90. Divine Love: God's Love of All Things and Degrees of Love

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Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

The Nature of Divine Love vs. Human Love #

• Reversal of Causality: In creatures, love is moved by the goodness of things as an object. In God, love is the cause of goodness in things. God does not love things because they are good; rather, things are good because God loves them.
• The Socratic Question Applied to Goodness: Is something good because we want it, or do we want it because it is good? For creatures, the answer is the latter. For God, it is the former.
• God’s Love as Creative: God’s love “pours in and creates” goodness in things, unlike human love which is “moved by” or attracted to pre-existing goodness.

God’s Love of All Things #

• Universal Scope: God loves all existing things insofar as they have being and goodness. Since God’s will is the cause of all things, God must will some good to each existing thing (at minimum, existence itself).
• Definition of Love: To love is to will good to someone. Therefore, since God wills good to all things, God loves all things.
• Love of Irrational Creatures: God loves irrational creatures (stones, trees, animals) not by amor amicitiæ (which requires rational reciprocity) but by amor concupiscentiæ, ordering them to rational creatures and to Himself.
• Resolution of Apparent Contradiction: God can love sinners insofar as they have being and nature (which is from God) while hating them insofar as they are sinners and lack being. The same thing can be both loved and hated under different aspects.

The Two Senses of “Loving More” #

• Intensity of Willing: God does not love some things more intensely than others because He loves all by one simple, unchanging act of will. The divine act of willing is immutable and always has itself in the same way.
• Magnitude of Goods Willed: God loves some things more in the sense that He wills greater goods to them. One thing is loved more when God wills to it a greater good than to another.
• Necessity of Differential Love: Since God’s love is the cause of goodness, if one thing is better than another, God must will it a greater good. Therefore, differential divine love follows necessarily from the nature of God as the source of all goodness.
• Example of Grades: A teacher may feel more intense love for a particular student yet assign a higher grade (greater good) to another student who deserves it. Intensity of love and magnitude of goods willed are distinct.

Language and Metaphor in Theology #

• The “Road” in Knowledge: The word “road” originally means a physical path. When applied to knowledge (“the first road in our knowledge”), we drop the material aspect (stones, asphalt) but retain the formal aspect (the order of before and after). This illustrates how terms are carried over metaphorically in theological language.
• Sweetness as Metaphor: The metaphor “sweet” applied to the beautiful contains three elements: pleasantness, restfulness, and refreshment. Understanding these components illuminates how metaphorical language functions in theology.

Divine Love Without Passion #

• Acts of Will, Not Emotions: Love and joy in God are acts of the intellectual will (divine appetite), not passions or emotions. They involve no bodily change or feeling.
• Distinction from Sense Desire: In creatures, sense desire produces bodily changes (especially around the heart), which are called passions. The will, being immaterial like reason, produces no such changes.
• Intensity of Angelic Love: C.S. Lewis’s insight that angelic love, lacking the dichotomy between sense and intellectual desire found in humans, is actually more ferocious and powerful than human love. Angels “go with the whole thing” in their love without internal conflict.

Key Arguments #

Establishing That God Loves All Things #

1. All things that exist are good insofar as they have being
2. God’s will is the cause of all things
3. Therefore, God wills some good to each existing thing (at minimum, existence)
4. To love is to will good to someone
5. Therefore, God loves all things that exist

Resolving the Problem of God Loving Sinners While Hating Evil #

• A single thing can be loved and hated under different aspects
• God loves sinners insofar as they possess being and nature (which are from God and are good)
• God hates sinners insofar as they are sinners (insofar as they lack being and fall short from what they should be)
• The badness or deficiency in a sinner is not from God but is a privation or lack

Distinguishing Intensity from Magnitude #

• Intensity: The force or vigor of the act of willing. In God, this is always the same because His will is His unchanging essence.
• Magnitude: The greatness of the good being willed. This can vary: God may will a greater good to one creature than to another.
• Consequence: God’s love for creatures varies in magnitude of goods willed but not in intensity of willing.

Important Definitions #

Amor Concupiscentiæ #

The love of wanting or desiring; love directed toward a good one does not possess or does not have for oneself. One loves something for the good it represents for oneself. Not properly found in God.

Amor Amicitiæ #

The love of friendship or wishing well; love directed toward another as a person, willing good to that person for the person’s own sake. This is the love properly found in God toward rational creatures. Also called benevolentia (wishing well).

Intensio Voluntatis #

The intensity or force of the act of willing. In God, this remains eternally the same and unchanging.

Magnitudo Boni #

The magnitude or greatness of the good being willed. This can vary in God’s will: He may will greater goods to some creatures than to others.

Passio (Passion) #

In the context of love: a movement of the sensitive appetite accompanied by bodily change, especially around the heart. Love in God is not a passion because it is an act of the intellectual will without bodily change.

Amor Contibusentia #

Alternative term for amor concupiscentiæ (love of wanting).

Examples & Illustrations #

Candy and Wine vs. Human Friendship #

• For candy or wine: One has only amor concupiscentiæ because candy is not a person to whom good is willed. One desires the candy for the good it represents for oneself.
• For another human being: One can have either amor concupiscentiæ (wanting them as a good for oneself) or amor amicitiæ (wishing good to them for their own sake).
• The Second Commandment: “Love your neighbor as yourself” means to have amor amicitiæ toward your neighbor in the same way you have it toward yourself—wishing good to them for their own sake, not merely desiring them as a good for yourself.

The Teacher and the B vs. A Grade #

• A teacher may feel more intense personal affection for a particular student (amor concupiscentiæ or emotional attachment) yet assign a higher grade (greater good) to another student who deserves it by justice.
• This illustrates that intensity of love and magnitude of goods willed are distinct. The teacher does not love the second student more intensely but wills to them a greater good.

The Parent and the Sick Neighbor’s Child #

• A parent will the same good (avoidance of harm) to their own child and to the neighbor’s child—neither should be hit by a car.
• Yet the parent is more saddened by harm to their own child because the intensity of love is greater for their own child.
• But in God, there is no such variation in intensity. He wills the same good to all by one simple, unchanging act.

The Head of Household and the Sick Servant #

• A good head of household gives something more precious to a sick servant than to a healthy son, not because the servant is better, but because the servant is in greater need.
• This explains why God assumed human nature rather than angelic nature: humans are in greater need.

Christ and the Crucifix #

• The legendary dialogue between St. Thomas Aquinas and the Christ figure on the crucifix: “Thomas, you have written well. What reward do you ask?” Thomas answers: “Nothing but You. You alone.”
• This illustrates that the good God wills for Himself is not other than Himself. God is His own good.

Paul and the Road #

• Berquist’s young son Paul, when asked what he thought of “the basic road in human knowledge,” answered “cars and trucks”—stuck in the material meaning.
• This illustrates how metaphorical language can mislead if the material aspect is not dropped and the formal aspect retained.

Questions Addressed #

Does God Love All Things? #

Objection: God does not love irrational creatures or things that do not exist eternally.

Resolution:

• God loves all existing things insofar as they have being and goodness
• Although creatures do not exist eternally except in God, God knew and loved them in their own natures eternally
• God loves irrational creatures by ordering them to rational creatures and to Himself
• God’s love is the cause of their existence, so He necessarily loves all that He causes to be

Does God Love Some Things More Than Others? #

Objection: God’s love is His unchanging essence; essence does not receive more or less; therefore God cannot love some things more than others.

Resolution:

• On intensity: God does not love some things more intensely than others. His one simple act of will remains eternally unchanged.
• On magnitude of goods: God loves some things more in the sense that He wills greater goods to them. This is necessary: if one thing is better, God must will it a greater good (since His love is the cause of goodness).
• Example: God loves Christ more than the human race because He willed to Christ a greater good (union with the divine nature). God loves rational creatures more than irrational ones because He wills to them greater goods.

Can God Love Irrational Things? #

Objection: Friendship cannot be had toward irrational things; therefore God cannot love irrational creatures.

Resolution:

• God does not love irrational creatures by amor amicitiæ (friendship), which requires rational reciprocity
• God loves them by amor concupiscentiæ, ordering them to rational creatures and to Himself
• This is still genuine love because to love is to will good to someone, and God wills existence and perfection to all creatures

How Can God Love Sinners If He Hates Evil? #

Objection: “You hate all those who do evil” (Psalm 5:6); but nothing is both loved and hated simultaneously.

Resolution:

• The same thing can be loved under one aspect and hated under another
• God loves sinners insofar as they have being and nature (which are good and from God)
• God hates sinners insofar as they are sinners and lack being (insofar as they fall short of what they should be)
• Badness is not something positive that comes from God; it is a privation or lack

Does God’s Love Cause All Goodness? #

Implied Question: If God’s love creates goodness, is the goodness of creatures real or illusion?

Resolution (from context):

• God’s love pours into creatures and creates their goodness
• This does not make the goodness illusion; it makes it depend on God’s causal will
• Unlike human love, which is attracted to pre-existing goodness, God’s love is the source of all creaturely goodness
• This is the fundamental reversal between God and creatures in causality

Notable Quotes #

“The reason for loving God is God.” — Bernard of Clairvaux, cited by Berquist as a fundamental insight into divine love

“To love is to will good to someone.” — Aristotle, cited by Thomas in defining love

“The love of God is pouring in and creating the goodness in things.” — Berquist’s paraphrase of Thomas’s teaching on the difference between divine and human love

“God loves you just as intensely as He loves the apostles, but He willed to them a greater good.” — Berquist’s explanation of why there will be no envy in heaven

“The angel loves with the full force of his being.” — John Paul II, cited on the nature of angelic love

“You have written well, Thomas. What will you take as your reward? Thomas says, nothing but you. You alone.” — Apocryphal dialogue cited by Berquist illustrating that God’s good is not other than Himself