Beata Trinitas: The Beatitude of God as Prelude to the Trinitarian Processions
- Beata Trinitas:The Beatitude of God as Prelude to the Trinitarian Processions
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Footnotes
1. Some authors, such as F. E. Crowe, perceive a certain discontinuity in the text of the Pars Prima of the Summa Theologiae between questions 26 and 27. Crowe proposes to insert a new question (26A) so that “the unitary God is linked naturally with the Trinitarian God, and the Trinitarian God is continuous in human thought with the unitary God, and we have the Trinity emerging from within the nature of God instead of being considered in a separate set of questions” (“For Inserting a New Question 26(A) in the Prima Pars,” The Thomist 64 [2000]: 565–80, at 579). If the thesis of this article is correct, there would be no need to insert a further question to manifest the contiguity between De Deo uno and De Deo trino.
2. It is interesting to note that in the beginning of the question on the beatitude of God, St. Thomas states: “Last of all, after the consideration of those things which pertain to the unity of the divine essence, the divine beatitude ought to be considered.” What is striking about this statement is the word “after.” St. Thomas does not say “after the consideration of the other things which pertain to the unity of the divine essence,” but simply states that this is after “those things which pertain to the unity of the divine essence.” It leaves the reader with the impression that the treatment of the divine beatitude is something not included in the treatment of the unity of the divine essence, but rather something after this treatment. Yet in concluding question 26 he says: “The things said suffice about those things which pertain to the unity of the divine essence;” and in introducing question 27 he restates: “Having considered those things which pertain to the unity of the divine essence, it remains [for us] to consider those things which pertain to the trinity of Persons in divine matters.” This textual oddity is perhaps St. Thomas’s way of giving the reader a clue that the treatment of the divine beatitude is in some way a middle between the consideration of the unity of the divine essence and the consideration of the Trinity of persons.
3. I prefer to use the term ‘contiguity’ instead of ‘continuity’ since contiguity communicates more distinctly the idea of an essential difference between two orders that touch but do not fuse together. This is also the way that St. Thomas prefers to express himself: “Natures which are ordained to one another are related to each other as contiguous bodies, the lower in its highest point touches the higher in its lowest point.” (De Verit., q. 16, a. 1). Nevertheless, there is a sense in which contiguous orders can also be called continuous inasmuch as there is nothing between them.
4. De Verit., q. 16, a. 1: “Inferius in sui supremo tangit superius in sui infimo.”
5. II De Anima, lect. 5: “Quod universum sit perfectum, nullus gradus perfectionis in rebus intermittitur, sed paulatim natura de imperfectis ad perfecta procedit. Propter quod etiam Aristoteles, in octavo metaphysicae, assimilat species rerum numeris, qui paulatim in augmentum proficiunt. Unde in viventibus quaedam habent unum tantum praedictorum, scilicet plantae, in quibus est solum vegetativum, quod necesse est in omnibus viventibus materialibus esse, quia huic potentiae attribuuntur operationes pertinentes ad esse materiale. Aliis autem, scilicet animalibus, inest vegetativum et sensitivum.” Notice that Aristotle finds a suitable analogy in numbers, a species of discrete quantity, which underlines the fact that each species and order remains formally distinct from the other and does not blend into the other by strict continuity.
6. Quodl. IX, q. 4, a. 5, ad.2: “Animae vero nostrae ordine naturae quasi contiguantur ipsis Angelis, sicut Angelus inferior superiori.”
7. For example, see Descartes, Principles of Philosophy, part I, principle 53.
8. Cf. De Ente et essentia, c. 1.
9. II Sent., d. 39, q. 3, a. 1: “Haec virtus scintilla convenienter dicitur, quod sicut scintilla est modicum ex igne evolans; ita haec virtus est quaedam modica participatio intellectualitatis...
