34. God's Omnipresence: Essence, Power, and Presence

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Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

God’s Presence in All Things #

• God is in all things as an agent cause is present to that which it acts upon
• God continuously gives existence, power, and operation to all created things
• God is in all things not as part of their essence or nature, but as their efficient cause

Two Ways of God’s Presence in Created Things #

First Way: Through Agency (Per Modum Agentis Causae)

• God is present as the cause of being in all created things
• The agent must be with what it acts upon to exercise causality
• This applies to all creatures

Second Way: Through Object of Knowledge and Love (Per Modum Obiecti Operationis)

• God is in rational creatures as the known is in the knower and the desired in the one desiring
• God is especially present in rational creatures that know and love Him
• In the saints, this presence occurs through grace
• This makes rational creatures temples of the Holy Spirit

Bodiless Things and Dimensitive Quantity (Quantitas Dimensiva) #

• Bodiless things (God, angels, souls) are not in place through contact of dimensitive quantity
• Dimensitive quantity = continuous quantity with three dimensions (length, width, depth)
• Bodily contact requires surface-to-surface contact (e.g., water in a cup)
• Bodiless substances contact things through power (potentia), not through dimensional extension
• Analogy: when we say “keep in touch,” we mean maintain power or influence, not physical contact

Two Kinds of Indivisibles #

Indivisible as Limit of Continuous Quantity:

• Examples: the point in permanent things, the momentum (instant) in successive things
• Has a determined location/position
• Cannot be in multiple places or times simultaneously
• Because it is the limit of the continuous, it is tied to a specific position

Indivisible Outside the Genus of Continuous Quantity:

• Bodiless substances: God, angels, and human souls
• Not applied to continuous as part of it (like a point in a line)
• Present to things through their power
• Present in one place or many places according to the extension of their power
• Angels: limited power; can act here but not there; present where they exercise power
• God: infinite power; can act everywhere at once; therefore present everywhere

Whole and Part: Two Senses #

Parts of the Nature/Essence:

• Form and matter (in composite substances)
• Genus and difference (in definition of species)
• Both are parts of the nature but in different ways
• Example: I am a composite of body and soul (form and matter) AND a rational animal (genus and difference)

Parts of Quantity:

• Dimensional parts of an extended body
• A whole extended in quantity cannot be outside its place
• The quantity of the placed equals the quantity of the place

God’s Presence and Wholeness #

Accidental Forms (like Whiteness):

• Whiteness is wholly present in each part of a white surface according to its nature
• If you consider the whole of its nature, whiteness is fully in each part
• But if you consider the total quantity (which it has by accident), it is spread over the whole surface

Bodiless Substances (God, Angels, Souls):

• Have no totality except according to the perfect definition of nature
• The whole soul is in the whole body AND in each part of the body
• Similarly, God as a whole is in all things and in each one of them
• This is not composition or division; it follows from their immaterial nature

The Three Modes: Essence, Power, and Presence #

Through Power (Per Potentiam):

• All things are subject to God’s power
• Addresses the Manichaean heresy (which denied God’s power over material things)
• The visible and bodily things are fully under divine power, not a contrary principle

Through Presence (Per Praesentiam):

• All things are naked and open to God’s sight
• Nothing is hidden from God; He knows all things
• Addresses those who denied divine providence over lower bodies
• God is present as all things are in His sight/knowledge

Through Essence (Per Essentiam):

• God is in all things as the cause of their being (esse)
• God’s essence is His being, so presence through essence means presence as giver of existence
• Addresses those who believed in divine power and knowledge but denied God immediately created all things
• Some said God created only first creatures, which then created others
• Thomas insists God immediately creates all things and sustains them in being

Clarification on Terminology:

• Gregory the Great uses substantia (substance); Thomas uses essentia (essence)
• They are roughly synonymous; both relate to the being of a thing
• The word essentia is related to esse (to be/being), so there is semantic appropriateness
• But the terminology can be ambiguous and requires explanation

Omnipresence as Proper to God #

What It Means for Something to Be Everywhere “First and Through Itself” (Per Se Primo):

• A thing is everywhere per se primo if, as a whole (not through parts), it is present to every place
• If something is everywhere through its parts (one part here, another there), it is not per se primo everywhere
• If something would be everywhere only if some condition were met (e.g., if no other body existed), it is not per se primo everywhere

Why Omnipresence Is Proper to God Alone:

• No matter how many places exist—even if infinitely more places existed—God would be present in all of them
• Why? Because nothing can exist except through God
• God is present not through a part of Himself, but through Himself (His whole essence) in each place
• This is not accidental to God; it follows necessarily from His infinite causality

Omnipresence vs. Ubiquity of Other Things:

• Universals (e.g., humanity): Everywhere, but not per se primo; the universal exists in the mind separately from singulars; singular instances (Socrates, Plato) each have distinct existence
• First matter: Everywhere under different forms; each form has different existence
• Number: An accident; present through its parts only; not as a unified whole
• The universe: The whole body of the universe is everywhere, but not per se primo; different parts are in different places; if other places existed, the universe would not be in them
• An infinite body (hypothetically): Would be everywhere but through its parts; still not per se primo
• The soul (in a single animal): Would be everywhere in that one body, but not in relation to all places in the cosmos

Key Arguments #

For God’s Omnipresence #

From Causality of Being:

• To be is the most intimate thing in all creatures
• God is the cause of being in all things
• An agent cause must be present to what it acts upon
• Therefore, God must be present to all things

From Continuous Creation/Conservation:

• God does not merely create things and then withdraw
• Just as light is continuously caused in air by the sun, God continuously causes being in creatures
• If God withdrew His causality, creatures would cease to exist
• Therefore, God is continuously present to all things

Refutation of Objections #

Objection: Bodiless things cannot be “in place”

• Response: Bodiless things are not in place through dimensional contact, but through power; they are present to things insofar as their power extends to them

Objection: An indivisible cannot be everywhere

• Response: Indivisibles of the continuous kind (points, moments) cannot be everywhere; but indivisibles outside the genus of continuous (God, angels, souls) can be present through their power to one place, many places, or all places according to the extent of their power

Objection: How can the whole of God be everywhere, with no part elsewhere?

• Response: The concept of “whole” requiring “parts” applies to things with quantitative parts or essential parts; God, being immaterial and simple, is wholly present as a whole everywhere, just as whiteness is wholly present in each part of a white surface

Objection: Omnipresence seems not proper to God (universals, matter, the universe are everywhere)

• Response: These are everywhere only per accidens or through their parts, not through themselves as a unified whole; only God is everywhere per se primo

Important Definitions #

Contact (Contactus) #

• Contact of Dimensitive Quantity (contactus quantitatis dimensivae): Physical surface-to-surface contact; how bodies touch each other
• Contact of Power (contactus virtutis): Spiritual contact through causative influence; how bodiless substances are present to things
• The word “touch” in common speech often means power/influence rather than physical contact (e.g., “keep in touch”)

Dimensitive Quantity (Quantitas Dimensiva) #

• Continuous quantity; extension in three dimensions
• Distinct from discrete quantity (e.g., number)
• A line has one dimension, a surface two, a body three
• The presence of bodily things in place is measured by their dimensitive quantity

Indivisibility (Indivisibile) #

• Intrinsic indivisibility (limit of continuous): A point or moment; has a determined position; cannot be in multiple places or times
• Intrinsic indivisibility (outside continuous): Bodiless substances; not extended; present through power

Whole and Part (Totum et Pars) #

• Essential/Natural parts: Form and matter (in composites); genus and difference (in definitions)
  • These are parts of the nature in different senses
  • Form/matter are parts in the thing itself
  • Genus/difference are parts in reason’s understanding of the thing
• Quantitative parts: Dimensional divisions of an extended body
  • These are parts of the quantity
  • A quantitative whole cannot be outside its place because the quantity of the placed equals the quantity of the place

The Three Modes of Divine Presence #

• Per Essentiam (through essence): God present as cause of being (esse)
• Per Potentiam (through power): God present as all things subject to His power
• Per Praesentiam (through presence/knowledge): God present as all things open to His sight/knowledge

Examples & Illustrations #

Water in a Cup #

• The outer surface of the water is in contact with the inner surface of the cup
• This illustrates dimensional contact (contactus dimensivae quantitatis)
• God’s presence is not like this; He contacts all things through power, not through dimensional surfaces

Keeping in Touch #

• Common phrase used to mean maintaining a relationship or influence
• Illustrates that “touch” often refers to power or connection, not physical contact
• Shows how the word is used metaphorically for bodiless presence

Whiteness on a White Tape #

• Whiteness is wholly present in each part of the tape according to its nature
• The whole nature of white is found in each part (each part is fully white)
• But the total quantity of whiteness is spread across the whole surface
• Analogy: God is wholly present everywhere according to His nature, not spread out quantitatively

The King in His Kingdom #

• A king is said to be in his whole kingdom through his power (even though not physically everywhere)
• A king is said to be through his presence in those things in his sight
• A king is said to be through his essence/substance where he actually is (in a particular location)
• God surpasses all three modes: present through power, presence, and essence everywhere

The Sun and Light #

• Light is continuously caused in air by the sun
• As long as the air remains transparent, light continues to be present
• When the sun sets, the light ceases
• Analogy: God continuously causes being in creatures; if God withdrew His causality, creatures would cease to exist

The Soul in the Body #

• The whole soul is in the whole body
• The whole soul is also in each part of the body
• The soul is not divisible like a body; it is present through its power to animate all parts
• Analogy: God is wholly present in all things and in each thing, not through dimensional division but through the wholeness of His nature

Questions Addressed #

Whether God Is in All Things #

• Resolution: Yes, God is in all things as an agent cause is present to what it acts upon, specifically as the continuous cause of their being and operation

Whether God Is Everywhere #

• Resolution: Yes, God is everywhere in two ways: (1) by giving existence to everything in place, and (2) by giving existence to place itself; these are not distinct locations but aspects of the same omnipresence

What Are the Three Modes of God’s Presence? #

• Resolution: Through essence (as cause of being), through power (as all things subject to His power), and through presence/knowledge (as all things open to His sight); these address different heresies and aspects of divine presence

Whether Omnipresence Is Proper to God Alone #

• Resolution: Yes, per se primo (as a unified whole present everywhere). Other things are everywhere only per accidens or through their parts: universals through instances, matter through forms, the universe through spatial parts, the soul through bodily parts

Pedagogical Notes #

Common Misunderstandings Clarified #

Objection: God being in all things seems to make Him part of creatures’ essences

• Clarification: God is in things not as part of their essence, but as the cause of their existence; this is entirely different from being part of what they are

Objection: If God is everywhere, does that mean He is infinitely extended like space?

• Clarification: God is not extended like a body; He is present through power, not through dimensional quantity; His wholeness is not spread out spatially

Objection: How can God be a “unified whole” everywhere if the soul can be whole in each part?

• Clarification: Both God and the soul are indivisible outside the genus of continuous quantity; they are not divisible spatially; they are wholly present according to the perfection of their nature, not through quantitative extension

Objection: Aren’t universals and matter also everywhere?

• Clarification: Yes, but not in the way God is; they are everywhere only through their instances or parts having distinct existences; they are not per se primo everywhere as a single unified presence

Teaching Approach #

• Berquist uses precise linguistic analysis (especially of Latin terminology like quantitas dimensiva, essentia, substantia)
• He employs hierarchies of distinction (two kinds of indivisibles, two kinds of parts, two ways of being in things)
• He refutes objections systematically, showing why similar examples (universals, matter, the universe) do not undermine God’s unique omnipresence
• He uses accessible analogies while maintaining philosophical rigor