158. Equality in the Trinity: Eternity, Magnitude, and the Indwelling of Persons

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Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

Equality in the Trinity (Q42, Article 1-4) #

The Problem: Equality typically implies quantity, but God has no quantitative measure. How can three distinct persons be truly equal?

Thomas’s Solution: Equality in God refers to the perfection of divine nature (virtual quantity), not dimensional measure. Equality is understood by the negation of “more and less” rather than by positive quantity.

Order of Nature (Ordo Naturae) - Article 3 #

Berquist emphasizes a crucial distinction:

• Genus of “order”: Before and after (temporal or causal priority)
• Specific difference of “order”: Origin (this proceeding from that)

When we apply “order” to God, we drop the genus (temporal priority) but retain the specific difference (origin). Thus:

• The Father is the origin of the Son
• But there is no before and after in any sense
• The relations themselves constitute the persons, so neither can be “before” the other

Key Insight: Just as “I am before my son in time” differs from “I am before my son as his father/origin,” we must distinguish different senses of “before.” In God, we can speak of origin without any temporal or logical priority.

Generation in God - Eternal Not Successive #

Problem: If the Son is generated, how can he be eternal?

Solution: Generation in God is not a successive change (transmutatio) but an eternal procession. The Son is always being generated in the eternal now—not in time at all. This is like God’s eternal thought of himself: the Word proceeds from God’s understanding but remains eternally in God.

Magnitude/Greatness in God - Article 4 #

Key Principle: Magnitude in God signifies the perfection of the divine nature, not size.

Unlike human generation:

• A human son gradually grows to equality with his father
• The divine Son is eternally equal because God’s power cannot be defective in generation
• The Son receives the full perfection of the Father’s nature through generation, and this is complete from eternity

Hillary’s Principle (cited by Thomas): “Remove bodily infirmities, conception, pain, and human necessity—every son by natural birth is equal to the Father because he shares the same nature.”

Natural vs. Voluntary Generation #

Important distinction: The Father naturally generates the Son (not by choice), whereas God voluntarily creates creatures. This is why the order can be called ordo naturae (order of nature), emphasizing the necessity and perfection of the procession.

The Indwelling of Persons - Article 5 #

Objection: Aristotle lists eight senses of “being in.” None seem to apply to the Father being in the Son or vice versa.

Thomas’s Response: The Father is in the Son in three ways:

1. According to essence: The Father IS the divine nature; the Son IS the divine nature. They share numerically the same essence.

2. According to relations: Relatives are understood together simultaneously (simul, ἅμα in Greek). One cannot understand “father” without “son.” Like “double” and “half,” they are inseparable.

3. According to origin: The procession of the Word is interior to God, like thought proceeding from the mind but remaining in it.

Key Aristotelian Insight: Relatives (relativa) whose whole being is toward another (like double/half) are understood together by nature and understanding. This applies to the Father/Son relation.

Key Arguments #

The Argument from Nature’s Perfection #

• The perfection of the divine nature is identical in Father and Son
• Power follows from perfection of nature
• Therefore: The Father and Son must be equal in power and greatness

The Argument from Eternity #

• God’s nature has always been perfect
• God generates naturally, not by choice
• Natural generation from a perfect nature cannot be defective or delayed
• Therefore: The Son must be eternally generated and eternally equal

The Argument from Simplicity #

• God is absolutely simple (no composition)
• The Father is identical with the divine nature
• The Son is identical with the divine nature
• Therefore: The Father and Son cannot differ in any perfection

The Argument from Relations #

• Relatives are understood together (simul) by nature and understanding
• The Father and Son are essentially constituted by their relations to each other
• Therefore: If one could be “before” the other, both would have to be understood separately, which contradicts their nature as relatives

Important Definitions #

Equality (aequalitas): Understood by negation of more and less (negatio maioris et minoris) rather than by positive measure. In God, refers to identical possession of the perfection of nature.

Order of nature (ordo naturae): Origin without temporal priority; this-from-that without before-and-after. Distinguished from order of time (ordo temporis).

Generation (generatio): In creatures—successive change from potency to act. In God—eternal procession without succession or change; not a transmutatio (transformation).

Virtual quantity (quantitas virtualis): Perfection of a thing according to its form or nature; noted in effects (being and operation). Distinguished from dimensional quantity (quantitas dimensiva).

Relatives (relativa): Things whose whole being is toward another (dicuntur ad aliud). In God, the relations constitute the persons. Distinguished from things that have a relation following upon them (like knowledge).

Per se vs. A se: The Son acts through himself (per se) but not from himself (a se). He has his power and nature from the Father.

Secundum esse vs. secundum dici: Real relations (secundum esse) where the whole being is toward another, vs. relations of reason (secundum dici) where something has a certain property with a relation following upon it.

Examples & Illustrations #

The Numerical Analogy #

Berquist explains how Aristotle’s categories apply:

• Air is like fire in heat, but less perfectly so
• They can be called “like” but not “equal”
• The Father and Son are equal because each possesses identically the divine nature

The Thought Analogy #

When God understands himself:

• The Word (thought) proceeds from God’s understanding
• It remains eternally in God (unlike a craftsman’s product)
• This procession is simultaneous with God’s understanding, not sequential

The Mirror Analogy #

The image in a mirror appears only while you stand before it—simultaneously, not after a delay. Similarly, the Son proceeds from the Father eternally and simultaneously in the eternal now.

Double and Half #

Berquist contrasts two types of relatives:

• Double and half: Their whole being is to be toward another (pure relations)
• Knowledge: A quality of the mind, but with a relation to the thing known following upon it

This distinction matters for understanding whether a relation in God is purely relative (and thus simultaneous with what it relates to) or has some other component.

Paternity and Sonship #

Just as “double” and “half” are two sides of the same relation, paternity and sonship are two sides of the same relation in God. One cannot exist without the other, and both are eternal.

Notable Quotes #

“Order of nature signifies a notion of origin in general, but not in particular.” — Thomas Aquinas, cited by Berquist

“Equality is noted according to the magnitude, the greatness of it. But greatness in God signifies the perfection of the nature.” — Thomas Aquinas

“Remove infirmities of the body, remove a beginning of conception, remove pains… every son by natural birth is equal to the Father because he is also of the same nature.” — Hillary, cited by Thomas

“The unchangeable God, generating an unchangeable God, gives him the same nature.” — Hillary, cited by Thomas

“By the authority of giving, the Father is greater. But he is not less. To whom what one in the same being in nature is given.” — Hillary, cited by Thomas

“The subjection of the Son is the piety of nature of birth. That is the recognition of the paternal authority, meaning he is the origin of the Son. But the subjection of the others is the infirmity of creation.” — Thomas, from the Synod, cited by Berquist

“An angel is his own nature… We human beings partake of human nature.” — Thomas, cited by Berquist in context of how the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit do not “partake” of divine nature but are the divine nature.

Questions Addressed #

Q1: Can equality be predicated of the divine persons? #

Resolution: Yes. Equality refers to the perfection of nature (virtual quantity), not quantitative measure. It is understood by the negation of “more and less,” meaning each person possesses identically the full perfection of the divine nature.

Q2: Is there an order of nature in the Trinity? #

Resolution: Yes, but it must be carefully understood. The “order of nature” (ordo naturae) signifies origin without temporal priority. The Father is the origin of the Son, but not “before” him in any sense. When we apply “order” to God, we drop the genus (before/after) but retain the specific difference (origin).

Q3: How is the Father in the Son and vice versa? #

Resolution: In three ways: (1) according to essence (they share the identical divine nature), (2) according to relations (relatives are understood together), and (3) according to origin (the Word proceeds from God but remains in God).

Q4: How can the Son be eternally generated? #

Resolution: Generation in God is not a successive change but an eternal procession. The Son is always being generated in the eternal now. God’s perfect nature generates the Word eternally and completely, not gradually or in time.

Q5: How can the Son be equal in magnitude to the Father if magnitude suggests quantity? #

Resolution: Magnitude in God means the perfection of nature, not quantitative size. The Son receives the full perfection of the Father’s nature through eternal generation, making him completely equal in every way that matters.

Pedagogical Emphasis #

Berquist emphasizes the importance of being a good student of Aristotle, even when reading Thomas. He illustrates this through Thomas’s own hermeneutical principle from the Commentary on the Sentences: a good student must be humble (submissive to the teacher), have stability (retain what is learned), and possess fertility (develop and apply the ideas in new contexts, seeing consequences no one else has seen). The Trinity lectures exemplify this: Thomas takes Aristotle’s categories and distinctions and applies them to divine mysteries with unprecedented subtlety.

The distinction between ordo naturae and ordo temporis is crucial: it shows how one can speak meaningfully of origin and procession in God without importing temporal categories that are inappropriate to eternal realities.