a new English translation of Question 3, in which Thomas takes up questions and ideas about divine and human freedom, whether or not the world is created, the problem of evil, the efficacy of creatures, and the status of the developing human embryo. It offers a comprehensive treatment of creation and the metaphysics and anthropology Thomas employs in considering the general creation of the universe and the particular creation of each human being.

Susan C. Selner-Wright's translation of the critical Leonine edition is intended to make Thomas' contribution to the current discussion more accessible. It constitutes a focused but extended example of Thomas at the height of his intellectual powers. We find him here in conversation with fifty different source works; engaged with the ideas of pagan, Christian, Islamic, and Jewish thought; and demonstrating his understanding of philosophy and theology as distinct but complementary disciplines. Throughout the text, Selner-Wright directs the reader to Thomas' own sources, related texts elsewhere in Thomas' corpus, and secondary sources. Philosophical notes give background for particular claims or arguments and trace important philosophical principles at work throughout the text.