Philip Aranda
Encyclopedia
Biography
He was born at MonevaMoneva
Moneva is a municipality located in the province of Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain. According to the 2004 census , the municipality has a population of 123 inhabitants....
in Aragon
Aragon
Aragon is a modern autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. Located in northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces : Huesca, Zaragoza, and Teruel. Its capital is Zaragoza...
. He entered the Society of Jesus
Society of Jesus
The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...
in 1658. He taught theology and philosophy at Zaragoza.
He was connected with the Inquisition
Inquisition
The Inquisition, Inquisitio Haereticae Pravitatis , was the "fight against heretics" by several institutions within the justice-system of the Roman Catholic Church. It started in the 12th century, with the introduction of torture in the persecution of heresy...
of Aragon and was synodal examiner of the Archdiocese of Zaragoza
Archdiocese of Zaragoza
The Archdiocese of Zaragoza is a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical territory located in north-eastern Spain, in the province of Zaragoza , part of the autonomous community of Aragón...
.
He is described by Father Michel de St. Joseph, in his "Biographica Critica", as "a most acute theologian, eloquent in speech, and a most practical and expert athlete in the scholastic arena".
He was fiercely attacked in a satirical work by Martin Serra, a Dominican
Dominican Order
The Order of Preachers , after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic and approved by Pope Honorius III on 22 December 1216 in France...
, who declaimed against "the indifferent, headless, inefficacious writings of certain theologians, especially the olla podrida of Father Philip Aranda", an assault which almost evoked an interdict
Interdict (Roman Catholic Church)
In Roman Catholic canon law, an interdict is an ecclesiastical censure that excludes from certain rites of the Church individuals or groups, who nonetheless do not cease to be members of the Church.-Distinctions in canon law:...
against the church of the friar.
He died at Zaragoza
Zaragoza
Zaragoza , also called Saragossa in English, is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain...
in 1695.
Works
He published a treatise in 1693, "De Deo sciente, praedestinante et auxiliante", which examines ably the entire subject of scientia media, and solidly and subtlety expounds and illustrates the questions of predestinationPredestination
Predestination, in theology is the doctrine that all events have been willed by God. John Calvin interpreted biblical predestination to mean that God willed eternal damnation for some people and salvation for others...
and divine grace
Divine grace
In Christian theology, grace is God’s gift of God’s self to humankind. It is understood by Christians to be a spontaneous gift from God to man - "generous, free and totally unexpected and undeserved" - that takes the form of divine favour, love and clemency. It is an attribute of God that is most...
. He explains the mind of St. Augustine
Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo , also known as Augustine, St. Augustine, St. Austin, St. Augoustinos, Blessed Augustine, or St. Augustine the Blessed, was Bishop of Hippo Regius . He was a Latin-speaking philosopher and theologian who lived in the Roman Africa Province...
, and "without difficulty", it was said, gave the meaning of his difficult expressions, maintaining that they had no reference whatever to predestination"; a word which he contends was never, even equivalently, used by the Great Doctor. He adds an appendix on why the procession of the Second Person is called generation.
He wrote on the Incarnation
Incarnation
Incarnation literally means embodied in flesh or taking on flesh. It refers to the conception and birth of a sentient creature who is the material manifestation of an entity, god or force whose original nature is immaterial....
and Redemption; on the natural and supernatural operation of man; on human acts; on good and evil; and on the supernatural.
He wrote also a "Life of the Servant of God, Isabel Pobar".