Quran, XXXV. 11, Philo & St Thomas Aquinas: On Spiritual Paternity
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Photo: Iranian family by Antoin Sevruguin; Qajar Iran
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Allah created you from dust, then from a little fluid, then He made you pairs (male and female). No female beareth or bringeth forth save with His Knowledge.
(Quran, XXXV. 11)
Are not the parents, as it were, concomitant causes only, while (the divine) Nature is the highest, elder and true cause of the begetting of children?
(Philo)
Now God, though He is absolutely immaterial, can alone by His own power produce matter by creation; and so He alone can produce a form in matter, without the aid of any preceding material form ...Therefore, as no pre-existing body had been formed, through whose power another body of the same species could be generated, the first human body was of necessity made immediately by God.
(St Thomas Aquinas)
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Source and Recommended Reading:
‘A Treasury of Traditional Wisdom: An Encyclopedia of Humankind's Spiritual Truth’
By Whitall N. Perry (Author), Huston Smith (Introduction), Marco Pallis (Foreword)
To Purchase:
Description:
This extraordinary compendium gives access to what the greatest minds of all time and the various faith and philosophical traditions say on every aspect of the spiritual life, be it faith, patience, suffering, or mercy. Relevant passages are included, such as Eckhart, Philo, Rumi, the Talmud, Shakespeare, Rama Krishna, Black Elk, The Psalms, the Tao Te Ching, and Milarepa, among countless others.
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