23. Comprehension, Rectitude of Will, and Perfect Beatitude

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Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

Two Senses of Comprehension #

• First sense: The including of the comprehended in the comprehender (inclusio comprehensi in comprehendente)—by this meaning, God cannot be comprehended by any created intellect because a finite mind cannot contain the infinite
• Second sense: The holding or possession of something present (habere)—this sense of comprehension is required for beatitude
• The confusion between these two senses leads to false conclusions about whether beatitude requires exhaustive knowledge of God
• Scripture speaks of comprehension in the second sense when it refers to “seeing God face to face,” which emphasizes presence and possession rather than exhaustive understanding

Why Comprehension (in sense 2) is Required for Beatitude #

• Beatitude consists in the attainment of the last end; one cannot truly possess the end without having it present
• The relation of having (habere) is inseparable from the perfection of beatitude
• The three theological virtues correspond to three aspects of beatitude: faith (imperfect knowledge of the end), hope (relation of tending toward the end when not yet possessed), and charity (union with the end already obtained)
• These three virtues are necessary: faith provides the foundation, hope establishes the dynamic tendency, and charity/comprehension brings about possession and rest in the good

Rectitude of the Will as Essential to Beatitude #

• Antecedently required: The will must be rightly ordered to the last end as a prerequisite for achieving beatitude. Just as matter cannot achieve form unless properly disposed, nothing can achieve the end unless rightly ordered to it
• Concomitantly required: One who sees the divine essence necessarily loves whatever he loves under order to God. The person not seeing God’s essence loves things under the common notion of good; the person seeing God loves all things in relation to God
• The rectitude of the will does not cease when beatitude is obtained; rather, love increases when one possesses the good, provided nothing in the good is repugnant to love
• Without rectitude of will, one cannot arrive at beatitude because the will must be properly inclined toward the true last end

The Problem of Equivocation in “Comprehension” #

• Augustine appears to contradict himself: in one place saying that seeing God by the mind is great beatitude (magna beatitudo), in another place seeming to retract that one must be pure to know the truth
• The resolution lies in distinguishing what Augustine means in each context: he retracts the claim about purity being necessary for knowing abstract truths, but maintains that rectitude of will is necessary for seeing God himself (the divine essence)
• This is why Christ blesses the pure in heart (Matthew 5:8): purity here refers to the right ordering of the will toward God

Key Arguments #

Against the Necessity of Comprehension (in sense 1) #

• Objection: If beatitude is perfect happiness, must one know God as much as God is knowable? This would seem to require comprehension in the sense of exhaustive understanding
• Response: Perfect beatitude does not require knowing God as much as He is knowable. The vision of God as He is constitutes perfect beatitude; the will finds its perfect rest in possessing Him present. Two operations suffice: the understanding seeing God and the will resting in Him
• Resolution via distinction: Operations are determined by their objects. The two general objects are the true and the good. Vision corresponds to the true, pleasure corresponds to the good. No third operation is needed

Against the Necessity of Rectitude of Will #

• Objection 1: Beatitude consists in the operation of understanding, which does not depend on the will’s rectitude. Augustine says many unclean people know many true things
• Response: Augustine is speaking of knowing abstract truths, not of seeing God Himself (the divine essence). Knowledge of truths does not require purity, but the vision of God does
• Objection 2: Rectitude of will is ordered to beatitude as a means to an end; when the end is obtained, the means is no longer necessary, just as a boat is no longer needed after arriving at port
• Response: Not everything ordered to an end ceases when the end is obtained. Only those things that have themselves under the aspect of imperfection (as motion, as instruments) cease. The suitable order to the end is necessary both before and after obtaining it. Love of the good increases upon possession, not decreases
• Objection 3: Understanding is before will in the order of nature; therefore beatitude, which is the perfect operation of understanding, does not depend on the will’s rectitude
• Response: Some acts of understanding come before acts of will, but not every act of will comes after every act of understanding. The will must tend rightly toward the last act of understanding (beatitude itself), just as the arrow must be aimed straight at the target

For the Necessity of Rectitude of Will #

• The will must be rightly ordered to the end because matter cannot achieve form unless properly disposed
• One seeing God’s essence necessarily loves all things in order to God; this loving under order to God is inseparable from the vision itself
• The beatific vision naturally produces rectitude of will (concomitantly) because the soul perceiving God as goodness itself cannot will things except in relation to Him

Important Definitions #

Comprehension (comprehensio) #

• First sense: The including of the comprehended in the comprehender (inclusio comprehensi in comprehendente)—impossible for creatures regarding God
• Second sense: The holding or possession of something present (habere, tenere)—required for beatitude and achieved through face-to-face vision of God

Rectitude of Will (rectitudo voluntatis) #

• The proper ordering of the will toward the last end (God)
• Consists in loving things under the order to God rather than under the common notion of good
• Antecedent condition for achieving beatitude and concomitant aspect of possessing it

The Three Theological Virtues in Relation to Beatitude #

• Faith (fides): Provides imperfect knowledge of the end; described as the “substance of things hoped for” (from Hebrews 11). Thomas explains substance here as “foundation” (fundamentum), a foretaste of what one hopes to see
• Hope (spes): Establishes the relation of tending toward the end when it is not yet possessed or is difficult to attain. This is the only relation that motivates investigation of the end
• Charity (caritas): Joins the lover to the loved; corresponds to possession and the union of beatitude

Perfect vs. Imperfect Beatitude #

• Imperfect (in this life): The operation of virtue, dependent on bodily imagination and images
• Perfect (in the next life): The vision of the divine essence with the will resting in God and loving Him under order to Him

Examples & Illustrations #

On the Distinction of Comprehension #

• Sherlock Holmes story (“The Norwood Builder”): The criminal adds one more piece of false evidence to his fabricated crime, which paradoxically reveals him because it was not there before. This illustrates how carefully one must attend to what is actually present versus what is constructed. Similarly, in comprehension, one must distinguish what is actually possessed (present) from what is imagined to be comprehended (exhaustively known)
• Knowing Mozart’s music: One continues to hear things in Mozart one did not notice before, yet one still does not hear everything that is hearable in him. This shows that incomplete knowledge of something knowable does not prevent one from truly possessing and delighting in it
• Paintings with perspective: Paintings can create the illusion that one is looking directly down a canal or that the eyes follow you around the room. These illustrations show that perception involves more than simple presence; it involves a particular way of being present to the viewer

On the Will’s Right Ordering #

• Annoyance and elimination: If one is annoyed by another person and desires their elimination, one desires this under the aspect of good (freedom from annoyance). Even desiring something seemingly bad is done under the aspect of good in some way
• Skipping Sunday Mass: Choosing to sleep in rather than attend Mass seems a choice for good (rest), but it violates the proper ordering of the will to God, who commands the keeping of holy days
• The philosopher’s love of wisdom: The philosopher naturally loves wisdom and takes greater delight in wisdom once possessed than before possessing it. This shows that love increases with possession (provided the good is truly lovable), not that it diminishes
• Come bless the Lord (Psalm 33): “Come bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord who stand in the house of the Lord during the hours of night.” Servants must first bless and honor God; only then does God bless them. This illustrates the proper ordering of the will to God as prerequisite for beatitude

On the Failure to Maintain Right Order #

• The fall of the angels: The bad angels wanted their beatitude from themselves (from their own powers) rather than to receive it as a gift from God. This is the fundamental evil that led to their fall—willing to have beatitude independently rather than in right order to God

Notable Quotes #

“To comprehend, however, is impossible. We’ll never see God or understand God as much as he is understandable, right? And we’ll never love God as much as he is lovable, right?” — Berquist, on the impossibility of exhaustive comprehension of God

“Operations are determined according to objects… You know the abilities by their acts and the acts by their object.” — Aristotle (via Berquist), principle that operations depend on their objects

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” — Matthew 5:8, cited as scriptural authority for the necessity of rectitude of will

“Just as the will of someone not seeing the essence of God of necessity loves whatever he loves under the common thought of the good which he knows, right? [So too] the will of the one seeing the essence of God of necessity loves whatever he loves under order to God.” — Thomas Aquinas (via Berquist), on how the vision of God necessarily produces right ordering of the will

“Not everything that is ordered to the end ceases to be when the end has come about, huh? But only that which has itself under the aspect of imperfection as motion, right, huh?” — Thomas Aquinas (via Berquist), on why the will’s rectitude does not cease when beatitude is obtained

“There’s that supreme gift of the artist… knowing when to stop.” — Berquist, citing Sherlock Holmes’s observation about Mozart and Titian, illustrating the importance of limit and proportion

Questions Addressed #

Is Comprehension Required for Beatitude? #

• Question: Does perfect beatitude require comprehending God—that is, knowing Him as much as He is knowable?
• Answer: No, not in the first sense of comprehension (exhaustive understanding). However, comprehension in the second sense (possession, having God present) is required. Beatitude consists in the vision of God face to face, in which God is possessed and the will rests in Him. One need not exhaust all that is knowable about God to be perfectly happy; seeing Him as He is and resting in that possession suffices

Why Does Scripture Speak of “Comprehending” the End? #

• Question: If exhaustive comprehension is impossible, why do Scripture and the saints speak of comprehending God or comprehending the end?
• Answer: They speak of comprehension in the second sense—holding, possessing, having present. This is what “seeing God face to face” means: not exhaustive understanding, but immediate presence and possession. The Psalm speaks of servants of God who stand in His house; they have Him present and held, even if they do not comprehend His infinite nature exhaustively

Why Is Rectitude of the Will Necessary? #

• Question: Since beatitude consists in the operation of understanding (the vision), why must the will be rightly ordered? Cannot the understanding achieve its perfect operation independently?
• Answer: The will must be rightly ordered antecedently because nothing can achieve its end unless properly disposed to it (matter cannot achieve form without proper disposition). Moreover, one who truly sees God’s essence cannot help but love all things in order to God; this right loving is inseparable from the vision itself (concomitantly). The will’s rectitude is both a prerequisite and an inevitable consequence of the beatific vision

Does Rectitude of Will Remain After Beatitude Is Obtained? #

• Question: Once one achieves beatitude, is the rectitude of will still necessary? Is it not merely a means to the end, dispensable once the end is obtained?
• Answer: Rectitude of will does not cease; rather, it intensifies and perfects itself. Love of the good increases upon possession (provided nothing in the good is repugnant to love). The will’s right ordering is not a mere motion or instrument that disappears; it is a suitable order that remains and flourishes. In heaven, the blessed will love God more intensely than they ever did on earth because they see Him as He is—goodness itself—and possess Him perfectly