Book contents
- Commentary on Thomas Aquinas’s Treatise on the One God
- Commentary on Thomas Aquinas’s Treatise on the One God
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Analytical Table of Contents
- Ante Studium (Before Study)
- Epigraph
- Commentator’s Introduction
- Question 1 The Nature and Extent of Sacred Doctrine
- Question 2 The Existence of God
- Question 3 Of the Simplicity of God
- Question 4 The Perfection of God
- Question 6 The Goodness of God
- Question 49 The Cause of Evil
- Question 7 The Infinity of God
- Question 8 The Existence of God in Things
- Question 9 The Immutability of God
- Question 10 The Eternity of God
- Question 11 The Unity of God
- Question 12 How God Is Known by Us
- Question 13 The “Names” or Qualities Predicated of God
- Question 14 Of God’s Knowledge
- Question 16 Of Truth
- Question 18 The Life of God
- Question 19 The Will of God
- Question 20 God’s Love
- Question 21 The Justice and Mercy of God
- Question 22 The Providence of God
- Question 25 The Power of God
- Question 26 Of the Divine Beatitude
- Commentator’s Conclusion: Preamble to What?
- Index of Scriptural References
- General Index
Question 13 - The “Names” or Qualities Predicated of God
Article 12: Whether Affirmative Propositions Can Be Formed about God?
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 23 November 2024
- Commentary on Thomas Aquinas’s Treatise on the One God
- Commentary on Thomas Aquinas’s Treatise on the One God
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Analytical Table of Contents
- Ante Studium (Before Study)
- Epigraph
- Commentator’s Introduction
- Question 1 The Nature and Extent of Sacred Doctrine
- Question 2 The Existence of God
- Question 3 Of the Simplicity of God
- Question 4 The Perfection of God
- Question 6 The Goodness of God
- Question 49 The Cause of Evil
- Question 7 The Infinity of God
- Question 8 The Existence of God in Things
- Question 9 The Immutability of God
- Question 10 The Eternity of God
- Question 11 The Unity of God
- Question 12 How God Is Known by Us
- Question 13 The “Names” or Qualities Predicated of God
- Question 14 Of God’s Knowledge
- Question 16 Of Truth
- Question 18 The Life of God
- Question 19 The Will of God
- Question 20 God’s Love
- Question 21 The Justice and Mercy of God
- Question 22 The Providence of God
- Question 25 The Power of God
- Question 26 Of the Divine Beatitude
- Commentator’s Conclusion: Preamble to What?
- Index of Scriptural References
- General Index
Summary
Can we form true propositions about God? Some say no – but one would have to know a great deal about God in order to be certain that one could not know anything else about Him. At every stage of his writing, St. Thomas has taught that what we can say about God is limited. In this life we do not see His very essence, and the mere backwash of His glory would overwhelm us. However, whether our little speeches are inadequate is not the question: rather we should ask whether their inadequacy makes them false. Can we say anything positive about God? Throughout this book St. Thomas has been making affirmative statements about Him. But even if we can, then what kinds can we make, and in what sense should we take them? We might even ask what it is about the reality of God that makes talking about His reality so difficult – and yet so important.
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- Commentary on Thomas Aquinas's Treatise on the One God , pp. 195 - 217Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2024