Relations in God
Relations in God
One question summary
Real relations are those which are based on quantity or action. Since there is generation in God (the perfect procession of the intellect (and will)), that is a kind of action. Therefore, there are real relations in God.
Question breakdown
I'm doing my best on this one, but relations are tricky.
Are there real relations in God?
Relations can be ideal or real. This is because things can be ordered to one another in reality (one thing being related to another in terms of size and place or in terms of action) or in the mind (when connections are drawn between things which aren't really there but can be made in the mind). For example, 'animal' is a category only in the mind, yet a man can be related to 'animal' by the mind.
Yet since procession is a kind of action, and we know that there is procession in God, then there must be a real relation in God.
Is this relation the same as God's essence?
In creatures accidents are possessed by creatures, yet when this accident is applied to God (for example, wisdom) they are ascribed to him substantially due to his simplicity. Therefore the relations are the same as God's essence in reality, yet in our mind they refer to something else.
Can there be more than one relation in God?
There must be as many relations as there is real opposition. Yet there is real opposition between the Father and the Son and the Father and the Spirit. Therefore there is more than one relation in God.
Are Paternity, Filiation, Procession and Spiration the only relations in God?
Yes, because relations are only based on quantity or action, and there are only two actions in God. These are the processions of the intellect and the will, or the Word and Love. Each of these processions causes two opposite relations, which are:
- Paternity is the procession of the Word.
- Filiation is the Word proceeding.
- Procession is the procession of Love.
- Spiration is Love proceeding.
Read the entire article here. I recommend you do, as I am sure I have butchered it!