92. Divine Justice, Truth, and Mercy in God
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Lecture Notes
Main Topics #
Divine Justice in God #
- Distributive justice properly applies to God: giving to each creature what is suited to its nature and condition
- Example: A father gives medicine to a sick child, a musical instrument to a musically talented child, more food to a growing child
- God gives to each thing what is ordered to it by divine wisdom
- Commutative justice (exchange between equals) does not apply to God since God owes nothing and receives nothing in return
- Moral virtues concerning passions (temperance, courage) cannot be attributed to God since God has no passions or emotions
- Virtues concerning operations (justice, liberality) can be properly attributed to God
Justice and Truth #
- Truth consists in conformity: understanding to things (in creatures) or things to understanding (in God as cause)
- God’s justice, which constitutes order in things according to divine wisdom, is properly called truth
- Just as an artist makes a “true” work when it accords with the art, God makes true things when they accord with divine wisdom
- Justice presupposes reason/understanding as its rule, though justice itself resides in the will
- The word “truth” has multiple senses: metaphysical (conformity), moral (veracity—a virtue), and theological (conformity to divine cause)
Divine Mercy #
- Mercy properly understood as a passion (sadness over another’s misery) cannot be attributed to God
- Mercy can be attributed to God according to its effect: the removal of defects, especially in rational creatures
- Misericordia (mercy) etymologically means having a heart (cor) for the miserable (miserum)
- Mercy must be understood broadly as removal of any defect, not merely human suffering
- Mercy perfects justice rather than opposing it
The Relationship Between Justice and Mercy #
- Both appear in every work of God, though one may be more prominent
- Mercy does not relax or contradict justice
- The initial creation of a creature is pure mercy (gratuitous divine will), not justice
- Once a creature exists, justice applies in giving what suits its nature
Key Arguments #
Objections Against Divine Justice #
- Passion-based virtues objection: Justice is a virtue; temperance is a virtue concerning passions; temperance is not in God; therefore justice is not in God
- Will objection: God acts according to His will, not external law; therefore His actions are not just
- Debt objection: Justice renders what is owed; God owes nothing to anyone; therefore justice does not belong to God
- Essence objection: Justice regards acts, not essence; God’s justice is His essence; therefore justice cannot properly be attributed to God
Thomas’s Responses on Justice #
- Virtues concerning operations and the will (justice, liberality) differ from virtues concerning passions; the former can be attributed to God
- God’s will is guided by His wisdom, which serves as His law; thus His actions are just
- “Debt” can be understood two ways: what is owed to God (fulfillment of His wisdom and goodness) and what is owed to creatures (what suits their nature)
- Although justice regards acts, the divine essence can be the source of divine action; there is a distinction in our understanding, not in God’s reality
Objections Against Divine Mercy #
- Passion objection: Mercy is a species of sadness; God has no sadness; therefore no mercy in God
- Justice objection: Mercy relaxes justice; God cannot relax His justice; therefore mercy is not in God
Thomas’s Responses on Mercy #
- Mercy is attributed to God according to its effect (removal of defects), not the passion of sadness
- Just as anger attributed to God names the effect of punishment (which properly is God’s justice), mercy names the effect of relief from deficiency
- The word “mercy” may be used analogously for God’s will to relieve defects, while “anger” has “justice” as an alternative proper name
Important Definitions #
Distributive Justice (iustitia distributiva) #
The distribution of goods or positions according to proportion and merit; properly applies to God as governor of creation, giving to each creature what accords with divine wisdom.
Commutative Justice (iustitia commutativa) #
Justice in equal exchanges between parties; does not apply to God since God gives without receiving and owes nothing.
Truth (veritas) #
- Metaphysical: Conformity of understanding to things (in creatures) or conformity of things to understanding (in God as cause)
- Moral: The virtue of truthfulness or veracity (a separate virtue from justice)
- Theological: God’s justice constitutes order according to divine wisdom and is called truth because it conforms all things to the divine intellect
Mercy (misericordia) #
Etymologically: having a heart for the miserable; the removal or relief of any defect, especially in rational creatures. Attributed to God not as an emotion but as the effect of divine will relieving creatures from deficiency.
Debt (debitum) #
What is owed to someone; understood in two ways in God: (1) what is owed to God—that His wisdom and goodness be fulfilled in things, and (2) what is owed to creatures—what suits their nature and condition.
Examples & Illustrations #
Justice and Distribution #
- A father distributes different gifts to different children based on their needs and capacities
- Medicine is owed to the sick child; a musical instrument to the talented child; more food to the growing child
- The violin should be given to one with musical talent, not to someone who cannot carry a tune
- Man is owed hands because of his rational soul; a horse is owed hooves
Mercy vs. Pity #
- Pity (eleison): sadness at the misfortune of another (as in reading news of a young soldier’s death)
- Mercy: pity that moves one to act for relief; implies the capacity and will to do something about the misery
- Shakespeare’s mercy-and-forgiveness romances (Tempest, Winter’s Tale, Cymbeline, Pericles) feature situations where something can be done about misery, unlike tragedy (Othello, where nothing can be remedied)
The Analogy of a Point #
- Two lines extending from point C have endpoints A and B
- A and B are really distinct points, but we can think of C as “the beginning of line CA” and “the beginning of line CB”
- Our two thoughts about C correspond to the two distinct things A and B
- Similarly, God’s substance and God’s actions are really the same, but our understanding derives from creatures where substance and action differ, requiring two concepts
Liberality Unique to God #
- A human who gives to the poor acts well and gains a good act thereby
- God gives but gains nothing—even no additional good act—since He is pure actuality
- Thus Avicenna rightly says “God alone is liberal,” understanding liberality in its fullest sense
Notable Quotes #
“Justice, as regards the law that is ruling, is in reason or the understanding. But as regards command, by which works are ruled according to the law, is in the will.”
“To each thing is owed what is ordered to it by the order of divine wisdom.”
“Although God gives to each thing what is owed to it, nevertheless he is not a debtor. Because he is not ordered to other things, but rather other things are ordered to him.”
“Truth consists in the making equal of the understanding and the thing… When the understanding is the rule and measure of things, truth consists in this, that the things are made equal to the understanding.”
“Mercy should most of all be attributed to God… according to its effect, not according to the affection of the emotion or passion or feeling.”
“To be sad over the misery of another does not belong to God. But to repel the misery of another, this most of all belongs to God.”
“God alone is liberal because the liberal man gives not expecting anything in return and that is what God does.”
Questions Addressed #
Article 1: Is there justice in God? #
Answer: Yes, distributive justice properly belongs to God. God gives to each creature what is suitable to it according to divine wisdom and goodness. Commutative justice does not apply to God since God is not ordered to other things but other things are ordered to Him.
Article 2: Is the justice of God the same as truth? #
Answer: Yes, God’s justice is properly called truth because it constitutes order in things according to divine wisdom, which is the rule and measure of all things, just as artificial things are called true when they accord with the art.
Article 3: Is mercy found in God? #
Answer: Yes, mercy most of all belongs to God, understood not as the passion of sadness but as the effect of relieving defects in creatures. The word is used analogously for God’s will, since God has no emotions.
Why are other moral virtues not attributed to God while justice is? #
Answer: Moral virtues concerning passions and emotions (temperance, courage, meekness, anger) have no proper place in God since God has no passions. Virtues concerning operations of the will (justice, liberality) can be properly attributed to God.