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the creation from nothing, since he considered the latter proposition incapable of proof.” 32
Maimonides distinguished between coming into being by natural processes and being
miraculously created out of nothing by God. He was not troubled by the fact that many of the
tenets of faith could not be demonstrated rationally; but he held that neither the creation of the
world in time nor its everlasting existence was capable of demonstrative proof. 33 Maimonides,
moreover, “argued that Aristotle did not teach that the world was eternal, but only refuted the
errors of his predecessors who argued otherwise; his proofs were not demonstrative, and surely
he, the founder of logic, realized this.” 34
Seeking harmony between faith and reason in their commentaries on Lombard’s
Sentences, both Franciscan and Dominican theologians rejected the positions of Averroists but
followed distinct lines of argument. While both Bonaventure and Aquinas held that eternity of
the world was not demonstrable by reason, Bonaventure additionally held that the temporal
beginning of the world was demonstrable, a position which Aquinas rejected.
32
Dales, Medieval Discussions, 45.
Ibid, 46-47.
34
Ibid, 48.
33
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