Summa contra Gentiles1.36 Chapter XXXVI. How our intellect forms a proposition about God

san Tommaso d'Aquino († 1274) · Summa contra Gentiles (Liber de veritate catholicae fidei contra errores infidelium) · c. 1259-1265

Chapter XXXVI. How our intellect forms a proposition about God

From this it is moreover clear that our intellect does not vainly form propositions about a simple God by composition and division, although God is altogether simple.

For although our intellect arrives at the knowledge of God by various conceptions, as stated above, it understands that what corresponds to them all is absolutely one: because our intellect does not ascribe its mode of understanding to the things which it understands, even as neither does it ascribe immateriality to a stone, although it knows it immaterially. Consequently it enunciates the unity of the thing by a verbal composition implying identity, when it says: God is good or is goodness: so that if there be any diversity in the composition it is referred to the understanding, and unity to the thing understood. Similarly sometimes our intellect forms a proposition about God with an implication of diversity by inserting a preposition, as when we say: Goodness is in God: because here we imply both a certain diversity that is befitting the understanding, and a certain unity which must be referred to the thing.

the English Dominican Fathers (Laurence Shapcote, O.P.) (1864–1947), London: Burns Oates & Washbourne: First Book 1924, Second Book 1923, Third Book 1928 (Fourth Book, 1929, not included). Fonte del testo digitale: OCR of Internet Archive scans, corrected: Book I summacontragenti01thomuoft; Book II chapter by chapter from the cleaner of summacontragenti02thomuoft and summacontragenti0002unse; Book III part I summacontragenti0000lond; Book III part II summacontragenti0000unse_l9e4. Public domain in the US and Canada: published in London 1923-1928 (before 1931); translator Laurence Shapcote died 1947. The Latin is not included.

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