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August 01, 2005
Ch.VII. Q.41. Formulation of the Idea of God
WE FORMULATE our idea of God (a) by way of negation, denying all external limitation; (b)by way of eminence, ascribing to Him the highest degree of His every attribute; (c) by way of causality, inferring the nature of His attributes from the nature of His works.1 This last way does not mean that God must resemble His creatures, but that He must be capable of creating everything in the universe. Thus an impersonal being could not create a world containing persons; and a finite being could not be prior in causation to all else.
2. Our ideas of God are necessarily anthropomorphic, because human. Moreover man was made in the image of God and after His likeness. If man is like God in any respect, in that respect God is like man. There is a true anthropomorphism. False anthropomorphism arises from forgetting that man is not a complete image of God, but inferior to Him. The higher cannot be adequately interpreted by means of the lower, but the lower is properly interpreted by the higher.2
3. Holy Scripture uses much language about God which is metaphorical.3 False anthropomorphism interprets such language literally, and attributes body, parts, and passions to God. To do so is to violate the rule of Biblical interpretation that one passage should not be so interpreted as to conflict with another.4
1 Hodge, Syst. Theol., Vol. I., p. 339; St. Thos. in Gratry, Introduction, p. 170; Weidner, Theologia, p. 32.
2 Moore, Science and the Faith, pp. 50-53; Hodge, Outlines, pp. 130-133; Forbes, Creed, pp. 41-42; Lacey, Elem. of Doctrine, pp. 91-92; Illingworth, Personality, pp. 219-222; Iverach, Theism, pp. 268 et seq.; Martineau, Religion, Vol. I., pp. 313-318; Davis, Elem. of Ethics, p. 200 and footnote. Cf. Q. xxii. 8.
3 E.g., Gen. vi. 6, 7; Exod. xxxiii. 11, 20; Deut. xxix. 20; II. Sam. xxii. 9, 16; II. Chron. xvi. 9; Psa. xviii. 9; xcv. 10; Isa. lii. 10; Jerem. xv. 6.
4 Isa. lv. 8, 9; XXXIX. Articles, xx.; Pearson, De Deo, iv., p. 37.
Posted by Debra Bullock at August 1, 2005 09:10 PM
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