179. The Trinity, Person, and Exemplar Causality in God

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Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

• The Problem of Divine Generation: How God can cause generation in creatures (animals, humans) while remaining completely unchangeable, as both Scripture and reason seem to require
• Four Kinds of Causes: Matter, form, efficient cause (mover), and final cause (end); under form, there are two types: the form of the thing itself and the exemplary form
• Exemplar Causality vs. Efficient Causality: God acts as both an efficient cause and an exemplar cause of generation; this distinction resolves the apparent contradiction
• Definition of Person: Boethius’s definition (individua substantia rationalis naturae) and its application to God, angels, and humans
• The Problem with “Rationalis”: The term seems to apply only to human reason (discursive reasoning) but must be understood broadly as understanding or intellection to apply to God and angels
• Discourse as the Specific Difference of Man: When reason is taken in the strict sense, it means the ability for discourse (building up reasoning from one thought to another)
• The Son as the Verbum (Word) of the Father: The Son is the thought of the Father; if the Son had a thought, there would be discourse in God, which contradicts God’s nature
• God’s Understanding: God understands everything by one act—understanding His own substance, He understands everything; therefore no discourse occurs in God

Key Arguments #

The Causality Argument #

• Objection: How can God give generation to others if He Himself does not have generation?
• Response:
  • God is the cause of generation in two ways: as an efficient cause and as an exemplar cause
  • As efficient cause: God gives motion to the work (though He is the unmoved mover, completely unchangeable)
  • As exemplar cause: God serves as the exemplary form by which generation occurs
  • Therefore, generation in creatures necessarily implies generation in God (Father and Son)

The Definition of Person and “Rationalis” #

• Objection: The definition “rationalis naturae” seems inapplicable to God and angels, who do not have discursive reason
• Response:
  • “Rationalis” must be understood broadly as understanding or intellection, not strictly as discursive reasoning
  • When reason is taken strictly as the specific difference of man, it means the ability for discourse
  • This broad understanding allows the definition to apply to God, angels, and humans

The Problem of Divine Discourse #

• Objection: If the Son had a thought, wouldn’t that create discourse in God?
• Response:
  • Discourse occurs when one thought arises from another thought (discursive reasoning)
  • God understands everything through one act of understanding His own substance
  • Therefore, if the Son (as thought) had a thought, this would introduce discourse into God, which contradicts His nature
  • The Son cannot have a son precisely because this would violate God’s unified understanding

Important Definitions #

• Exemplar Cause (causa exemplaris): A cause that provides the model or pattern for something; in God’s case, the eternal ideas or forms by which God creates and generates
• Efficient Cause (causa efficiens): The cause that produces motion or change; God as the unmoved mover
• Verbum (Word): The Son understood as the thought or expression of the Father’s understanding
• Discourse (discursus): The process of reasoning from one thought to another; characteristic of human reason in its discursive aspect
• Individua substantia rationalis naturae: Boethius’s definition of person; an individual substance of rational nature
• Rationalis (rational): Understood broadly as possessing understanding or intellection; strictly, as the capacity for discursive reasoning

Examples & Illustrations #

• Shakespeare and Reason: Berquist notes that Shakespeare defines reason similarly to Thomas—as the ability for discourse (large discourse), suggesting Thomas may have influenced or been influenced by similar philosophical traditions
• Divine Understanding as Unified: God’s understanding differs fundamentally from human understanding: while humans move from one thought to another (discourse), God grasps all things in a single act of understanding His own substance
• The Problem of Motion in God: Although God gives motion to all things as the unmoved mover, He Himself undergoes no change—illustrating how God can be the cause of something without possessing that something in the way creatures do

Questions Addressed #

Q1: How can God cause generation if He is unchangeable? #

• Response: Through the distinction between efficient and exemplar causality. God causes generation efficiently while remaining unchangeable; as exemplar cause, He provides the model of what is generated. This resolves the apparent contradiction between Scripture and the nature of God’s immutability.

Q2: How does Boethius’s definition of person apply to God and angels if they lack discursive reason? #

• Response: “Rationalis” must be interpreted broadly as intellection or understanding rather than strictly as discursive reasoning. When reason is taken in the strict sense (as the specific difference of man), it means the capacity for discourse; but in the broader sense, it applies to any rational nature, including God and angels.

Q3: Why can the Son not have a son? #

• Response: If the Son had a thought, there would be discourse in God (one thought arising from another thought). But God’s nature requires that He understand everything through one unified act. Therefore, discourse cannot occur in God, and the Son cannot have a son. This maintains the simplicity and unity of divine understanding.

Notable Quotes #

“God gives generation to others… as an efficient cause and also as an exemplar cause. Therefore, it follows that He must have generation himself, which is the Father and the Son.”

“Rationalis” is used “not in the strict sense, right, of the faculty of reason that man has, but in the broad sense of the understanding.”

“If the thought had a thought, then you would have discourse in God, which is contrary to what we know about God’s understanding, where he understands everything by one act.”

“Thomas must have read Shakespeare, too… [both] define reason as the ability for discourse.”

Pedagogical Notes #

• Berquist emphasizes the importance of careful linguistic and conceptual distinctions (strict vs. broad meanings of terms)
• He illustrates how Thomas resolves apparent contradictions by distinguishing different modes of causality
• The lecture demonstrates the medieval disputational method: presenting objections before resolving them
• Berquist connects philosophical concepts to literature (Shakespeare) to show the perennial nature of philosophical insights