Pints With Aquinas - 20: What are the 8 attributes of God?

Starting point is 00:00:00 What's up everybody! Before we get into today's show, I want to tell you about two things. The first thing is this. I have just released a new book with MacKillop Press called Pints with Aquinas, 50 plus deep thoughts with the angelic doctor. Get it? Please, it would really help me and I know it'll help you too. It's beautifully put together, even beautifully illustrated, apart from having over 50 excerpts from the Summa Theologica. We have different parts of the book that teach you about different types of beer. It's a cool book, selling $9.95.

Starting point is 00:00:37 If you buy that book, you will help support this show, and the book will certainly bless you. Pints with Aquinas, look it up, buy it, take a photo of you with it, send it to me. I'll share it. That'll be cool. Second thing I want to tell you about is this. We now have a phone number for Pints with Aquinas, which you can call and leave a message. You can ask a question, you can leave a comment, and if it's good enough, or if I get around to it, I promise I will try and put it on an upcoming episode of Pints with Aquinas.

Starting point is 00:01:06 Here's the number. You ready? Get a pen out or something or open up your phone there. Here's the notes, I think. Click that. Notes. That's what it's called. Good. Okay, here's the number. You ready? 707-927-4687. That's 707-927-4687. Give that a call, leave a message, and you could hear yourself in an upcoming episode of Pints with Aquinas. Enjoy the show! Welcome to Pints with Aquinas, episode 20. I'm Matt Fradd. If you could sit down with St. Thomas Aquinas over a pint of beer and ask him any one question, what would it be?

Starting point is 00:01:51 Well, in today's episode, we'll ask St. Thomas the question, what are the eight attributes of God? Great to... This is the first time I've ever done that on this show. I'm pouring a pint! Okay, I hope you're having one too. Hey, welcome to Pints with Aquinas. This is the show where you and I pull up a barstool next to the angelic doctor and discuss theology and philosophy. As I say, in today's episode, we're going to chat about the eight attributes of God. And this is something that St. Thomas Aquinas gets in right after he lays out the five ways of Aquinas. Five ways of

Starting point is 00:02:46 Aquinas. Man, it's the pint. The five ways. He didn't call them the five ways of Aquinas. That would be like me calling this the podcast of Fred. Or not Fred, Port Pirie. That's where I'm from. Aquinas is where he was from. Okay. But I digress. Aquinas, after laying out five ways for the existence of God, then talks about the attributes of God. And I thought in today's episode, we'll go over them each. He lays out eight in total, and this is in the first part of the Summa Theologica. And it's not in any one particular question. Let's see here. It's first part of the Summa Theologiae, question three, and it goes down to, let's see here, like 10. Yeah, 10. So, I'm going to go over them really briefly, and I think it'll be a help. I hope it'll be a help. How'd you like last week's episode? Did you like that little cafe noise that I threw in there that I didn't even refer to? Do you like that? Do you appreciate it? I paid five bucks for that sound and it made me think

Starting point is 00:03:58 maybe I should have some kind of bar noise in the back from now on. I actually want to know what you think about that. Honestly, look, if I did this. Okay, that sounds more like some kind of Aboriginal dance. But if you do like the idea of there being some kind of noise in the background, some kind of pub ambience, let me know, and maybe we can do that next season. But I had a good time doing it, and it was fun. And I know we only went over the first way, which was the argument from motion, but we might save the other four for another day. But let's get into this discussion today. Here are the eight attributes of God. They are his simplicity, second, his perfection, third, his goodness, fourth, his infinity, fifth, his ubiquity, six, his immutability, seventh, his eternality, and finally, eighth immutability. Seventh, His eternality. And finally, eighth, His unity. Now, if you don't know what half of those words are, don't worry.

Starting point is 00:05:13 I'm going to help you out. We're going to discuss it. All right. So, let's begin here with the simplicity of God. What does that mean? Well, the simplicity of God means pretty much that God has no parts, right? He's not composed in any way. He is not, as we are, the composition of body and soul, nor is he, as we've said in previous episodes, the composition of essence and existence.

Starting point is 00:05:47 One of Thomas's arguments for why God is not a composition of body and soul is the following. He basically says, bodies by necessity move. Two, God is the unmoved mover. And three, two, God is the unmoved mover, and three, therefore God does not have a body. Now, if you think that's good, then that might just be the quickest refutation of Mormonism ever. Now, don't get me wrong. I love my Mormon friends. I think in many ways, they're doing a better job at addressing specific issues that we as Catholics ought to be addressing than we are. For example, this issue of pornography. When I meet someone who's addressing the issue of pornography in a profoundly influential and positive way, I just assume that they're Mormon. And I'm nine times out of ten right. Those guys are doing awesome work. Having said that, they are wrong to think that God

Starting point is 00:06:51 has a body and Aquinas gives that argument here and says he's not. All right. Now, nor is God a composition, as I say, of essence. Remember, that's what a thing is, and existence, that a thing is. Rather, in God, essence and existence are the same thing. Now, I know we've said that in previous episodes, and believe me, we're going to say it in future episodes as well. Some of these things aren't easy to wrap our minds around, and so repetition is the key to learning. So, we're going to keep saying some of these things. So, essence and existence are the same thing in God. Now, we see biblical evidence of this in the book of Exodus, where God responds to Moses'

Starting point is 00:07:36 Moses' request for a name. It's beautiful, isn't it? In chapter 3 of Exodus, verse 14, name. It's beautiful, isn't it? In chapter 3 of Exodus verse 14, God says, I am who I am, or I am that I am. Now, if essence and existence were not the same in God, if what he was was not the same thing as that he was, then there would exist outside of God the reason for his existence, which is absurd. Now, number two, the perfection of God. What does Aquinas mean here by the perfection of God? Well, basically that God lacks nothing, right? That he is the fullness of being. There is no lack in him. As St. Thomas says, to be the first principle for others, it is necessary to be maximally in act and as such, the most perfect being. The more a being is like God, the more perfect it is, right? That's why you and I are more perfect than zebras, and zebras are more perfect than gnats. The fact that we can even say that one being is more perfect than another implies a most perfect being.

Starting point is 00:08:59 And this, of course, is the crux of Thomas's fourth proof for the existence of God, which I recommend you read. The third attribute Thomas mentions is the goodness of God. God, who is the greatest conceivable being, is also goodness itself. Since being and goodness are, we've mentioned this before, really convertible. They are the same thing looked at through a different lens. A being insofar as it is like God is good and a being insofar as it is unlike God is not. So, given that all creation is ordered to this good, we could reasonably ask the question, if all creation is ordered to this good, we could reasonably ask the question, if all creation is ordered towards the supreme good, who is God, to what good may we say that God is ordered?

Starting point is 00:09:53 Right? Let me say that again. If all creation, you, me, slugs, flowers, is ordered toward the supreme good who is God, to what good may we say that God is ordered? Well, to none other than the supreme good who is himself. The only appropriate finality for an infinite being is infinite being. And that's what Aquinas means when he talks about the goodness of God being an attribute. Now, fourthly, the fourth attribute Aquinas mentions is the infinity of God. What does Aquinas mean here? Well, the infinity of God refers to the fact that God is in no way limited. He is subsistent being itself. D.Q. McInerney has a terrific textbook called Natural Theology. D.Q. McInerney, Ralph McInerney's son, incidentally, he was written beautifully on Aquinas. But to check that out, I would highly recommend you look that up. It's got the most boring front cover in the world. It's gray, and it literally has just like three words and all in like Times New Roman font, natural theology, D. Hugh McEnany, that's it.

Starting point is 00:11:21 And so when, this is what McEnany says about God's infinity, quote, God is without limits because he is himself the inexhaustible source of all the riches of being, end quote. Number five, the ubiquity of God. What does that mean? Well, the ubiquity of God means that God is everywhere. Now, what do we mean when we say God is everywhere? you know, quote unquote, in each and every place. You know, I remember us, my son and I driving one day and I talked about the fact that God is everywhere and omnipresent. Yeah. And Liam said, my son, if God's everywhere, is he in this car? Well, when we said, when we say God's everywhere, we, as I say, we don't mean in each and every place, right? He's not inside your glass of beer, all right? In the sense that he has extension in space. Rather what we mean when we say that God is everywhere, including this pint of beer right next to me, is this.

Starting point is 00:12:37 Whenever something is operating, there it is. So since God is operating everywhere, He is everywhere. So, that sentiment, you know, you hear people say, God is closer to you than you are to yourself. That's not just a feel-good sentiment. It's true. Wherever something is operating, there it is. What about the sixth attribute of God? This is the immutability of God. Now, this attribute put forward by Aquinas basically means or refers to God's unchangeableness. If a thing changes, think about this, okay? If a thing changes, it changes for better or for worse. Yeah? Okay. So if God was mutable, that is changeable,

Starting point is 00:13:33 his changing would make him better or worse. But if it made him better, then he wasn't perfect to begin with. And if it made him worse, then he isn't perfect now. Now, maybe you've had this question posed to you in the past. Maybe you've thought of it as well. This idea, okay, if God is immutable, right, if he doesn't change, then how can the incarnation of Christ be reconciled with that. Well, here's how. Okay, when Christ became man, he didn't become two persons, right? He remained one person, a divine person with two distinct natures, a fully divine nature and a fully human nature. And so, here's what we would say. As to Jesus's divine nature, he is unchanging, immutable. And as to his human nature, yeah, he is changeable. As God,

Starting point is 00:14:34 Jesus is unchangeable, right? His nature, infinite, right? In every way. But as to his human nature, yeah, he is a changeable individual, right? Subject to weakness, able to suffer, able to die, right? Obviously, he grew and that sort of thing. But God in his nature, the second person of the blessed Trinity, did not change. Okay, let's look at the next one here, the eternity of God. The philosopher Boethius in his fantastic book, The Consolation of Philosophy. And look, if you haven't read The Consolation of Philosophy, stop this podcast immediately and buy it from Amazon. It's not that big at all. I don't have it in front of me. I'm looking for it on my bookshelf here. It's about 180 pages, 200, maybe not even that. It's very easy to read and very beautiful, and you won't regret getting it. Aquinas quotes Boethius quite

Starting point is 00:15:41 a lot. Anyway, back to the eternity of God. In the Constellation of Philosophy, Boethius defines eternity like this. He says, quote, eternity is the everlasting, totally simultaneous and perfect possession of life. And this is the definition Aquinas adopts when speaking of God's eternity. So, God is eternal because He is immutable. Here's what McInerney writes in Natural Theology that I mentioned a moment ago. Quote, if we are right in describing time as the measure of motion, we are equally right in describing eternity as the measure of permanence. All right, last but not least, the unity of God. This is the eighth attribute mentioned by Aquinas. Unity, like goodness, like beauty, is a transcendental of being. transcendental of being. It is because God is being that He is simple that He is perfect unity.

Starting point is 00:16:59 Let me say that again. It's because God is being, all right, God is being that He is simple that He is perfect unity. So, St. Thomas says this, quote, that which is simple is undivided both with respect to act and potency. And since it is not possible to divide God in any way, matter or form, existence or essence, et cetera, then it follows that God is perfect unity. All right, so those are the eight attributes of God. Again, simplicity, perfection, goodness, infinity, ubiquity, immutability, eternity, and unity. You can learn more about that in the first part of the Summa Theologica. I hope that was help. All right, so listen, this is what I did last time when I did my 10th episode. You remember? I said I was going to take a couple of weeks off. Now, I do this because I love my wife and kids, and they are my first priority above Pines of

Starting point is 00:17:57 Aquinas, believe it or not. And so, I'm going to do the same thing after this episode. This is the 20th episode. I'm going to take a week or two off. Please stay subscribed. Don't you worry. We're going to be back with plenty more. And I've got a question for you that I want you to answer. I have had so many people write to me over email at matt at pintswithaquinas.com. They've written to me over Twitter. They've written to me over Instagram, over Facebook. And people have said to me that they really would like me to talk a little bit about logic and logical fallacies. Aquinas often speaks in syllogisms. Now, there you are. Maybe that's a word you don't even, maybe you don't even know what that word is, and maybe that's just evidence that you would like me to address these issues.

Starting point is 00:18:48 So, I was thinking for the first two or three episodes of the next lot that I do, so that would be episode, let's see, 11, 12, and 13, that I could speak about what an argument is and address common fallacies, and they would help you in your dialogue with others. You'd be able to pinpoint when someone's making a logical fallacy, you'd be able to recognize it in your own logic, and so on and so forth. Now, the only problem is, you know, Aquinas, as far as I know in the Summa, he doesn't address these sorts of things. And so, I would have to break away from my traditional style of taking something specific Aquinas says and then expanding upon it. And I'm not going to do that unless you want me to do it. So, would you just shoot me an email, send me a Twitter message, send me an Instagram message,

Starting point is 00:19:44 Would you just shoot me an email, send me a Twitter message, send me an Instagram message, whatever. Tell me if you want this or if you don't. And if people say they do, then I will do it. I think it's a great disservice to us. For most of us, at least, we didn't study logic in high school. And so I would be, I've studied logic as an undergrad and as a postgraduate, I would love to be able to kind of help y'all. By the way, I know it's weird when I say y'all, I'm Australian, but my wife is from Texas. I think that's where I got it from. I would love to be able to help y'all understand logic a little better. So if you want that, shoot me a text message, let me know. Guys, can I just say this? I mean this from the bottom of my heart. I am so appreciative to all of you who have rated Pints with Aquinas. You know,

Starting point is 00:20:30 these things aren't free. You know, it takes me time and this sort of thing, and I don't want any money, but I, you know, it is so nice of you who rate the podcast. I feel like that's kind of like the way you show appreciation for these things. It just means so much. If you haven't rated yet, consider doing it if you like the show. That would be awesome. Tell other people you know about this podcast. I've had people write to me and say that they are on Android and they want to know how they can listen to it. Well, you can tell them they can listen to it at pintswithaquinas.com.

Starting point is 00:21:04 They can play it directly from that page. Anyway, guys, going to take a couple of weeks off, one or two, no more than that. So until then, please pray for me. And I promise you, I will be praying for the listeners of Pints with Aquinas. This has been Joy. May God bless you. See you later. To carry you, to carry you. And I would give my whole life to carry you, to carry you.

Pints With Aquinas - 20: What are the 8 attributes of God?

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