Aseity (from

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

"from" and "self", plus '' -ity'') (self-existence, self-causation, self-causality and autocausality) is the property by which a being exists of and from itself. It refers to the

monotheistic Monotheism is the belief that one God is the only, or at least the dominant deity.F. L. Cross, Cross, F.L.; Livingstone, E.A., eds. (1974). "Monotheism". The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (2 ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. A ...

belief that

God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

does not depend on any cause other than himself for his existence, realization, or end, and has within himself his own reason of existence. This represents God as absolutely independent and self-existent by nature. While commonly discussed in Christian theology, many Jewish and Muslim theologians have also believed God to be independent in this way. This quality of independence and self-existence has been affirmed under various names by theologians going back to antiquity, though the use of the word 'aseity' began only in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

Meaning

Aseity has two aspects, one negative and one positive: absolute independence and self-existence. W. N. Clarke writes:

In its negative meaning, which emerged first in the history of thought, it seityaffirms that God is uncaused, depending on no other being for the source of His existence. In its positive meaning, it affirms that God is completely self-sufficient, having within Himself the sufficient reason for His own existence.

The first concept derives from "the God of philosophers" (a concept first described by Xenophanes), while the second one derives from "the living God of Revelation" ('' I Am Who I Am'': Exodus ). As a part of this belief, an aseitous God is said to be incapable of changing (see

Hebrews The Hebrews (; ) were an ancient Semitic-speaking peoples, ancient Semitic-speaking people. Historians mostly consider the Hebrews as synonymous with the Israelites, with the term "Hebrew" denoting an Israelite from the nomadic era, which pre ...

13:8) Changing implies development. Since God was, and is, and is to be the Absolute Perfection, there is no need to change: he is αὐτουσία (unchanged: Gregory of Nyssa),pp. 162, 172, 174
'' actus purus'' and ''ipsum esse subsistens'' (

Thomas Aquinas Thomas Aquinas ( ; ; – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican Order, Dominican friar and Catholic priest, priest, the foremost Scholasticism, Scholastic thinker, as well as one of the most influential philosophers and theologians in the W ...

). Many (

, for instance) have also thought that aseity implies

divine simplicity In classical theistic and monotheistic theology, the doctrine of divine simplicity says that God is simple (without parts). God exists as one unified entity, with no distinct attributes; God's existence is identical to God's essence. Overview ...

: that God has no parts of any kind (whether spatial, temporal, or abstract), since complexes depend on their individual parts, with none of which they are identical. Classical theists have often drawn a further implication: that God is without emotion or is "impassible": because, it is said, emotion implies standing as patient (pass-) to some agent – i.e., dependence. This is so because, although God has created everything, he is not in dependence on his creation.

Philosophical considerations

Whether this being should be described as God turns on whether the label 'Creator' is a rigid designator of God. Given that most theists believe all that is not God to be brought about by God, and that many (for example, St. Thomas Aquinas) argue from the non-aseity of the universe to the

existence of God The existence of God is a subject of debate in the philosophy of religion and theology. A wide variety of arguments for and against the existence of God (with the same or similar arguments also generally being used when talking about the exis ...

, this problem is highly theoretical. There is also a possible threat to divine aseity by the existence of abstract objects, a threat that philosopher

William Lane Craig William Lane Craig (; born August 23, 1949) is an American Analytic philosophy, analytic philosopher, Christian apologetics, Christian apologist, author, and theologian. He is a professor of philosophy at Houston Christian University and at the T ...

attempts to provide reconciliations for in his book, ''God Over All''. John states that "All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being". The

aorist Aorist ( ; abbreviated ) verb forms usually express perfective aspect and refer to past events, similar to a preterite. Ancient Greek grammar had the aorist form, and the grammars of other Indo-European languages and languages influenced by the ...

tense implies that everything that exists (other than God) came into being at some time in the past. This verse carries the weighty metaphysical implication that there are no eternal entities apart from God, eternal either in the sense of existing atemporally or of existing sempiternally. Rather everything that exists, with the exception of God Himself, is the product of temporal becoming. Aseity has also been criticized as logically incompatible with the concept of God as a being or with God as existing. Furthermore, it can be argued that for the notion of aseity not to be logically circular or inconsistent, the supposed entity to which it applies would have to be identified with its properties, instead of instantiating, exemplifying or having its properties, and would therefore be a nonsentient force or potential of indeterminate vitality (see monad). This seems to contradict the notion that God is a person or a causal agent, for persons or agents are not properties (or complexes of properties). Schopenhauer attributes Aseity (self-dependent) to will, as the only being by and of itself, apart from causal relationships.Payne, E. "The World as Will and Representation" (Vol.2) Dover. 1958, p. 320

References

Bibliography

* Alston, William P. "Hartshorne and Aquinas: A Via Media", in ''Divine Nature and Human Language''. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1989. * Hartshorne, Charles. ''The Divine Relativity: A Social Conception of God''. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1948. * Morris, Thomas V. ''Our Idea of God''. Chap. 6. Downer's Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 1991. * Thomas Aquinas. ''Summa Theologica'', I, Q. 3. Many editions.

Meaning

Philosophical considerations

See also

References

Bibliography

External links