How to read it
- 1Distinguish dependence in being from a first moment in time.
- 2Notice what Aquinas says reason can and cannot prove.
- 3Read it with the doctrine of creation in mind.
Philosophical treatise
De aeternitate mundi
Aquinas asks whether reason can prove the world had a temporal beginning and argues that temporal beginning is known by faith.
Date
c. 1270
Why it matters
It carefully distinguishes creation from temporal beginning and shows Aquinas refusing weak demonstrations.