47. Comprehension of God and Knowledge of All Things

Summary

This lecture covers Articles 7 and 8 from Aquinas’s treatment of the beatific vision, addressing whether created intellects can comprehend God (know Him as fully as He is knowable) and whether those seeing God’s essence see all things that God makes or can make. Berquist explores the distinction between comprehension in the strict sense (grasping entirely) versus the loose sense (attaining/holding), the infinite knowability of God versus the finite capacity of creatures, and the principle that effects are known through their causes according to how perfectly the cause is known.

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Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

Article 7: Whether Those Seeing God Through His Essence Comprehend It #

The Core Question: Can any created intellect know God as much as God is knowable (i.e., comprehend Him)?

Berquist’s Central Thesis:

No created understanding can comprehend God in the strict sense
Only God comprehends Himself; creatures can never achieve this
The impossibility stems from the infinite gap between God’s knowability and the finite capacity of created intellects

Article 8: Whether Those Seeing God See All Things #

The Core Question: Do the blessed, in seeing God’s essence, see all things that God makes or can make?

Berquist’s Answer:

No, but they see more things the more perfectly they see God
Their natural desire to know the existing universe is satisfied, though not all singular contingent facts
The principle: effects are known through their cause according to the perfection with which the cause is known

Key Arguments #

On Comprehension (Article 7) #

What Comprehension Means:

Strict sense: To grasp something entirely; to know it as much as it is knowable (like grasping a marble in your fist)
Loose sense: To attain or hold; to grasp (as in “I will hold him and not let him go”)
In demonstrative science, to comprehend means to know something through its proper demonstration, not merely through probable opinion or authority

The Proof of Impossibility:

Each thing is knowable to the degree that it is in act (being)
God’s being is infinite, therefore He is infinitely knowable
A created intellect knows God only through the light of glory (a created supernatural gift)
Since the light of glory is created and finite, it cannot be infinite
Therefore, no created intellect can know God infinitely, which would be required to comprehend Him
Conclusion: Only God can know Himself as much as He is knowable; no creature can love God as much as He is lovable

The Two Senses of Comprehension Distinguished:

Strictly: Impossible—God cannot be “fenced in” or contained by anything limited
Loosely: Possible—the blessed hold God present, seeing Him face-to-face, having Him in their power always to see, and enjoying Him as the last end

Three Gifts of the Soul:

Vision (corresponds to faith): seeing God
Comprehension (corresponds to hope): holding/attaining God present
Enjoyment (corresponds to charity): delighting in God as the last end

On Knowledge of All Things (Article 8) #

The Principle:

Effects are known through their cause, but only according to how perfectly the cause is known
A strong intellect can see many consequences from one principle (like seeing conclusions from demonstrated axioms in Euclid)
A weak intellect must have things explained one by one

The Limitation:

Since creatures cannot comprehend God (cannot know Him as much as He is knowable), they cannot see all His effects in Him
To know all effects would be to know God’s power comprehensively, which is impossible for creatures

What Is Satisfied:

The natural desire of the rational creature to know the existing universe and its kinds is satisfied
But knowledge of singular contingent facts (future events, thoughts of hearts) is NOT required for beatitude

The Mirror Analogy:

All things shine in God as in a mirror
But seeing the mirror does not mean seeing all things reflected in it
The more perfectly one sees the mirror (God), the more things one sees

Important Definitions #

Comprehensio (Comprehension):

Strict sense: To grasp entirely; to know something as much as it is knowable—impossible for creatures regarding God
Loose sense: To attain; to hold; to grasp—possible in the beatific vision when the blessed hold God present to themselves and in their power

Lumen Gloriae (Light of Glory):

The supernatural disposition added to the created intellect enabling it to receive God’s essence as intelligible form
Though created and therefore finite, it elevates the intellect to union with the infinite divine essence
Varies in intensity according to the degree of charity possessed

Knowability (Cognoscibilitas):

God is infinitely knowable because His being is infinite
A thing is knowable precisely to the degree it is in act
The measure of comprehension is not being comprehended as much as the knower is capable, but as much as the thing known is knowable

Examples & Illustrations #

Euclid’s Geometry (Demonstrative Science) #

Berquist explains the difference between knowing something by demonstration versus by probable opinion through Euclid’s proof that vertical angles are equal:

By opinion/induction: Observing many instances and concluding they’re probably equal (not comprehensive knowledge)
By demonstration: Understanding that if a straight line creates angles, A + X = two right angles; if another straight line creates angles, B + X = two right angles; therefore A = B (comprehensive knowledge)
The demonstrated knowledge knows the same thing more fully than opinion does
Applied to God: creatures see God’s essence but do not know it as fully as God knows Himself

The Professor’s Appetite #

Berquist uses his own experience to illustrate satisfaction despite diminished capacity:

When younger, he could eat large amounts and enjoy them
As he ages, his appetite is smaller, yet he is satisfied with less
The young man and the old man are equally satisfied, though what satisfies them differs
Applied to beatitude: the blessed are satisfied with their particular degree of vision, corresponding to their capacity, even though that capacity differs

Mozart and the Romantic Period #

An illustration of how understanding greater things improves judgment of lesser things:

Baroque and Mozart kept emotions in harmony with reason
Romantic composers (like Tchaikovsky) allowed emotions to break from reason, leading to spiritual disorder and suffering
Even Tchaikovsky recognized Mozart’s superiority and listened to him to escape his own madness
Philosophers who understand higher things can judge lower things better

Questions Addressed #

Q: Can any creature comprehend God?

A: No, in the strict sense. Comprehension means knowing something as much as it is knowable. Since God is infinitely knowable and the light of glory (by which creatures know God) is finite, no creature can comprehend God. However, in the loose sense of “attaining” or “holding,” the blessed do comprehend God—they hold Him present to themselves, having Him in their power always to see.

Q: Does seeing God’s essence mean seeing all things God makes or can make?

A: No. Effects are known through their cause only according to how perfectly the cause is known. Since creatures cannot comprehend God’s power (cannot know it as fully as it is knowable), they cannot see all His effects. However, the natural desire to know the existing universe is fulfilled in seeing God, and the blessed see more things the more perfectly they see God’s essence.

Q: Is it a pity that no creature knows God as much as He is knowable?

A: No—quite the opposite. If no one knew God as fully as He is knowable and loved Him as fully as He is lovable, that would be miserable. We should rejoice that God Himself comprehends Himself and loves Himself infinitely. This is why Thomas says we should be glad when another creature loves or understands God more than we do—we recognize the inadequacy of all creatures’ knowledge and find solace that God’s own self-knowledge is infinite.

Key Philosophical Principles #

On Knowability: A thing is knowable precisely to the degree it is in act. God’s being is infinite act, therefore He is infinitely knowable.

On Causality: Effects are understood through their cause, but the understanding of effects is limited by whether the cause is comprehended. To see all effects would require comprehending the cause entirely.

On Intellectual Capacity: Understanding higher things actually improves judgment of lower things (unlike sensation, where overstimulation impedes). The intellect is not a bodily sense.

On the Vision of God: The blessed see God as He is (in His actual being), but not as much as He is knowable. The adverb “as” determines the mode of the object (God’s being), not the mode of the knower (the creature’s capacity).