113. Procession of Love in God and Generation

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Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

• The Problem: Whether the procession of love in God should be called “generation” like the procession of the Son
• The Distinction Between Intellect and Will: How understanding differs fundamentally from loving in their mode of operation
• Procession by Likeness vs. Procession by Inclination: Understanding produces likeness; love produces inclination toward a thing
• The Holy Spirit’s Proper Name: Why the Holy Spirit is called “Spirit” (breath, motion) rather than “Son” or a generated being
• Maturity of Reason: Augustine’s warning about immature and perverse love of reason; the need for proper order in learning

Key Arguments #

Objections (Why Love Should Be Called Generation) #

• First Objection: Whatever proceeds in likeness of nature in living things is generated and born. The Holy Spirit proceeds in likeness of nature (being God). Therefore, the Holy Spirit should be called generated.
• Second Objection: Likeness pertains to the notion of love, just as it does to the word. Since generation is named from likeness, love should also be called generation.
• Third Objection: In the categories, whatever is in a genus must fall under one of its species. Procession is a genus; generation is one species. The procession of love must have some special name, and generation is the only name available.

Thomas’s Resolution #

• The Key Distinction: Understanding and willing operate in fundamentally different ways.

  • Understanding comes to act through the thing understood being in the understanding by likeness
  • Willing comes to act not through likeness, but through the will having an inclination toward the thing willed

• Ground in Aristotle: Aristotle teaches in Book VI of the Metaphysics that truth is primarily in the mind, but the good is chiefly in things. Understanding grasps things into the mind; willing reaches out toward things.

• Consequence for Processions in God:

  • The procession by way of understanding (the Word/Son) proceeds as a likeness → can be called generation
  • The procession by way of love (the Holy Spirit) proceeds as an inclination or impulsion toward something → should be called breath (spiritus) or spirit, indicating living motion and impulse

• Why Not Called Generation: The Holy Spirit, though divine and like the Father and Son, does not proceed by way of likeness of the one from which it proceeds, but as an impressed inclination toward it.

Important Definitions #

Procession (Processio) #

The going forth of one thing from another while remaining within the agent. In God, two processions: by understanding and by willing.

Generation (Generatio) #

A procession that occurs by likeness of nature. Everything generating produces something like itself. In God, the Son (Word) proceeds as generated because it proceeds as a likeness.

Breath/Spirit (Spiritus) #

The proper name for what proceeds by way of love. Indicates living motion and impulse—the way love moves and impels one toward something.

Inclination (Inclinatio) #

The mode of operation proper to the will: being inclined toward a thing. Contrasts with likeness, which is the mode of the intellect.

Likeness (Similitudo) #

What is produced by understanding. A thing understood becomes present to the mind through its likeness or image.

Examples & Illustrations #

Imagination vs. Emotion #

When I imagine candy, an image (likeness) of the candy proceeds from my imagination and is present in my mind as a representation. But when I emotionally desire candy, no likeness of candy proceeds to my heart—rather, I am inclined toward the candy itself. The candy “makes an impression” on my heart, but not as a likeness.

“Making an Impression” #

When we say someone “makes a big impression” on your heart, or “their name is on my heart,” we indicate that they are present in your will by inclination, not by their image or likeness being in your mind. This is distinct from memory, where a person is present as an image or likeness.

Personal Example #

Berquist’s granddaughter Isabella Rose makes a great impression on his heart. She is “in his heart” not as a likeness or image, but as something toward which his will is inclined.

Knowledge vs. Love of Opposites #

One can know both virtue and vice in the same knowledge, and knowing one helps one know the other (as in ethics or medicine). But one cannot love virtue and vice in the same love—the love of one contrary excludes the love of the other. This shows that love and knowledge operate differently: knowledge takes contraries into the mind according to the mind’s way; love goes out to things in themselves, where contraries exclude each other.

The Virtue of Liberality #

God alone is perfectly liberal (generous). Liberality means giving something to another not to get something back, but from the goodness of giving itself. God gets nothing from His giving to creation—not even a good act. Therefore, God is the only perfectly liberal being, and this liberality is an exemplar of what we see in creatures.

Notable Quotes #

“Whatever is in God is God.” — Thomas Aquinas

Because God is absolutely simple, whatever exists in God is identical with His substance. This principle explains why the processions in God establish real relations without diversifying the divine nature.

“No place is more dangerous to think [than about the Trinity], but no place is more fruitful to find something.” — Augustine, De Trinitate

Augustine warns of the difficulty but promises the richness of Trinitarian reflection.

“An immature and perverse love of reason.” — Augustine, De Trinitate

Augustine identifies a spiritual danger: people can love reasoning for its own sake, or to know things other than God, rather than ordering all knowledge toward understanding God.

“The true is primarily in the mind, but the good is chiefly in things.” — Aristotle, Metaphysics Book VI

This foundational distinction explains why understanding and willing operate differently.

Questions Addressed #

Q1: Should the procession of love in God be called “generation”? #

A: No. Although the Holy Spirit is divine and like the Father and Son, it does not proceed by way of likeness but by way of inclination. Therefore, it should be called “breath” or “spirit” (indicating living motion and impulse) rather than generation.

Q2: What is the fundamental difference between how understanding and willing operate? #

A: Understanding operates by bringing the thing understood into the mind as a likeness. Willing operates by having an inclination toward the thing itself, not by its likeness. The intellect grasps; the will is moved toward.

Q3: Why is there no special name for the procession of the Holy Spirit? #

A: In creatures, communication of nature occurs only by way of generation. Since the procession of love is not generation, it has no special name drawn from creature experience. We keep the common name “procession” for lack of a better term.

Q4: How should we approach understanding Trinitarian doctrine? #

A: With maturity of reason: studying logic and natural philosophy first to establish proper order of thinking; relying on great teachers like Thomas Aquinas; recognizing the weakness of reason and disagreement among thinkers; and always ordering our knowledge toward understanding God as the ultimate end, not for lesser or base purposes.

Pedagogical Notes #

Berquist emphasizes that understanding the distinction between procession by understanding and procession by will “is a very subtle thing. It takes a long time…to see that.” He employs multiple pedagogical approaches:

1. Linguistic precision: Examining the contrast between “grasping” (the intellect) and “putting your heart into” something (the will)
2. Creature examples: Using imagination, emotion, and social relationships to illuminate divine operations while maintaining their differences
3. Historical perspective: Tracing how Albert the Great, Boethius, Augustine, and Thomas developed understanding of these distinctions
4. Structural reflection: Noting that Thomas follows the order of learning (ordo doctrinae): processions first, then relations, then persons
5. Warning against error: Repeatedly cautioning about immature reason, premature speculation, and the need for proper intellectual formation