Question

Explain the nature of love as rational, ordered and purposeful and how St. Thomas Aquinas responds to the problems of evil and suffering with the virtue of love.

Answer 1

According to St. Thomas Aquinas evil and suffering and love go hand in hand. According to him evil is the absence of goodness. He argues that if God is omnipotent, then there should be no suffering. Evil need not be performed with an intention of being evil. It is performed as a means to achieve what one wants, except that the way to achieve it was evil. He says love is rational, ordered and purposeful end is felt by everybody. He argues that love exists because evil also exists. For example, when one loses their loved one, they undergo a lot of suffering. However if the lost person wasn't loved, there won't be any suffering. Hence, love or suffering exists when the other exists.