Monday, April 03, 2006

Q12 A11: Whether anyone in this life can see the essence of God?

No. It is impossible for the soul of man in this life to see the essence of God because our soul, as long as we live in this life, has its being in corporeal matter; hence naturally it knows only what has a form in matter, or what can be known by such a form.

But it is evident that the Divine essence cannot be known through the nature of material things. For it was shown above (Q12, A9) that the knowledge of God by means of any created similitude is not the vision of His essence.