Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Cry 'Woof'

Home
Catholic
CT 14: God Not A Species Predicated Of Individuals

CT 14: God Not A Species Predicated Of Individuals

Last updated on: October 20, 2014 at 8:00 am by willduquette

CT 14: God Not A Species Predicated Of Individuals 2014-10-18T11:23:34-05:00 willduquette

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

We’re blogging through St. Thomas Aquinas’ Compendium Theologiae, sometimes called his Shorter Summa. Find the previous posts here.

It’s been a month since the last entry in the series, so it’s time to recap. Thomas began by showing that there is a first, ultimate cause of all caused things; he calls this ultimate cause “God” for convenience, though he’s still in the process of showing why it’s reasonable to equate this first cause with the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He’s determined a number of particular things about this God; and for the last couple of chapters he’s been showing that this God is metaphysically peculiar—none of the usual metaphysical categories (as defined by Aristotle and others) are appropriate for God. Among these categories are the terms “genus” and “species”, which mean something rather different than the modern biological sense; if you’re unclear on that, you might want to review the last couple of posts.

Individuals of which a species is predicated. Or, perhaps, two species.

Thomas continues his project of showing that none of the usual metaphysical categories apply to God by showing that God is a not a species. Not that it’s likely that He would be; Thomas is just being thorough.

God cannot be, as it were, a single species predicated of many individuals.

To predicate X about something about something is simply to say that X is true about something. If I say that Spot is brown, I’m predicating brownness of Spot. If I say that Spot is a dog, I’m saying that Spot belongs to the species “dog”; and since there are many dogs, “dog” is a species predicated of many individuals. But God is not this kind of thing.

Various individuals that come together in one essence of a species are distinguished by certain notes that lie outside the essence of the species.

All dogs are dogs, but this dog is white and that one is brown. Spot’s particular color lies outside the essence of what it is to be a dog.

For example, men are alike in their common humanity but differ from one another in virtue of something that is outside the concept of humanity.

People are the same way. They have the essence of humanity, plus their own individual characteristics.

This cannot occur in God, for God Himself is His essence, as has been shown. Therefore God cannot be a species that is predicated of several individuals.

We’ve already established that God is His essence and nothing more; so He can’t include individuals with accidental characteristics.

As usual, Thomas gives a second proof:

Again, a number of individuals comprised under one species differ in their existence, and yet are alike in their one essence. Accordingly, whenever a number of individuals are under one species, their existence must be different from the essence of the species.

You and I share in the essence of humanity; Spot and other dogs share in the essence of dogginess. It’s possible to contemplate dogginess apart from any particular dog (as we’ve been doing; Spot exists only in our minds), but to get a real dog you need to add existence to the essence of dogginess.

But in God existence and essence are identical, as has been demonstrated. Therefore God cannot be a sort of species predicated of many individuals.

But God is all in all; He is His essence, and His essence is His existence, and if you had to add anything to Him He wouldn’t be God.

____
photo credit: The Dress Up Place via photopin cc

Uncategorized

Previous Post

October 19, 2014

Why the Synod Doesn't Worry Me #synod14

Next Post

October 21, 2014 Review: Hawk, by Steven Brust

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Admin App o' the Morning Ask the Dogmat Believing Thomas Bits of Fiction Blasts from the Past Bootstrapping the Interior Life Catholic Mom Christian Living Deep Thoughts from the Doghouse Dominicana Evangelii Gaudium Interviews It Was A Dark and Stormy Night Links to This and That Lumen Fidei Meme Watch On Writing Operation Gratitude Pedant Errant Photography Quill Random Barkings S'Mary's World Shakers of Salt Software Development The Dog Whistler The Dogmat Sez Third Orders Thomas Aquinas Uncategorized Vikings at Dinos Woof Guide to Cinema Woof Guide to History Woof Guide to Literature Woof Guide to Obscure Catholic Music Woof Guide to Philosophy Woof Guide to Popular Music Woof Guide to Technology Woof Guide to Theology Words I Wish I'd Written Works For Me

Select a Month September 2016 August 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

How many psalms are attributed to Moses?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Ten Three One Five