Term
| What is the foundation for the concept of procession? |
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Definition
| "Relation is founded on the origin of the person, that is in an action giving rise to a procession." (Emery p. 51) |
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Term
| Does procession signify movement from cause to effect? |
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Definition
| No - the Father did not cause the Son |
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Term
| Why is procession NOT based on the idea of outward movement (local movement)? |
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Definition
| God's procession is an interior procession since the agent of this action is the intellect. It is to be understood as an intelligible emmanation. |
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Term
| Describe the paradigm of procession. |
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Definition
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Term
| How does the Divine Word proceed from the Father? |
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Definition
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Term
| When we say there is generation in the Trinity, what do we mean by that? |
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Definition
| Generation in the Trinity means the procession of the Word in God, and the Word Himself proceeding is the Son. |
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Term
| The objector says that generation involves change. How does St. Thomas answer? |
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Definition
| ST says that this objector's understanding of change is based on the sense of generation signifying the change from non-existence to existence. However, there is another send of generation, which is the principle upon which God's procession and generation is founded. |
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Term
| Another objector says that generated existence necessary implies a cause and effect relationship. Why is this NOT the case with the Trinity? |
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Definition
| He (the Son) proceeds by way of intelligibly action by way of similitude i.e. the concept of the intellect is a likeness of the object conceived; He exists in the same nature because in God the act of understanding and His existence are the same. Further, He Who proceeds (the Son) receives divine existence from another (the Father), but He still has the divine nature. Also, in God is both the Word intelligibly proceeding and the principle of the Word. |
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Term
| In what sense is generation proper to all living things? |
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Definition
| In the sense that it signifies the origin of a living being from a conjoined living principle. |
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Term
| What does it mean to proceed by way of similitude? |
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Definition
| He (the Son) proceeds by way of intelligible action by way of similitude ie the concept of the intellect is a likeness of the object conceived; He exists in the same nature because in God the act of understanding and His existence are the same. Similitude denotes common characteristics in terms of quality and not quantity. |
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Term
| What exactly is the procession of generation? |
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Definition
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Term
| How does the Son proceed from the Father (in precise terms)? |
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Definition
| The divine intelligence is the substance of God, the One who understands. Therefore, the Word proceeds as subsisting in the same nature; this means that He is properly called begotten and Son. |
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Term
| What is the difference between the way a word proceeds from our (human) intellect and the way the Word proceeds in the divine intellect? |
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Definition
| In humans, the act of human understanding is not the substance itself of the intellect; whereas in God, the act of understanding and His existence are the same. |
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Term
| From where does St. Thomas get these ideas and these words (proceeding)? |
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Definition
| From scripture and the Eastern Greek fathers; St Thomas quotes from St. John's gospel, "From God I proceeded" in which Jesus is referring to Himself. He also quotes from St. Athanius, "The Holy Ghost is from the Father and the Son, not made or begotten but proceeding." |
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Term
| What is the difference between the procession of the word and the procession of love? |
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Definition
| The procession of the word is derived from the act of intelligence within God, whereas the procession of love is derived from the act of His will. (Sr Helenka: The procession of the word is generation, whereas the procession of love is spiration. They occur in different faculties.) |
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Term
| On what two faculties are the two processions based? |
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Definition
| Generation is based on the intellect, and spiration is based on the will. |
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Term
| What is the result of an intelligible act? |
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Definition
| The result of an intelligible act is the act of understanding. |
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Term
| Why do we not say that the Son derives existence from the Father? |
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Definition
| We do not say that the Son derives existence from the Father because this implies a causal relationship (that the Father had to exist before the Son in order that the Son exist). Rather, we say that the Son proceeds from the Father because this way the Father and the Son could both have existed eternally. |
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Term
| Who is responsible for the above heresy? |
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Definition
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Term
| What is the two-fold meaning of generation? |
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Definition
| Generation can either be: 1) the change from non-existence (potentiality) to existence (actuality). 2) The signification of the origin of a living being from a conjoined living principle (in this sense it is proper and belongs to all living beings). |
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Term
| Why does procession in God not result in a separate substance? |
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Definition
| Procession in God does not result in a separate substance because it is a movement that remains in the mover, ie, ad intra. |
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Term
| What is the heresy of Sabellius? |
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Definition
| Sabellius says that the Father and Son and Holy Spirit are just different modes of the same person, that there is no real distinction between them. |
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Term
| In what two ways is the divine nature communicated within the Trinity? |
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Definition
| The divine nature is communicated by generation and spiration. |
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Term
| Why are there only two procession in God, and not an infinitude of processions? |
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Definition
| There are only two processions in God because the only immanent actions are understanding, love, and sensing. Sense is an immanent action but it depends on external factors and does not belong strictly to the intellectual nature. Thus the only really immanent actions are understanding (an act of the intellect) and a love (an act of the will). These are analogous to the two procession in God. |
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Term
| Why is there a distinction of order within the two processions? |
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Definition
| There is a distinction of order within the two processions because the intellect and will concur in the begetting of the Son and breathing forth of the Spirit; thus, it is the order, and not the intellect and will, which enables us to disclose Trinitarian faith. We know that the Father is unbegotten, the Son is begotten by the Father, and the Holy Spirit spirates from both the the Father and the Son. This order, or the relations of origin of the Persons, is the only way our minds can really differentiate between the Persons. |
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Term
| Describe the difference between the movement of the intellect and the movement of the will. |
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Definition
| The intellect is made to be in act by the thing known, which is in the intellect through its likeness, but the will is in act because it has an inclination towards the thing which is willed. |
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Term
| How is one procession distinguished from the other? |
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Definition
| The procession of the intellect is by the mode of the word, which is a similitude to the thing known that exists in the intellect but the procession of the will is by the mode of love, which dynamically draws one out of oneself and toward the beloved. |
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Term
| How does likeness (similitude) belong to the word and to love? |
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Definition
| Likeness belongs to the word in that the word produces an image of the thing spoken/thought of in our mind. For example if I say or think the word 'cat,' the likeness or concept of a cat exists in my mind On the other hand, likeness belongs to love in that the lover is drawn toward the beloved, wants to be united with him, becomes one with him. In this way, likeness through love is a much more dynamic concept than likeness through the word. |
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Term
| In creatures, what is the only principle of communication of nature? |
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Definition
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Term
| In God, what is the procession of love called? |
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Definition
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Term
| Why is there not a third procession of power? |
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Definition
| Divine processions can only be derived from the actions which remain within the agent -> only intellect and will. Power = principle by which one thing acts on another. This is an external action, from which comes the procession of creatures (not a procession of a divine person) |
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Term
| Why is there not a third procession of goodness? |
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Definition
| Goodness belongs to the essence, not the operation (unless considered the object of the will -- then involved with procession of HS). No action involved -> no procession. Same for other attributes of God. Sensation is not procession - does not remain within agent (perfected by the action of sensible object on sense). |
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