147. Appropriation of Divine Attributes to the Trinity
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Lecture Notes
Main Topics #
The Nature and Purpose of Appropriation #
Definition: Taking something that belongs essentially to God and appropriating (attributing) it to a particular divine person by reason of likeness between that essential attribute and what is proper to that person.
Justification: Appropriations are permissible because they manifest the less known (the Trinity) through the more known (essential attributes accessible to natural reason). This is an application of the pedagogical principle that human understanding must be “led by the hand” from creatures to God.
Distinction from Error: Appropriations do not mean the attribute belongs exclusively to one person or more to one person than another. Rather, they serve as ordered intellectual aids for understanding the persons through what natural reason can grasp.
The Four-Fold Order of Appropriations #
Thomas orders four sets of appropriations according to four ways of considering creatures:
First Consideration: Being Itself (Absolute Consideration) #
- Eternity → Father (signifies non-principiated being; having no beginning)
- Species (Beauty) → Son (requires integrity, proportion, clarity)
- Use (Enjoyment) → Holy Spirit (mutual love and joy between Father and Son)
Second Consideration: Unity #
- Unity → Father (undivided being)
- Equality → Son (implies unity in relation to another)
- Concord/Connection → Holy Spirit (unites two things)
Third Consideration: Power and Operations #
- Power (Potentia) → Father (notion of beginning; Father is principium non a principio)
- Wisdom → Son (proceeds by way of understanding)
- Goodness → Holy Spirit (object of love; proceeds by way of love)
Fourth Consideration: Relation to Effects (Causality) #
- “From him” (ex) → Father (efficient cause)
- “Through him” (per) → Son (formal cause/exemplar)
- “In him” (in) → Holy Spirit (conservation and governance by divine goodness)
Key Objections and Their Resolution #
Objection Pattern: The four initial objections claim that since essence and operation are common to all three persons and not proper to any single person, it is unsuitable to appropriate essential attributes to particular persons.
Thomas’s Resolution:
- Essential and operational attributes are too general to have particular likeness to any one person
- But the specific names appropriated (eternity, species, use) do have particular likenesses to the persons
- Concrete names (God, thing) can stand for persons; abstract names (essence, operation) cannot, because of their mode of signification
The Nature of Beauty (Speciosa/Pulchritudo) #
Thomas analyzes why beauty is appropriated to the Son through three required elements:
Integrity/Wholeness (integritas) - Perfection and completeness; deficiency in parts produces ugliness. Connected to the Son as having the whole and perfect nature of the Father.
Proportion/Harmony (consonantia) - Suitable arrangement and consonance; discord produces ugliness. Connected to the Son as the express image of the Father, perfectly representing Him.
Clarity/Brightness (claritas) - Luminosity and brilliant color; things shine forth in beauty. Connected to the Son as the Word that enlightens the whole world, the splendor of God’s understanding.
The Problem of Translation and Language #
Berquist discusses how the Greek word εἶδος and Latin species relate to seeing (ἰδεῖν, spectare), carrying connotations of beauty and form that English words like “species” or “form” do not capture as well. The word speciosa in Latin carries a more explicit beauty connotation (formosa). This linguistic richness is significant for understanding the appropriation.
Pedagogical Method: Leading by the Hand (Manuductio) #
Thomas’s approach to teaching appropriations exemplifies the pedagogical principle of manuductio. The teacher leads the student by:
- Proposing less universal statements that can be judged from foreknown things
- Proposing sensible examples and likenesses
- Proposing the order of principles to conclusions
The objections themselves, when properly ordered by Thomas, become dialectical aids that lead toward truth more effectively than unordered dialectic.
The Radiative Circle Metaphor #
Because God’s perfections are simple and one, yet creatures multiply and diversify these perfections, human understanding grasps God through many names and appropriations. These are like radii converging at one point (God). We name God by as many different rays as there are ways creatures manifest divine perfections, yet all point to the same divine reality.
Important Definitions #
Eternity (Aeternitas) #
Boethius’s definition: “The whole, simultaneous and perfect possession of interminable life” (tota simul et perfecta possessio vitae interminabilis). Key feature: non-principiated existence (no beginning, no end). Connected to the Father as the beginning without beginning (principium non a principio).
Species/Form (Speciies/Εἶδος) #
In Greek philosophy and Latin theology, species and εἶδος both relate to seeing and have connotations of beauty and form. The term refers to the intelligible shape or appearance of a thing, what makes it visible and recognizable. When appropriated to the Son, it emphasizes the manifestation of divine beauty and the Son as the visible image of the Father.
Use and Enjoyment (Uti and Frui) #
- Use (uti): To take something in the faculty/power of the will
- Enjoyment (frui): To use with joy (cum gaudio uti)
- Use in broader sense encompasses enjoyment
Augustine distinguishes: the secret to life is knowing what to enjoy and what merely to use. Appropriated to the Holy Spirit as the love and joy by which Father and Son enjoy one another.
Appropriation (Appropriatio) #
Taking what is essential to God and attributing it to a divine person by reason of likeness between the essential attribute and what is proper to that person. Not error because it manifests the less known through the more known.
Examples & Illustrations #
Thomas’s Prayer Before Communion #
Berquist cites Thomas’s prayer addressing God as “omnipotence, eternal God” (omnipotentia, aeterne, deus). This illustrates how appropriations function in liturgical language: power and eternity are appropriated to the Father, which helps understand both the prayer and the doctrine of appropriation.
The Distinction Between Meaning and Standing For #
When one says “I am the son of a man,” the phrase “a man” means human nature but stands for one’s particular father. This is not multiple meanings but one meaning with different applications. Similarly, “God” has one meaning (divine nature) but can stand for different persons because it signifies what has the divine nature.
Concrete vs. Abstract Names #
Concrete: “God,” “thing” can stand for persons because they signify what has the divine nature. Abstract: “Essence,” “operation” cannot stand for persons because they signify nature in abstraction from persons.
The Creed and Liturgy #
“I believe in God, the Father Almighty” - almighty is said of the Father, not of the other persons, yet all are almighty. This is appropriation. Similarly, the Hail Mary addresses “Holy Mary, Mother of God” - “God” stands for the Son while maintaining the meaning of divine nature.
Beauty in Creatures vs. the Son #
An image can be beautiful if it perfectly represents something, even if the thing represented is ugly. This illustrates how the Son, as the perfect image of the Father, manifests beauty through perfect representation regardless of the context of manifestation.
Geometry as Model of Pedagogical Order #
Euclid’s Elements provides an example of perfect ordering of principles to conclusions. When encountering a new theorem, Euclid demonstrates it using previously established theorems. The student may not have the power to bring these together unaided, so Euclid orders them pedagogically. Similarly, Thomas orders appropriations dialectically.
Notable Quotes #
“Our understanding, which is led by the hand, from creatures to a knowledge of God… must consider God according to the way that it takes from creatures.” — Thomas Aquinas (ST I, Q. 39, A. 8)
“Teaching ought to imitate discovery, but there are many false dead ends in discovery. The master, after seeing the truth, takes those parts of dialectic most convenient to lead someone toward truth.” — Berquist, paraphrasing Thomas on the ordering of objections
“Three things are required for beauty: integrity, proportion, and clarity.” — Thomas Aquinas, analyzing the nature of speciosa
“Augustine says that in the Father is unity, in the Son equality, and in the Holy Spirit the agreement or concord of unity and equality.” — Appropriation of the second set, from Augustine (De Doctrina Christiana I)
Questions Addressed #
How Can Essential Attributes Be Appropriated Without Error? #
Resolution: Appropriations do not claim attributes are private to one person or more to one person than another. Rather, they are pedagogical tools manifesting the persons through what is more known to natural reason. They work through likeness between essential attributes and what is proper to each person.
Why Is Eternity Appropriated to the Father Rather Than the Other Persons? #
Resolution: Eternity signifies non-principiated being (having no beginning). The Father is the beginning without beginning (principium non a principio), giving special likeness between eternity and the paternal character. The Son and Holy Spirit proceed from another, so eternity fits the Father’s unique character, though the Son and Spirit are eternal.
Why Is Beauty (Species) Appropriated to the Son? #
Resolution: Beauty requires three elements: integrity (wholeness of the Father’s nature in the Son), proportion (perfect image-relation), and clarity (the Word that enlightens all). The Son perfectly exemplifies all three, making beauty the fitting appropriation.
Why Is Use (Enjoyment) Appropriated to the Holy Spirit? #
Resolution: Use, taken broadly, encompasses enjoyment (cum gaudio uti). The mutual love and joy by which Father and Son enjoy one another is the proper expression of the Holy Spirit as Love. Augustine: “that love, that pleasure, that felicity.”
How Can “God” Stand for Different Persons While Maintaining One Meaning? #
Resolution: The word “God” has one meaning (divine nature/essence) but can stand for different persons because it signifies what has the divine nature. Like “a man” means human nature but stands for different fathers in different contexts. This is not equivocation but difference between meaning and what a word stands for (modus significandi).
Why Are These Appropriations Ordered in This Particular Way? #
Resolution: The order follows four modes of considering creatures: (1) absolutely as being, (2) as unified, (3) as having power and operations, (4) in relation to effects. Each mode naturally suggests which appropriations fit which persons.
Connections to Other Topics #
To Divine Simplicity #
Appropriations must be understood in light of God’s absolute simplicity, where essence and persons are identical in reality but differ in their mode of signification (modus significandi).
To the Creed and Liturgy #
Appropriations explain why the liturgy addresses different persons with different titles while maintaining that all three persons share all essential attributes. “The rule of prayer is the rule of faith.”
To Natural Theology #
Appropriations serve as a bridge: natural reason grasps essential divine attributes; appropriations order these toward understanding the revealed Trinity.