Book contents
- Participation in the Divine
- Cambridge Studies in Religion and Platonism
- Participation in the Divine
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Contributors
- Foreword
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1 The Lord Is One
- 2 The Place and Scope of Participation in the Divine in the Thought of Plato
- 3 Origen on Participation
- 4 Forms, Intellects, and Angels
- 5 Participation in the Divine in Gregory of Nyssa
- 6 Augustine’s “Illumination” Theory as the Natural Participation of the Human Mind
- 7 The Principle of Cosmic Unification in the Athenian School of Platonism
- 8 St. Maximus the Confessor on Participation
- 9 Participation in Medieval Platonism
- 10 Participation as God’s Indwelling
- 11 Some Late Medieval Discussions of Participation in the Divine
- 12 Music, Temperance, and Participation in Marsilio Ficino
- 13 Richard Hooker’s Metaphysics of Divine Participation
- 14 The Transcendence of Holiness
- 15 Ralph Cudworth on Causality and Substantial Forms
- 16 The Romantic Legacy
- 17 Participation Revived and Revised
- Index
- References
10 - Participation as God’s Indwelling
Aquinas’ Neoplatonic Systematisation of Aristotle for Participation in the Divine
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 23 November 2024
Book contents
- Participation in the Divine
- Cambridge Studies in Religion and Platonism
- Participation in the Divine
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Contributors
- Foreword
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1 The Lord Is One
- 2 The Place and Scope of Participation in the Divine in the Thought of Plato
- 3 Origen on Participation
- 4 Forms, Intellects, and Angels
- 5 Participation in the Divine in Gregory of Nyssa
- 6 Augustine’s “Illumination” Theory as the Natural Participation of the Human Mind
- 7 The Principle of Cosmic Unification in the Athenian School of Platonism
- 8 St. Maximus the Confessor on Participation
- 9 Participation in Medieval Platonism
- 10 Participation as God’s Indwelling
- 11 Some Late Medieval Discussions of Participation in the Divine
- 12 Music, Temperance, and Participation in Marsilio Ficino
- 13 Richard Hooker’s Metaphysics of Divine Participation
- 14 The Transcendence of Holiness
- 15 Ralph Cudworth on Causality and Substantial Forms
- 16 The Romantic Legacy
- 17 Participation Revived and Revised
- Index
- References
Summary
“The universe, in its most profound structure, is essentially a participation of the First and simple Perfection from which it proceeds. It is above all the reflection and imitation of an absolutely perfect exemplar.” Thus concluded Louis-Bertrand Geiger in his unsurpassed treatment of participation in the philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas.1 Within this frame, participation is at the culmination of Aquinas’ treatment of God Himself in the Summa theologiae, the Sending of the Divine Persons. There, two modes of God’s presence appear. First, there is a common one according to which God is in all things through the Proclean triad of essence, power and presence, just in the way a cause is in the effects which participate its goodness. Creation as a whole is participation of this kind.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Participation in the DivineA Philosophical History, From Antiquity to the Modern Era, pp. 220 - 244Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2024
References
Primary Sources
Albertus Magnus: Super Dionysium De divinis nominibus, ed. Simon, Paul. Münster: Aschendorff, 1972.Google Scholar
Aquinas: In duodecim libros Metaphysicorum Aristotelis Expositio, ed. Cathala, M. R. and Spiazzi, R. M.. Turin: Marietti, 1964.Google Scholar
Aquinas: De Substantiis Separatis, ed. Fratrum Praedicatorum, . Rome: Commissio Leonina, 1968.Google Scholar
Aquinas: Sententia libri De Anima, ed. Fratrum Praedicatorum, . Rome: Commissio Leonina, 1984.Google Scholar
Aquinas. In Librum Beati Dionysii De divinis nominibus Expositio, ed. Pera, Ceslai. Turin: Marietti, 1950.Google Scholar
Aquinas. Scriptum super Sententiis, ed. and trans. Busa, Roberto. Parma: Textum Parmae, 1856.Google Scholar
Proclus: The Elements of Theology, ed. Dodds, E. R.. 2nd rev. ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1963.Google Scholar
Proclus: Commentary on Plato’s Timaeus, vol. ii, ed. and trans. Runia, David T. and Share, Michael. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008.Google Scholar
Proclus: Théologie platonicienne, vol. ii, ed. and trans. Saffrey, Henri D. and Westerink, Leendert G.. Paris: Les Belles Lettres, 1974.Google Scholar
Secondary Sources
de Belloy, Camille. 2006. La visite de Dieu: Essai sur les missions des personnes divines selon saint Thomas d’Aquin. Geneva: Ad Solem.Google Scholar
de Belloy, Camille. 2014. Dieu comme soi-même. Connaissance de soi et connaissance de dieu selon Thomas d’Aquin: L’herméneutique d’Ambroise Gardeil. Paris: Vrin.Google Scholar
Blankenhorn, Bernard. 2015. The Mystery of Union with God: Dionysian Mysticism in Albert the Great and Thomas Aquinas. Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diamond, Eli. 2015. Mortal Imitations of Divine Life. Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fabro, Cornelio. 1939. La nozione metafisica di partecipazione secondo S. Tomaso d’Aquino. Milan: Vita e Pensiero.Google Scholar
Fabro, Cornelio. 1961. Participation et causalité selon S. Thomas d’Aquin. Louvain: Publications universitaires de Louvain.Google Scholar
Geiger, Louis-Bertrand. 1953. La Participation dans la philosophie de S. Thomas d’Aquin, 2nd ed. Paris: Vrin.Google Scholar
Geiger, Louis-Bertrand. 2000. Penser avec Thomas d’Aquin: Etudes thomistes de Louis-Bertrand Geiger OP, présentées par Ruedi Imbach. Paris: Cerf.Google Scholar
Gerson, Lloyd P. 2005. Aristotle and Other Platonists. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Hankey, Wayne J. 1987 / 2000. God in Himself, Aquinas’ Doctrine of God as Expounded in the Summa Theologiae. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Hankey, Wayne J. 1998a. “From Metaphysics to History, from Exodus to Neoplatonism, from Scholasticism to Pluralism: the Fate of Gilsonian Thomism in English-Speaking North America.” Dionysius 16: 157–88.Google Scholar
Hankey, Wayne J. 1998b. “Denys and Aquinas: Antimodern Cold and Postmodern Hot,” in Christian Origins: Theology, Rhetoric and Community, ed. Ayres, Lewis and Jones, Gareth. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Hankey, Wayne J. 2002. “Thomas’ Neoplatonic Histories: His Following of Simplicius.” Dionysius 20: 153–78.Google Scholar
Hankey, Wayne J. 2004. “Participatio divini luminis, Aquinas’ doctrine of the Agent Intellect: Our Capacity for Contemplation.” Dionysius 22: 149–78.Google Scholar
Hankey, Wayne J. 2006. One Hundred Years of Neoplatonism in France: A Brief Philosophical History. Leuven: Peeters.Google Scholar
Hankey, Wayne J. 2016. “The Concord of Aristotle, Proclus, the Liber de Causis & Blessed Dionysius in Thomas Aquinas, Student of Albertus Magnus.” Dionysius 34: 137–209.Google Scholar
Oliva, Adriano. 2009–10. “La Somme de théologie de saint Thomas d’Aquin: Introduction historique et littéraire.” χώρα REAM 7–8, 217–53.Google Scholar
Oliva, Adriano. 2012. “La contemplation des philosophes selon Thomas d’Aquin.” Revue des sciences philosophiques et théologiques 96: 585–662.Google Scholar
O’Rourke, Fran. 1992. Pseudo-Dionysius and the Metaphysics of Aquinas. Leiden: Brill.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Peghaire, Julien. 1932. “L’axiome ‘Bonum est diffusivum sui’ dans le néo-platonisme et le thomisme.” Revue de l’Université d’Ottawa 1, special section: 5–30.Google Scholar
Perl, Eric. 2007. Theophany: The Neoplatonic Philosophy of Dionysius the Areopagite. Albany: SUNY Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Riggs, Timothy. 2009. “Eros as Hierarchical Principle: A Re-evaluation of Dionysius’ Neoplatonism.” Dionysius 27: 71–96.Google Scholar
Riggs, Timothy. 2010. “Erôs, the Son, and the Gods as Metaphysical Principles in Proclus and Dionysius.” Dionysius 28: 97–130.Google Scholar
Smit, Houston. 2001. “Aquinas’s Abstractionism.” Medieval Philosophy and Theology 10: 85–118.Google Scholar
te Velde, Rudi. 1995. Participation and Substantiality in Thomas Aquinas. Leiden: Brill.CrossRefGoogle Scholar