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August 02, 2005
Ch.VII. Q.48. Divine Immensity
THE Immensity of God is that Divine attribute of which spatial relations are the finite shadow; or, Divine infinity as contemplated from the point of view of space. 1 In the English verion of the Athanasian Creed the word "incomprehensible" signifies this attribute.
2. By virtue of His immensity, God is essentially present in all substances2 but is not comprehended in created things. He is thus both immanent and transcendent.3 St. Gregory4 says, "Deus est intra omnia, non inclusus; extra omnia, non exclusus; supra omnia, non elatus." To which may be added, "infra omnia, non depressus." Bonaventura says, "His centre is everywhere, His circumference nowhere."5
3. Space is a relation of created substances which came into existence with them. The relations between God and space are therefore voluntary to Him, springing from His act of creation. Space is not infinite, as many think, for it is not a thing in itself. It is what it is only as a relation of finite substances. Moreover the infinite is not quantitative. It transcends all such measures. There is but one Infinite—God. There is indeed no "beyond" space, but that is because beyond is a spatial relation.6
1 Athanasian Creed, v. 9; Jackson, Works, Vol. V., pp. 42-59; Schouppe, Elementa, Tr. V., §§118-121; Forbes, Creed, pp. 50-51; Pearson, De Deo, VIII., pp. 78-86; Suarez, Summa, Tr., I. lib. ii., ch. 2; St. Anselm, Proslogium, ch. xiii. Cf. Psa. cxxxix. 7-10; Jerem. xxiii. 23-24.
2 Cf. Q. lii. 4-6.
3 Cf. Deut. iv. 39, with I. Kings viii. 27.
4 In Psa. cxxxix.
5 Moore, Science and the Faith, p. xliii.; Malebranche, cited in Bowen, Modern Philos., pp. 83, 84.
6 Calderwood, Philos. of Infin., ch. vi., esp. pp. 131-135; Jackson.
Posted by Debra Bullock at August 2, 2005 10:32 PM
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