42. Whether Created Intellects Can See God's Essence

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Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

The Central Problem #

• Can a created intellect see God’s essence (what God is), or only through created likenesses?
• Apparent impossibility: infinite distance between Creator and creature seems to preclude direct knowledge
• Key distinction: seeing God as He is versus knowing Him through effects or created representations

Knowability and Act #

• Fundamental Principle: Each thing is knowable according as it is in act (from Aristotle, Metaphysics IX)
• God as pure act (actus purus) without any admixture of potency is, in Himself, maximally knowable
• Yet the paradox: what is most knowable in itself is least knowable to us

The Paradox of Divine Knowledge #

• The Bat Analogy (from Aristotle): The bat cannot see the sun due to excess of light, not deficiency
• Similarly, our weak intellect cannot grasp God due to His infinite brightness, not His darkness
• Root Cause: Our mind begins in pure potentiality and must ascend from potency to act
• We first know what is least actual (motion, which Aristotle says is barely actual) and least knowable in itself
• Motion is most knowable to us precisely because it is least actual
• Seeking the First Cause of motion requires reasoning from what is most knowable to us to what is least knowable to us but most knowable simply (pure act)

Knowledge by Natural Reason vs. Beatific Vision #

• Natural Reason: Can know God exists through effects (Romans 1:20), but imperfectly and through created likenesses
• Beatific Vision: Direct seeing of God’s essence through union with the divine substance itself
• In the beatific vision, there is a reversal: we know what is most knowable simply (God), no longer restricted by our natural weakness

Four Objections Against Seeing God’s Essence #

Objection 1 - From Authority

• Chrysostom and Dionysius appear to say no created intellect sees God
• They state that the infinite, uncreated nature cannot be grasped by the finite created intellect

Objection 2 - From Infinity

• Everything infinite as such is unknowable
• God is infinite, therefore unknowable
• Thomas’s response: Aristotle’s infinity (tied to matter and potency, lacking form) is unknowable; God’s infinity (pure form, not limited by matter) is maximally knowable in itself

Objection 3 - From the Object of Created Intellect

• The proper object of created intellect is being (esse)
• God is not being, but above being (as Dionysius says)
• Therefore God is not understandable
• Thomas’s response: God is not above being but rather is being itself (ipsum esse subsistens); the distinction in creatures between essence and existence does not apply to God

Objection 4 - From Proportion or Ratio

• There must be some proportion between knower and known
• There is no proportion between creature and God (infinite distance)
• Therefore, created intellect cannot know God
• Thomas’s response: Proportion (proportio) is used equivocally—if taken as definite mathematical ratio (half, third, etc.), there is no proportion; but taken broadly as any relation between things, proportion does exist (e.g., effect to cause, potency to act)

Thomas’s Resolution of Authorities #

• Both Chrysostom and Dionysius speak of comprehension (comprehensio), not vision itself
• Comprehension = knowing God as much as He is knowable
• Only God comprehends Himself perfectly
• Created intellects see God but do not comprehend Him
• This distinction reconciles scriptural passages with patristic authorities

Arguments For Seeing God’s Essence #

From Natural Desire

• Man naturally desires to know causes (Aristotle opens Metaphysics with this)
• The rational creature naturally wants to know not only that God is, but what He is
• If the rational creature never attains this knowledge, the natural desire remains vain and empty
• Such a consequence is irrational (contra rationem)

From Ultimate Beatitude

• The final beatitude of man consists in his highest operation, which is understanding
• If the greatest intellect never saw God’s essence, it would never attain beatitude
• Beatitude would then consist in something other than God, which is alien to faith
• In God, the ultimate perfection of the rational creature is found, as He is the beginning of being
• Each thing is perfect insofar as it attains its beginning (secundum quod attingit suum principium)

From Scripture

• 1 John 3:2: “We shall see Him as He is”
• Psalm 35:10: “Seek His face forevermore”
• Reference also to Christ’s words regarding angels: “They always see the face of my Father”
• 1 Corinthians 13:12: “Then I shall know even as I am known”

The Theological Virtues and Divine Knowledge #

• All three theological virtues have God as their object, yet they are three distinct virtues
• Faith: God as first truth (prima veritas)
• Charity: God as highest good (sumum bonum)
• Hope: Pursues the difficult and arduous good—the beatific vision itself
• The beatific vision is supremely arduous because it is not naturally attainable by creatures
• Attaining it requires God’s mercy and grace, plus the meritorious cooperation of the creature

Key Arguments #

Against: The Problem of Proportion #

• Form: There is no proportion between creature and God due to infinite distance
• Response: Proportion used equivocally; there is a general relation (creature as effect to God as cause) even if no definite mathematical ratio

Against: The Problem of Created Likenesses #

• Implicit in objections: Even if seen, God would be seen through created forms (species)
• Created likenesses are lower-order and cannot represent a higher nature (the bodiless divine essence)
• Implication: No created form can adequately represent God

Against: The Infinity of God #

• Form: Infinite things are unknowable; God is infinite; therefore God is unknowable
• Response: Aristotle’s infinity (matter unlimited by form) is unknowable; God’s infinity (form unlimited) is most knowable in itself

For: The Natural Desire Argument #

• Man naturally desires knowledge of causes
• This desire cannot be frustrated in the ultimate end
• Therefore, the First Cause must be knowable to the rational creature

For: The Argument from Ultimate Perfection #

• Perfection of rational creature = highest operation = understanding
• Beatitude = attainment of the end
• The highest understanding is of God
• Therefore, beatitude must include seeing God’s essence

Important Definitions #

Pure Act (Actus Purus) #

• God’s nature as completely actualized with zero potentiality
• Established in the treatise on God’s simplicity
• As pure act, God is maximally knowable in Himself, though not to weak created intellects without supernatural aid

Beatific Vision #

• Direct seeing of God’s essence as He is in Himself
• The ultimate end and perfection of the rational creature
• Requires both the light of glory (elevating the intellect) and union with the divine substance (as the form of understanding)

Comprehension (Comprehensio) #

• Knowing God as much as He is knowable
• Only God comprehends Himself; created intellects see but do not comprehend
• The patristic authorities (Chrysostom, Dionysius) speak of God as incomprehensible, not unseen

Light of Glory (Lux Gloriae) #

• A supernatural disposition perfecting the created intellect
• Raises the intellect above its natural powers
• Not what makes God intelligible (He already is pure act), but what perfects the intellect’s capacity to receive Him as form
• Described as gratia consummata (consummated or perfected grace)

Divine Substance as Form (Species) #

• In the beatific vision, God Himself becomes the intelligible form by which He is understood
• In natural knowledge, we understand through created likenesses; in beatific vision, the divine substance itself unites to the intellect as the form of understanding
• Parallels how God knows Himself—through Himself as the form of His own understanding

Examples & Illustrations #

The Bat and the Sun (Aristotle) #

• The bat cannot see the sun due to excess of light, not due to the sun’s darkness or invisibility
• Illustrates how what is most knowable in itself can be least knowable to us due to the weakness of our cognitive power
• Explains God’s apparent remoteness from created intellect

Plato’s Cave #

• Those escaping the cave are blinded by sunlight initially
• The sun is more visible in daylight but less visible to weakened eyes
• Parallels the difficulty of the human mind grasping infinite divine truth

Shakespeare and the Multiplicity of Creation #

• “The brevity and soul of it” (from Shakespeare’s observation on style)
• Just as one cannot fully appreciate Shakespeare from reading only a few plays, nor Mozart from a few pieces, we cannot adequately know God from a few created things
• God, despite creating all the universe, has not exhausted His creative power
• Illustrates why God created multiple things: to reveal His infinite nature through multiplicity

Christ as the Eternal Word Made Flesh #

• “God the Father said it all in one word.”
• “Only when that word became a man, he spoke in words so few and said so much.”
• Illustrates the inverse relationship: in eternity, God expresses all things in one act; in time, the Incarnate Word speaks fewer words but expresses immense truth

Motion as Least Actual #

• When walking across a room, part of motion is in the past (not existing), part in future (not yet existing)
• Motion occupies no definite moment all at once
• Renders motion the least actual of acts, yet the most knowable to us initially

God’s Love and the Blessed Virgin #

• God loves the Blessed Virgin more than the Apostles, and both more than us
• This does not mean His love is more intense (God has one act of love), but that He wills a greater good to some than others
• God loves the human nature of Christ most of all, joined to His very Person
• Illustrates the relationship between knowledge and the eminence of what is known

Notable Quotes #

“God the Father said it all in one word. Only when that word became a man, he spoke in words so few and said so much, he was the brevity and soul of it.” — Berquist (drawing on Shakespeare)

“Each thing is knowable according as it is in act.” — Aristotle, Metaphysics IX

“God, who is pure act without any mixture of potency in the passive sense, is, as far as in himself is concerned, maximally knowable.” — Thomas Aquinas

“What is most knowable in itself to some understanding is not knowable on account of the exceeding of the understandable above such an understanding.” — Thomas Aquinas

“Things in motion sooner catch the eye than what not stirs.” — Shakespeare (cited by Berquist)

“We shall see Him as He is.” — 1 John 3:2

“In your light we shall see light.” — Psalm 35:10

“Things that are more visible in the sunlight cannot be seen by the bat on account of the excess of the light.” — Aristotle, referenced by Thomas Aquinas

Questions Addressed #

Can Any Created Understanding See God’s Essence? #

Answer: Yes, in the beatific vision, the blessed see God’s essence as He is. This requires supernatural elevation through the light of glory, which perfects the intellect above its natural powers, and direct union with the divine substance itself as the form of understanding.

Why Are Authorities Like Dionysius and Chrysostom Saying God Cannot Be Known? #

Answer: They speak of comprehension (knowing God as much as He is knowable), not vision itself. Created intellects see God but do not comprehend Him. Only God comprehends Himself.

How Can We Know God If There Is an Infinite Distance Between Creator and Creature? #

Answer: Although there is no definite mathematical proportion (ratio) between creature and God, there is a general relation as effect to cause and potency to act. Moreover, the infinite distance is overcome by God Himself becoming the form of the beatific vision.

Why Is God Unknowable to Our Natural Reason? #

Answer: Not because God lacks intelligibility (He is pure act, maximally knowable in Himself), but because our intellect begins in potentiality and is naturally directed to sensible things. We know the least actual (motion) most readily and must reason upward to pure act. This requires supernatural aid in the beatific state.

How Does the Natural Desire for Knowledge Prove the Beatific Vision? #

Answer: Man naturally desires knowledge of causes. The First Cause cannot be left unknown in the ultimate end without frustrating this natural inclination, which would contradict God’s providence. Therefore, the rational creature must be capable of seeing God’s essence in beatitude.

Theological Context #

Why Three Theological Virtues? #

• God as prima veritas (first truth) is the object of faith
• God as sumum bonum (highest good) is the object of charity
• God as the supremely arduous end to be pursued is the object of hope
• Hope acts as a bridge virtue, seeing the beatific vision (the infinite good known by faith and loved by charity) as genuinely attainable through grace

The Role of Grace #

• Natural desire for God must be perfected by grace
• The light of glory (lux gloriae) is grace in its consummated form
• Beatitude is attainable only through God’s mercy and the creature’s meritorious cooperation with grace