Blogging Aquinas

I’ve begun a project of blogging my way through Thomas Aquinas’ Compendium Theologiae chapter by chapter, with excursions to explain some of the philosophical principles he uses. The complete series of posts is as follows, and should be read in this order:

• A Compendium of Simplicity—Wait, What? A brief introduction to Thomas’ writings, with special reference to the Compendium Theologiae.
• The Peril of First Principles: Why I find that the philosophies of Aristotle and Thomas are still relevant today.
• CT 1, Thomas’ Plan of Attack: Thomas explains what he’s trying to do in the Compendium Theologiae, and reflects on Faith, Hope, and Charity.
• CT 2, Thomas Takes On Faith: of which the two primary parts are the Unity of God, and the Incarnation.
• CT 3.1, The Existence of God: in which we begin to discuss one of Thomas’ proofs for the existence of God, get hung up on his use of obsolete science in his illustrations, and learn the difference between illustrations and proofs.
• CT 3.2, The Heavenly Bodies: in which we spend a little time looking at Aristotle’s notions on astronomy and see that while they are incorrect they are not neither mystical woo-woo nor entirely absurd.
• CT 3.3, Bound in Causal Chains: in which we look at the nature of causal chains, when they can be infinite and when they can’t.
• CT 3.4, The End of the Causal Chain: in which we find God at the end of the causal chain.
• It’s Worse Than That, It’s Physics, Jim: in which we make a digression to discuss act and potency, two fundamental concepts of Aristotelian and Thomist philosophy.
• CT 4.1, The Immobility of God: in which we discuss how God can be unmoved but still active.
• CT 4.2, Another Principle of Change: in which we discuss how things are moved only by things that aren’t moved in the same way.
• CT 5, The Eternity of God: in which Thomas shows that God is eternal, which is different than living forever.
• CT 6, Necessity of God’s Existence: in which Thomas shows that God not only exists, but exists necessarily.
• CT 7, The Everlasting Existence of God: in which Thomas shows that “eternal” and “everlasting” aren’t quite the same thing.
• CT 8, Absence of Succession in God: in which Thomas shows that divinity isn’t one thing after another.
• CT 9, Simplicity of God: in which Thomas shows that God has no parts.
• CT 10.1, Identity of God with His Essence: In which we talk about what it means to have an essence.
• CT 10.2, Thomist Taxonomy: In which we talk about what it means to be a genus or species (or both at the same time).
• CT 10.3, Essence is No Accident: In which we explain how God simply is His essence, for in Him there are no accidents.
• CT 11, Identity of Essence and Existence in God: In which Thomas achieves his goal of showing that God is being itself, ipsum esse, and the ground of all existence.
• CT 12, God Not Contained Under Any Genus: In which Thomas begins to show that existence is something added to the conventional metaphysical categories of genus and species, and not properly part of them.
• CT 13, God Not A Genus: In which Thomas continues to show that the conventional categories don’t apply to God.
• CT 14, God Not A Species Predicated Of Individuals: In which Thomas concludes his argument that the conventional categories don’t apply to God.
• CT 15, The Unicity of God: In which Thomas concludes that God is one; and anything that is many is not God.
• CT 16, God Not A Body: In which Thomas concludes that God is immaterial, without matter.
• CT 17, God Neither the Form of a Body nor a Force in a Body: In which Thomas shows that God is not a transient aspect of some body.
• CT 18, The Infinity of God According to Essence: In which Thomas shows that God is infinite…and qualifies just what he means by that.
• CT 19, Infinite Power of God: In which Thomas distinguishes between the infinity of God and the purely quantitative infinity of matter.
• CT 20, Absence of Imperfection in God’s Infinity: In which Thomas explains that God is always precisely what He infinitely is.
• CT 21, Eminent Existence in God of All Perfections Found in Creatures: In which Thomas explains that all good things reflect God’s glory.
• CT 22, Unity of All Perfections in God: God encompasses many perfections, yet remains simply One.
• CT 23, Absence of Accidents in God: In which Thomas explains that God isn’t a composite of substance and accident.
• CT 24, God’s Simplicity Not Contradicted by the Multitude of Names Applied to Him: In which Thomas explains that the many names of God are due to our weakness and finitude, and do not affect His divine simplicity.
• CT 25, The Names of God Not Synonymous: In which Thomas explains that God is one but the words we use to describe really do have different meanings even though they are describing one thing.
• CT 26, Impossibility of Defining God: In which Thomas explains to us that God cannot be defined, and precisely what that means.
• CT 27, Analogy of Terms Predicated of God and of Other Beings: In which Thomas explains how two distinct but related meanings can usefully be packed up into a single term by means of analogy, and that it is this that allows our minds to ascend to God (insofar as that’s possible).
• CT 28, The Intelligence of God: in which Thomas shows that intellect is a natural faculty of immaterial beings, and most eminently of God.
• CT 29, God’s Intelligence not Potential or Habitual but Actual: in which Thomas shows that God simply knows, and does not have to reason from truth to truth as we do. See also Can God Play Chess?
• CT 30, God’s Essence the Only Species in His Understanding: in which Thomas shows that God knows Himself first of all.
• CT 31, Identity Between God and His Intelligence: In which Thomas shows that God simply is Knowing, just as He simply is Being.
• CT 32, The Volition of God: In which Thomas shows that God wills what He knows to be good.
• CT 33, Identify of God’s Will with His Intellect: In which Thomas shows that God’s perfect will follows from and is identical with His perfect knowledge.
• CT 34, Identity Between God’s Will and His Willing: In which Thomas shows that God’s ability to will and His act of willing are one and the same.
• CT 35, The Foregoing Truths Embraced in One Article of Faith: In which Thomas sums up what came before.
• CT 36, Philosophical Character of this Doctrine: In which Thomas points out that it’s time to move from natural to revealed truths.
• CT 37, The Word in God: In which Thomas points out that the Word is not only with God, but the Word is God.
• CT 38, The Word as Conception: In which Thomas relates conception of thought to conception of offspring.
• CT 39, Relationship of the Word to the Father: In which Thomas clarifies that the Word is the concept of the Father within.
• CT 40, Generation in God: The Word is the Son, as John the Evangelist tells us.
• CT 41, The Son Equal to the Father in Existence and Essence: The Word was God.
• CT 42, This Teaching in Catholic Faith: Biological and intellection conception analogies.
• CT 43, The Divine Word Not Distinct from the Father in Time, Species, or Nature:
  Part I, Time, in which Thomas shows that the Word is born of the Father before all ages; Part II, Species, in which Thomas shows that the Word is God of God, Light of Light, True God of True God; and Part III, Nature, in which Thomas shows that the Word is begotten, not made.
• CT 44, Conclusion from the Foregoing: in which Thomas sums up the previous six or so chapters.
• CT 45, God in Himself as Beloved in Lover: We love the good we know, and God knows the Good perfectly.
• CT 46, Love in God as Spirit: The Spirit is the Love of the Father for the Son.
• CT 47, Holiness of the Spirit in God: Thomas reflects on holiness, and what it means for the Spirit to be Holy.

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