Latest / Summa Contra Gentiles, First Book (On God) / 066 - Lxvi That God Knows The Things That Are Not

Transcript

066 - Lxvi That God Knows The Things That Are Not · Summa Contra Gentiles, First Book (On God)

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Chapter sixty six of Summa Contragentilees, First Book on God
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: by Saint Thomas aquinas translated by the Fathers of the
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: English Dominican Province. This LibriVox recording is in the public
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: domain chapter sixty six that God knows the things that
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: are not. In the next place, we must show that
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: God lacks not the knowledge of things that are not.
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: For as stated above, the divine knowledge stands in the
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: same relation to the things known as things knowable to
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: our knowledge. Now, the comparison of the thing knowable to
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: our knowledge is that the knowable thing may exist without
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: our having knowledge of it, whereof the philosopher in the
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: Predicaments gives the example of squaring the circle, but not conversely. Wherefore,
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: the relation of the divine knowledge to things must be
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: such that it can also relate to nonexistent things. Again,
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: the knowledge of God's intellect stands in the same relation
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: to other things as the knowledge of a craftsman to
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: the works of his craft, since he is cause of
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: things by his knowledge. Now, the craftsman, by the knowledge
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: of his art, knows even those things which are not
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: yet produced by his art, since the forms of his
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: art pass from his knowledge into external matter so as
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: to produce the works of his art. And consequently nothing
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: prevents forms which have not yet materialized outwardly from being
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: in the craftsman's knowledge. Therefore, nothing prevents God from having
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: knowledge of things that are not. Further, God knows things
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: other than himself by his essence, inasmuch as he is
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: the likeness of the things that proceed from him shown above.
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: But since God's essence is infinitely perfect, as proved above,
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: while all things else have limited being and perfection, it
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: is impossible for all other things together to equal the
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: perfection of the divine essence. Wherefore it is capable of
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: representing many things besides those that exist. Hence, if God
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: knows the whole power and perfection of his essence, his
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: knowledge extends not only to those things that are, but
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: also to those that are not. Moreover, our intellect, in
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: respect of the operation by which it knows what a
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: thing is, can have knowledge of those things also that
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: are not. Actually, since it is able to comprehend the
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: essence of a lion or horse, even if all such
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: animals were slain. Now, the divine intellect knows, as one
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: who knows what a thing is not only definitions, but
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: also denunciations, is shown above. Therefore it can have knowledge
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: of those things also that are not. Again, an effect
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: can be foreknown in its cause even before it exists.
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: Even so an astronomer foreknows a future eclipse by observing
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: the order of the heavenly movements. Now God's knowledge is
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: of all things through their cause, For by knowing himself,
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: who is the cause of all, he knows other things
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: as his effects. As we proved above, nothing therefore prevents
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: him from knowing those things also that are not yet. Moreover,
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: there is no succession in God's act of understanding, anymore
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: than there is in his existence. Hence it is all
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: at once everlasting, which belongs to the essence of eternity.
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: Whereas the duration of time is drawn out by the
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: succession of before and after. Wherefore the proportion of eternity
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: to the whole duration of time is as the proportion
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: of the indivisible to the continuous, not indeed of the indivisible,
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: that is the term of the continuous, and is not
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: present to each part of the continuous, for such is
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: likened to an instant of time, but of the indivisible
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: that is outside the continuous, and yet synchronizes with each
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: part of the continuous or with each point of a
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: signet continuous, because since time does not exceed movement, eternity,
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: being utterly outside movement, is altogether outside time. Again, since
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: the being of the eternal never fails, eternity synchronizes with
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: every time or instant of time somewhat of An example
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: of this may be seen in the circle. For a
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: given point in the circumference, although indivisible, does not coincide
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: in its position with any other point, since the order
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: of position results in the continuity of the circumference, while
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: the center, which is outside the circumference is directly opposite
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: any given point in the circumference. Accordingly, whatever exists in
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: any part of time is coexistent with the eternal, as
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: though present thereto, although in relation to another part of
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: time it is present or future. Now a thing cannot
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: be present too and coexistent with the eternal except with
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: the whole eternal, since this has no scs of duration. Therefore,
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: whatever happens throughout the whole course of time is seen
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: as present by the divine intellect in its eternity. And
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: yet that which is done in some part of time
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: was not always in existence. It remains therefore that God
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: has knowledge of those things which are not as yet
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: in relation to the course of time. By these arguments,
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: it is made clear that God has knowledge of not beings. Nevertheless,
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: not beings have not at all the same relation to
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: his knowledge. For those things which neither are, nor shall be,
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: nor have been, are known by God as possible to
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: his power. Wherefore he knows them not as existing in
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: themselves in any way, but is merely existing in the
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: divine power. Such things are said by some to be
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: known to godring to his knowledge of simple intelligence. On
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: the other hand, things which to us are present, past
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: or future are known to God as being not only
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: in his power, but also in their respective causes and
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: in themselves. Of such things, God is said to have
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: knowledge of vision, because God sees the existence of things which,
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: in relation to us are not as yet, not only
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: in their causes, but also in themselves. Inasmuch as His
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: eternity is, by its indivisibility present to all time. Yet
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: God knows every manner of a thing's being by his essence,
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: for his essence is capable of being represented by many
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: things that neither are nor shall be nor have been. Moreover,
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: it is the likeness of every cause's power, in respect
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: of which affect pre exist in their causes, and the
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: being that every single thing has in itself is drawn
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: as a copy from Him. Wherefore, God knows not beings
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: in so far as they have being after a fashion,
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: either in the Divine power, or in their causes, or
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: in themselves. And this is not contrary to the essential
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: conditions of knowledge. The authority of holy writ also bears
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: witness to the foregoing, for it is written in Ecclesiasticus
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: twenty three twenty nine all things were known to the
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: Lord God before they were created, so also after they
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: were perfected, he knoweth all things. And in Jeremiah one five,
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: before I form THEE in the womb, I knew thee.
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: It is clear from what has been said that we
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: are not compelled to say, as some have said, that
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: God knows all singulars universally, because he knows them in
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: their universal causes only, even as one who knows a
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: particular eclipse, not as this particular one, but as resulting
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: from opposition. Since it has been proved that the divine
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: knowledge extends to singulars as existing in themselves. End of
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: Chapter sixty six, read by Michael Shane, Craig, Lambert, Elsie