The comparative study of God’s knowledge of the creatures from perspective of Sohravardi and Thomas Aquinas

The present article aims to examine and analyze the views of Sohravardi as a representative of the Platonic tradition and Aquinas as a representative of the Aristotelian tradition regarding God’s knowledge of the creatures, and to express their points of commonality and difference; The findings of the research are that regarding the connection between divine attributes and essence, Sohravardi and Aquinas believe in identity. Regarding God’s knowledge of the creatures, both philosophers prove the knowledge of the Almighty God, but Sohravardi does not mention God’s knowledge of the creatures before creation, and Aquinas does not distinguish between before and after creation. Sohravardi does not have a significant discussion about God's knowledge of evil, but rather discusses the place of evil in the system of existence and its relationship with the goodness of the system, but Aquinas discusses more about how God knows evil and believes that Almighty God knows evil according to the system of existence. Regarding God’s knowledge of the variables, none of the two philosophers believe in change in the divine essence.