Thursday, August 31, 2006

Q41 A1: Whether the notional acts are to be attributed to the persons?

Yes. We must attribute notional acts to the persons to signify the order of origin in the divine persons because in the divine persons distinction is founded on origin and origin can be properly designated only by certain acts.

Every origin is designated by an act. In God there is a twofold order of origin: one, inasmuch as the creature proceeds from Him, and this is common to the three persons; and so those actions which are attributed to God to designate the proceeding of creatures from Him, belong to His essence.

Another order of origin in God regards the procession of person from person; wherefore the acts which designate the order of this origin are called notional; because the notions of the persons are the mutual relations of the persons (Q32, A2).

The notional acts differ from the relations of the persons only in their mode of signification; and in reality are altogether the same.