4. The Incarnation's Suitability: Summa Theologiae and Summa Contra Gentiles Compared

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Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

• Necessity Reconsidered: The distinction between absolute necessity (without which something cannot exist at all) and necessity “from the end” (without which something cannot be done well). Thomas argues the incarnation is necessary in the second sense—most suitable for achieving our end—not the first.
• The First Objection: God’s infinite dignity and distance from creatures seems to make the incarnation unsuitable, almost undignified. Thomas responds by showing that immediate union with God is already our end (beatific vision), so the distance is already part of God’s plan.
• Two Summas, Different Approaches: The Summa Contra Gentiles presents 8 reasons for the incarnation’s suitability (Book IV, Chapter 54); the Summa Theologiae presents approximately 10. The SCG emphasizes reasons accessible to reason; both share similar core arguments but with different emphases and ordering.

Key Arguments for Suitability #

First Argument (SCG): Hope—Overcoming the Distance #

• The Problem of Despair: Without the incarnation, man might despair of ever being united to God immediately (the beatific vision), since there is infinite distance between God’s nature and human nature.
• The Solution Through Incarnation: By uniting human nature to his person, God demonstrates that union with him is possible. If he can do this with our nature, then hope is justified that our minds can be joined to his divine essence as the intelligible form (“in his light we shall see light”).
• The Movement Toward Beatitude: After the incarnation, men began to aspire more earnestly to heavenly beatitude, as Christ says in John 10:10: “I have come that they might have life and have it more abundantly.”

Second Argument (SCG): Human Dignity and Avoiding Wrong Attachments #

• The Problem: Man might underestimate his own dignity and seek beatitude in things below him—bodily pleasures (which he shares with animals) or worship of superior creatures (angels, demons, celestial bodies).
• The Solution: The incarnation reveals man’s true dignity: human nature itself is worthy of immediate union with God. This inspires men to give up worship of creatures and seek God alone.
• Scripture: “Seek the things that are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God” (Colossians 3:1).

Third Argument (SCG): Faith—Certain Knowledge of Divine Truth #

• The Problem: Perfect beatitude consists in knowledge of God that exceeds all created understanding. Man needs a certain foretaste (prelevatio) of this knowledge to be directed toward it—this foretaste is faith.
• Faith’s Necessity: Just as demonstrations depend on first, indemonstrable principles (axioms), so faith must be traced back to God himself, to whom divine truth is per se known.
• The Solution: God, made man, instructs us in a human way so we might perceive divine truth with certainty. We are taught by God himself, the source of all truth.
• Scripture: John 1:18 (“The only begotten in the bosom of the Father will announce it”) and John 18:37 (“I was born and came into the world that I might give testimony to the truth”).
• Result: “The earth is filled with the knowledge of the Lord” (Isaiah 11:9).

Fourth Argument (SCG): Charity—Arousing Love Through Experience of God’s Love #

• The Problem: Man’s affections must be disposed toward desiring union with God (perfect beatitude). But desire for something springs from love of it.
• What Moves Love: Nothing moves us to love someone as much as experiencing their love toward us.
• The Incarnation as Expression of Love: The very union of God with human nature in his person is the first effect of love—love unites the lover with the beloved. This is why the incarnation is called Christ’s “bridal chamber” with human nature (Psalm 18).
• The Result: This experiential knowledge of God’s love moves us to love him in return.

Important Distinctions #

Two Senses of Necessity (From Aristotle) #

1. Absolute Necessity (ἀνάγκη): That without which something cannot exist at all (e.g., matter cannot cease to exist without ceasing to be matter).
2. Necessity from the End (ἀνάγκη ἐκ τοῦ τέλους): That without which something cannot be done well or achieved (e.g., a horse is necessary for a good journey, though you could walk).

Thomas’s Position: The incarnation is necessary in the second sense. God could have redeemed us other ways (he’s omnipotent), but there was no more suitable way. As Thomas says in reply to the first objection: “This reason proceeds according to the first way of necessity, without which one cannot arrive at an end.”

Two Types of Satisfaction #

• Perfect/Condigna Satisfaction: Worthy by equality to recompense the fault. Only God (infinite in dignity) can satisfy perfectly for sin against God (which has infinite gravity because of the infinite dignity of the one offended).
• Imperfect/Congrua Satisfaction: What is accepted by another who is content with it, though not equal. A pure man’s satisfaction has efficacy only insofar as it rests on and is accepted through Christ’s perfect satisfaction.

Examples & Illustrations #

The King and the Kick #

Thomas illustrates why sin against God has infinite gravity: “If I kick the king, I get more trouble than if I kick you.” The offense’s gravity depends on the dignity of the one offended. God has infinite dignity, so sin against him demands infinite satisfaction.

Axioms and Demonstrations #

Just as the Pythagorean theorem’s certainty flows from reduction to indemonstrable axioms (“the whole is greater than the part,” “equals to equals are equal”), so faith’s certainty flows from reduction to God himself, to whom divine truth is naturally known.

Academic Despair #

Berquist observes that modern academia exhibits despair of truth, treating ideas like “ping-pong balls” knocked back and forth, never settling into truth. This parallels the philosophical despair that would prevent us from seeking beatitude without the incarnation’s witness.

Plato’s Phaedo #

When objections seem to collapse Socrates’s arguments for the soul’s immortality, both Socrates and his listeners fall into despair (ἀπορία) about knowing the truth. Thomas similarly recognizes that without hope, we despair of our supernatural end.

Notable Quotes #

“Now, the first objection is saying, well, God could do this without that, right? It wasn’t necessary… Thomas says, well, to the first effort should be said that that reason proceeds according to the first way of necessity, without which one cannot arrive at an end… But there’s no more suitable way of doing it, right? Than that.”

“One considering piously, always, semper, magis et magis. More and more wonderful, admirable reasons of this mystery are made manifest.” — Thomas Aquinas

“What is stupid of God is wiser than man.” — St. Paul (1 Corinthians 1:25)

“The perfect beatitude of man consists in the soul enjoyment of God… Happy the man who sees God, even if he knows nothing else. Miserable the man who knows all other things if he doesn’t know God.” — Augustine

Questions Addressed #

Is the Incarnation Absolutely Necessary for Redemption? #

Answer: No. God, being omnipotent, could have redeemed us by other means. However, the incarnation is the most suitable way (necessity from the end)—it accomplishes our salvation in a way that simultaneously addresses multiple human needs and removes impediments to beatitude.

How Can Infinite God Be United to Finite Creatures? #

The Objection: The infinite distance between God and man makes their union seem impossible or unsuitable.

Thomas’s Response: Our supernatural end is immediate union with God in the beatific vision. This distance is already part of God’s eternal plan. By demonstrating in the incarnation that human nature can be united to his divine person, God shows that our hope for beatitude is justified and not despairing.

Why Did God Become Man Rather Than Redeem Us Some Other Way? #

The Answer in Four Movements:

1. It arouses hope by showing our end is achievable
2. It reveals human dignity and redirects our desire from false goods
3. It provides certain knowledge of divine truth (faith)
4. It demonstrates God’s love, which alone moves us to love him (charity)