Final answer:
Aquinas posits that God, as the primary cause and unmoved mover, sets creatures in motion without dictating their every action, thus allowing genuine agency.
Step-by-step explanation:
According to Thomas Aquinas, God can be understood as the primary cause while allowing creatures to retain genuine agency. Aquinas articulated his view of God as an unmoved mover, a first cause, and a necessary being who sets the universe and its creatures in motion, but does not necessitate every contingent event. The idea of the Unmoved Mover is central to Aquinas's argument, suggesting that God instigated the initial motion or change in the universe without being moved or changed Himself. Creatures, while contingent upon God for their existence, have their own agency and are responsible for their actions. Aquinas addresses the complexity of God's perfect and unchanging nature coexisting with a world of change and potentiality by explaining that, in his view, while God initiated and sustains the existence of all things, the nature of creatures includes the ability to act freely. Thus, there is a distinction between being the source of all that exists (and sustaining it) and controlling every aspect of its subsequent unfolding. Aquinas's theological framework places emphasis on rationality and observation of the natural world to support his claims, distinguishing his approach as natural theology.