MOVEMENT AND ITS STABILITY AS AN ARGUMENT FOR CREATION, IN THE CAPPADOCIAN FATHERS
MOVEMENT AND ITS STABILITY AS AN ARGUMENT FOR CREATION, IN THE CAPPADOCIAN FATHERS

Summary/Abstract: The Cappadocian Fathers consider that the orderly movement of creatures and,especially, the stability of heavenly bodies is an indication of the existence of theCreator and divine providence. In St. Basil the Great we find a version of theargument of the First Mover from Aristotle, developed also by Thomas Aquinas. InSt. Basil the Great and St. Gregory of Nazianz, as in Aristotle, the question of theexistence of movement was posed not only in the sense of an original impulsetowards movement, but also for the continuation of movement once begun. Thesustaining in motion had to have a cause outside the one being moved. And St.Gregory of Nyssa shows that the stability of the movement of heavenly bodies is awitness of divine proneness, as a sign of the specificity of the uncreated, which isunchangeability, in contrast to the attribute of change that dominates the creature.The Cappadocian Fathers do not base faith on reason, but by rational argumentsand facts of nature they strengthen the solidarity between faith and reason and clearthe obstacles, coming from wrong philosophies, which obstruct the channels throughwhich natural revelation inspires manry

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