The Simplicity Of God

God is simple. It seems almost blasphemous to write those words, so ingrained is the belief that simplicity often connotes a negative term. A thing is considered simple if it is unsophisticated. This interpretation is not, however, what theology means, and the term Divine simplicity is a crucial concept in the Catholic understanding of God.

In this paper, I will endeavor to explain what Divine simplicity means, its significance in understanding God, and some of the difficulties associated with Divine simplicity. Lastly, I will clarify Divine simplicity by placing it within the biblical tradition.

Divine Simplicity 

Taken individually, the terms Divine and simplicity seem to suggest that God is “plain” or easy to understand. Of course, this is NOT what Catholic theology means by Divine simplicity. 

Within Catholic theology, Divine simplicity refers to the absence of any composition or divisibility in God. As such, both the Fourth Lateran and First Vatican Councils addressed Divine simplicity by affirming that God is an “absolutely simple substance or nature” (Denzinger 800). 

Initially, the concept of Divine simplicity may seem rather straightforward and even obvious. There are several reasons why this is not the case. 

First, simplicity is different from how substances (a substance is a thing capable of independent existence) are often understood and categorized. For example, philosophical anthropology may define a thing according to its genus and specific difference. A human being (species) is an animal (genus) that is rational (specific difference). Theology would define that same human being as a composite of a mortal body and an immortal soul. 

The second reason why Divine simplicity is not that simple lies in the revelation that God is a Trinity of Persons. In accordance with the words of Christ, Catholicism asserts that God is a Trinity of Persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. This understanding of God as being composed of three persons seems to stand in direct contradiction with the teaching of Divine simplicity. If simplicity entails unity, how can Catholicism claim that God is three Persons?

In order to explain how Catholicism can proclaim the unity of God while also maintaining the belief in a trinitarian God requires that we differentiate essence from existence. 

Essence is the very nature or whatness of a thing. The essence of God is divinity. In contrast, the essence of human beings is their human nature. The existence of a thing is how it manifests itself. God manifests Himself in the three persons of the Holy Trinity.

The three persons are distinct yet one in “substance, essence or nature” (Fourth Lateran Council as quoted in the Catechism of the Catholic Church). They are the Father, the Son (Jesus Christ), and the Holy Spirit. Thus, “Tri” means three, and “Unity” means one, Tri+Unity = Trinity. It acknowledges what the Bible reveals to us about God, that God is three “Persons” who have the same essence of deity. The three Persons of the Trinity are unified in their essence.

So, what exactly is Divine simplicity? It is the assertion that there is no division of parts within God. Divine simplicity indicates the absence of any composition or divisibility. An example of this claim is that in God, there is no distinction between His essence and His existence. Nor is God a body. 

A consequence of this claim is that God is a pure spirit. This is so because a body is composed of physical matter, and physical matter is composed of parts. Whatever is composed of parts is corruptible and subject to death (or destruction). Whatever is subject to corruption and death must be caused by another since corruptibility and death are contrary to that which is eternal. 

However, if God is the eternal and uncaused cause of creation (and that is a definition of God), then God cannot be caused by another (for that would be self-refuting). That which is not caused by another exists necessarily, and that which exists necessarily cannot be subject to corruption and death. So if that which is composed of parts is subject to corruption and death, and God cannot be subject to corruption and death, God cannot be composed of parts. Finally, whatever exists that is not composed of parts is not composed of matter. Whatever exists that is not composed of matter is pure spirit. Thus, God must be pure spirit and indivisible.

The Bible And Divine Simplicity

The belief that God is both simple and unified in His essence would have been foreign to the people of the ancient world. Indeed, the God who reveals Himself in the Old Testament appears in stark contrast to what the ancient world understood about God. Or, more precisely, gods. The ancient world was, for the most part, pantheistic, and the gods were explanations for the forces of nature. Evidence that the Pagan gods lacked unity of essence is ubiquitous in mythology. Cronus and the titans rebelled against their parents, and Zeus and the Olympians challenged and overthrew the titans. Yet, all were considered gods.

The fact that the God of the Bible is radically different from the pagan gods is manifested throughout the Old Testament. Taken collectively, the First Commandment (I am the Lord thy God; thou shalt not have strange gods before Me) and the words spoken to Moses (I Am that I Am) make this clear.

We also see a glimpse of the Divine simplicity in the trinitarian language of the New Testament. Two examples should suffice to show the Divine simplicity within the Holy Trinity. In John’s Gospel, Jesus unequivocally states, “I and the Father are one.” (John 10:30). The use of the pronoun “I” and the noun “Father” are indicative of two separate persons. Yet Jesus says that they are one. One what, if not in essence?

The second example of Divine simplicity within the trinitarian framework occurs in John 14:9, “Anyone who has seen me [Jesus] has seen the Father.” This verse, too, shows the unity and simplicity of God.

Conclusion

Any efforts to inquire into the nature of God are met with immense difficulties. It is, even in principle, impossible for finite human beings to comprehend that which is infinite.

Nevertheless, in this paper, I have sought to explain Divine simplicity. Far from denoting unsophistication, Divine simplicity is a theological term used to convey the belief in the unity of God. This unity or simplicity of God refers to the claim that within God, there is no composition of parts (as in a body), nor is there any distinction between God’s essence (what God is) and His existence (that God is) as there is in created beings.