But if these two claims were accepted, it seemed to me that in spite of all its faults the Roman Catholic Church was the only one which could reasonably be thought to have developed out of what Christ established.

"[5] His father, though opposed to his son's becoming a Catholic, helped him complete his education at St John's College, Oxford, where he studied from 1925 to 1929.

[4] After Oxford, Copleston entered St. Mary's College, Oscott as a seminarian for the diocese of Clifton, but realized the life was not for him.

[4] Copleston was originally destined to study for his doctorate at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, but the war now made that impossible.

[8] Still highly respected, Copleston's history has been described as "a monumental achievement" that "stays true to the authors it discusses, being very much a work in exposition".

[4] Copleston achieved a degree of popularity in the media for debating the existence of God with Bertrand Russell in a celebrated 1948 BBC broadcast.

[10] Throughout the rest of his academic career, Copleston accepted a number of prestigious titles, including visiting professor at Rome's Gregorian University, where he spent six months each year lecturing from 1952 to 1968.

By doing so, Copleston makes clear that Aquinas wanted to put forth the concept of an omnipresent God rather than a being that could have disappeared after setting the chain of cause and effect into motion.