How far away is God? Reflections on Leibniz’s Theology

Abstract:

Leibniz’s position on God is close to pantheism, because the best of all possible worlds is an asymptotic perfection with that of God, and because God creates out of moral necessity. On the other hand, Catholics may think that, by faith, they attain a superior knowledge of God. But Thomism defends that the existence of God is only known after a laborious knowledge of the world; moreover, the essence of God is always mysterious. These differences may help explain Leibniz’s flawed conception of creation and the existence of evil in the world.

Keywords:

Leibniz, God, Thomism, mistery