Really excellent, Tim. I am heartened that someone with a grasp of quantum physics (unwraps) also reads Aquinas. In my study of his works, I come across startling insights as well as really quaint notions. But on the whole his synthesis of prior thinkers is eclectic, interreligious, and yet transparent and humble. His method is quite modern: ask a question, study others' answers including contradictions, and say what you think.

I suggest you read N. T. Wright's "The Resurrection of the Son of God."

You ignore the history of science. Goes back much further than the 17th century. And it really took off when theologians like Isaac Newton posited that one cannot understand any phenomenon by saying God made it that way. That may be true, but by itself it explains nothing.

My late wife used to teach French people English by saying that they already knew some English. They were perplexed until she explained that 40-50% of English derives from French. The Norman invasion was the best thing that ever happened linguistically to English. Before its grammar was as complex as Icelandic. That got vastly simplified. Also English speakers learned to borrow words easily, not only from French but eventually other languages. For instance, "amok" as in "to run amok" comes from Japanese...

Science isn't theology. Theology isn't science. One does not use science to prove or disprove the reality of God. Theology doesn't prove or disprove any scientific theory. However, the scientific method as we know it was devised in the 17th century by Christians, who reasoned that to explain any phenomenon, saying God made it that way was no explanation.

Well done, Tim. Aquinas did make a synthesis of Plato and Aristotle, borrowing for the former the notion of participation. All existents are real because they more or less participate in the divine being, rather like my image in a mirror participates in who I am.

Thank you for this, Paul. One detail: Matthew 9 doesn't say that Matthew was with Jesus at table. It's implied, but...

"When I am old I shall wear purple... and learn how to spit." —Jenny Joseph, "Warning" https://www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/poem/warning/

This is the eleventh in a series on marriage, love, and God. Usually, marriage is referred to as a contract. The church definition of marriage that prevailed from the thirteenth century to the beginning of the twentieth was this: Marriage is an indissoluble bond between a man and wife arising…