Friday, August 18, 2006

Q39 A1: Whether in God the essence is the same as the person?

Yes. In God, essence is not really distinct from person, and yet the persons are really distinguished from each other because person signifies relation as subsisting in the divine nature, but relation as referred to the essence does not differ therefrom really, but only in our way of thinking, while as referred to an opposite relation, it has a real distinction by virtue of that opposition.

In creatures, relations are accidental, whereas in God they are the divine essence itself.

Thence it follows that in God essence is not really distinct from person, and yet that the persons are really distinguished from each other.

There cannot be a distinction of "suppositum" in creatures by means of relations, but only by essential principles, because in creatures relations are not subsistent.

But in God relations are subsistent, and so by reason of the opposition between them they distinguish the "supposita", and yet the essence is not distinguished, because the relations themselves are not distinguished from each other so far as they are identified with the essence.

Divine things are named by us after the way of created things. And since created natures are individualized by matter which is the subject of the specific nature, it follows that individuals are called "subjects," "supposita," or "hypostases." So the divine persons are named "supposita" or "hypostases," but not as if there really existed any real "supposition" or "subjection."