153. Necessity, Nature, and Divine Generation

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Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

• Natural Necessity vs. Will in Divine Generation: Whether the Father generates the Son by natural necessity or by an act of will; reconciling apparent tensions in the theological tradition
• Aristotle’s Doctrine of Potency and Act (Metaphysics IX): Structure of nature, the distinction between natural ability and rational ability, and the order of ability and act
• Natural Ability vs. Rational Ability: How natural ability is determined to one effect while rational ability is open to opposites; implications for understanding divine action
• Senses of “Necessary” (per se and per accidens): Distinguishing intrinsic necessity, necessity through agent cause (force), and necessity through final cause
• Divine Generation vs. Creation: Why the Son is generated from the divine substance (not created from nothing) and what this means for the nature of the Trinity

Key Arguments #

On Natural Necessity in Divine Generation #

• The Problem: The Holy Spirit is described as “love,” suggesting the will is the source of generation; yet generation must be necessary in God
• Aristotle’s Framework: Nature determines things to one effect; will (rational ability) is open to opposites
• Thomas’s Resolution: The will itself, insofar as it is a certain nature, naturally wills something. God naturally loves himself. The Holy Spirit proceeds as love insofar as God loves himself naturally, hence proceeds necessarily—though by way of the will, understood as a nature rather than as choice among opposites
• Key Principle: “The will also, insofar as there’s a certain nature, wills something naturally”

On the Distinction Between Nature and Reason/Will #

• Not a Simple Binary: The distinction between nature and rational ability is like the distinction between two and three—three contains two but is not merely two
• Implication for God: God naturally understands himself; therefore the Word proceeds naturally. God naturally loves himself; therefore the Holy Spirit proceeds naturally. Yet both proceed by way of intellect and will understood as natures
• Modern Misunderstanding: Jean-Paul Sartre denies that the will naturally wills anything; John Stuart Mill denies that reason necessarily understands anything. Both misunderstand the Aristotelian distinction

On Senses of “Necessary” #

Per se Necessary: That which is not able not to be (intrinsic necessity)

• Example: Two is necessarily half of four
• Example: A triangle necessarily has interior angles equal to right angles

Per accidens Necessary (through another):

1. Through agent cause (violence/coercion): Being forced to leave a room
   • This cannot apply to God, as there is no coercion in God
2. Through final cause: Necessity for achieving an end
   • Two sub-types:
     • Without which the end cannot be at all (absolute necessity)
     • Without which the end cannot be achieved well (conditional necessity)
   • Examples: Food is necessary to live; a horse is necessary for a journey; logic is necessary for philosophy (not absolutely, but for doing it well)

Application to God: The Father’s generation of the Son is per se necessary (not able not to be), because God naturally and necessarily understands himself. There is no necessity from force (agent cause) nor from an external end, since God is not for the sake of an end

On Generation from Something vs. Creation from Nothing #

• Objection 1: If the Son is generated from the Father, either something alien enters the Son, or the Father ceases to be, or Father and Son are identical
• Thomas’s Response: The preposition “from” (ex/de) signifies the beginning generating consubstantial—a principle of the same substance, not a material principle. The divine essence is not changeable and admits of no transformation
• Objection 2: If generation is from the Father’s essence, then essence would be the generating principle, implying a real distinction between essence and the generating power
• Thomas’s Response: When we say the Son is generated from the Father’s essence, this designates the relation of a beginning or source as an active principle, understood as “the Son is generated from the Father according to his essence” (Augustine’s formulation: “from the Father in the essence”)
• The Distinction: Human generation involves a part of the parent’s substance (“chip off the old block”) transitioning to the child; divine generation communicates the whole indivisible nature to the Son, remaining distinct only by origin
• Theological Formula: “Genitum non factum”—begotten, not made (from the Nicene Creed)

Important Definitions #

Natural Ability (ἕξις): A capacity determined to one effect; fire naturally heats and does not cool; lacks the ability to choose among opposites

Rational Ability: A capacity open to opposites; the artist (doctor, craftsman) can produce contrary effects; includes the will and intellect as operating through choice

**Per se Necessary (ex necessitate): That which is not able not to be; has intrinsic necessity independent of external causes

Per accidens Necessary: Necessity arising through another—either through an agent causing force (violentum) or through an end

Violent Necessity (ex vi): Necessity caused by an external agent forcing an action; example of per accidens necessity through agent cause; cannot apply to God

Necessity for an End: Necessity arising from the requirement to achieve an end; subdivides into absolute necessity (without which the end cannot be) and conditional necessity (without which the end cannot be well)

Generation (γέννησις): True procession of one thing from another as from a principle of the same substance, with the one generated receiving the whole nature of the generator. Distinguished from creation, which proceeds from nothing

Creation (κτίσις): Production of something from nothing by an external agent; the one creating stands outside what is created

Examples & Illustrations #

Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali) Example: Before being defeated, Clay might seem to have no ability at all, but we can say he is “beatable” or “breakable,” demonstrating a secondary sense of ability—the ability to be acted upon (passive ability)

Fire and Paper: Fire actively burns paper (first sense of ability—to act upon something); paper is combustible (second sense—ability to be acted upon)

Doctor’s Ability: The doctor can both cure and make sick, demonstrating rational ability open to opposites. Unlike fire, the doctor is not determined to one effect

Two and Three: Unlike a simple binary distinction, the relationship between natural ability and rational ability is like the relationship between the numbers two and three. Three contains two within itself but is not merely two. Similarly, reason and will contain a natural element but transcend mere nature. The three is not half of six in the way the two is, yet three has a two in it

Modern Experimental Method: Scientists who treat all thoughts as hypotheses to be tested deny that we can have necessary knowledge of anything. Yet this creates a performative contradiction: testing the law of non-contradiction by observation itself presupposes the law of non-contradiction

Necessity and Life: All creatures naturally will to live and be happy; this is natural necessity, not choice. People in hell are naturally frustrated because they are deprived of what they naturally will. Yet among the means to happiness, we exercise rational will and choice

Robert E. Lee’s Resignation: Example of understanding necessity through natural will rather than external coercion—Lee’s acceptance of God’s will in his private life shows resignation that differs from unwilling natural necessity (like aging against one’s will)

Dante’s Divine Comedy: When souls embrace each other in the afterlife, their embrace passes through air and has no physical contact; illustrates the difficulty in understanding immaterial interaction

Logic and Philosophy: Socrates in Plato’s Phaedo recognizes that philosophy needs logic to distinguish good arguments from bad, yet logic itself was the last part of philosophy to be developed. Therefore logic is necessary for philosophy to be done well, though not absolutely necessary

Notable Quotes #

“The will also, insofar as there’s a certain nature, wills something naturally, just as the will of man naturally tends toward happiness.” — Thomas Aquinas (explaining how natural necessity can apply to will)

“The Holy Spirit proceeds as love insofar as God loves himself. Whence he proceeds naturally, although he proceeds by way of will.” — Thomas Aquinas (on the compatibility of natural necessity and voluntary procession)

“This is a very fundamental distinction. Modern philosophers misunderstand this distinction.” — Duane Berquist (on the distinction between natural and rational ability)

“In a way, there is a two in three. But three as three is not half a four, is it? But the two that is in three is half a four.” — Duane Berquist (on the non-simple relationship between nature and will)

“The Son, therefore God, the true Son of God, therefore, is not from nothing, nor is he made, but he’s only generated.” — Thomas Aquinas (quoting the Nicene formulation: Genitum non factum)

“The divine nature is not divisible into parts. Whence it is necessary that the Father, in generating the Son, transfers not a part of the nature to him, but the whole nature he communicates to him.” — Thomas Aquinas (on why divine generation differs from human generation)

Questions Addressed #

The Central Problem #

Q: How can the Father generate the Son necessarily (by nature) when generation appears to be a voluntary act? A: The will itself, understood as a nature, naturally wills what is compatible with its essence. God naturally loves himself, so the Holy Spirit’s procession as love is natural, not contingent on divine choice

On Senses of Necessity #

Q: In what sense is divine generation necessary? A: Per se necessary (not able not to be), arising from the nature of God. Not per accidens necessary through force (there is no coercion in God) nor through an external end (God is the end, not for an end)

On the Role of Essence and Will #

Q: Is there a contradiction in saying the Son is generated necessarily yet also proceeds by will? A: No, because will can be understood as a nature. We naturally will happiness; we do not choose to be happy rather than miserable. Similarly, God naturally loves himself; the will here operates as a nature, not as a power open to opposites

On Generation vs. Creation #

Q: If the Son is generated from the Father’s substance, does that mean something alien or divisible enters the Son? A: No. The Son is generated from the Father according to his essence (from the Father in the essence). The divine nature is indivisible, so the whole nature is communicated to the Son without division or alteration; they remain distinct only by origin

On Modern Philosophical Error #

Q: Why do modern philosophers (Sartre, Mill) go wrong? A: They misunderstand the Aristotelian distinction between natural ability and rational ability. Sartre denies that the will naturally wills anything; Mill denies that reason necessarily understands anything. Both confuse rational ability (open to opposites) with the total absence of natural necessity. The experimental method’s demand to test all hypotheses reinforces this error

Unresolved Tangents and Loose Ends #

• On Guardian Angels: How does one show affection to one’s guardian angel, given that they are immaterial? (Raised but not fully resolved)
• On How to Greet One’s Guardian Angel: Berquist leaves this as an open reflection for students
• Historical Note on Robert E. Lee: Discussion of Lee’s resignation to God’s will and views on slavery begins but is not fully developed; serves primarily as character illustration