Hello everyone and welcome back to Deeper Waters where we are diving into the ocean of truth. Last night, we took a little sidetrip off of the path to answer an objection. I won’t be repeating that tonight because I have no desire to play biblical ping-pong back and forth. Now it could be fun elsewhere, but we’ll never finish the study. Could I answer the post later? Maybe, but this blogger is a busy blogger. We’re going to wrap up this topic tonight however and then move on to the eternality of God. Our guide in the doctrine of God, in which we’re studying immutability now, has been the Summa Theologica of Thomas Aquinas, which can be read at newadvent.org. Before looking at the topic tonight, I wish to present my usual prayer requests. First, my Christlikeness as I am constantly aware of the need I have to be a better man. Second, I ask for prayer for my financial situation. Finally, I ask for prayer for a related area of my life. Let’s now get to the question.
God is immutable, but is he the only one? What about the angels? They do not have matter at all and so they do not change materially. What about the blessed who are in Heaven? Will they change? What about the forms themselves? Is goodness something that is variable? Is it subject to change?
Aquinas, of course, argues that God alone is immutable. Only he is the one who is simple and infinite and perfect after all. Still, for Aquinas, it’s not enough to just assert it and for we Christians, it should mean more than just an assertion on our part as well. We need to know why it is we believe what we believe, which is a way we could learn from our Christan forebearers.
One sure way things are mutable for Aquinas is that they do not have their own being. This would even apply to the angels. While the angels experience time in a different way than we do, there was a time when the angels were not. Looking further at the angels, although they do not differ by body, they can still fill place. This was the point in asking even how many angels can dance on the head of a pin. No one in the medieval period I know of asked that question, but it is really a most important question as it gets to the nature of angels. Can several angels dance on the head of a pin? If so, why? If not, why? That’s another topic however.
What about the blessed? Well first off, there will be a massive change in the blessed when they receive their bodies again. However, they too can change location. They will not change in their ontology and righteousness in Heaven, but the accidents that comprise them can change.
As for the forms, the forms do not change in their nature in that they are not the subjects of change, but they change with regards to their subjects which are changable. They can be in something at one time and not be in it at another time. This cannot be said of God who is in all places at all times equally and fully.
We shall start discussing the eternality of God tomorrow.
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