Hello everyone and welcome back to Deeper Waters. First off, I want everyone to know there might not be a new post for the next few days. I’m moving again and I’m not sure when I’ll have internet access. If you come here for awhile and there’s no new entry, don’t panic! I assure you I want to get connected back to the internet world as soon as I can. Now our topic tonight will be still the infinity of God. Our guide is the Summa Theologica of Thomas Aquinas that can be read at newadvent.org. First, I ask for prayers however in my Christlikeness. Moving does put me under some stress and probably really tries my character as well. Second, I ask for prayers for my finances. Third, I ask for prayers for the related area in my life.
Tonight’s question is if anything can be infinite besides God. One objection to look at is that God has infinite power and the power determines the effect. If the cause is infinite, then ought not the effect be capable of being infinite? If there cannot be another infinite thing, maybe it’s because God’s power isn’t infinite?
To begin with, let’s remember that infinite is simply a way of saying not finite. Now Aquinas does believe in a relative infinity. For instance, take a piece of wood. This piece of wood could be made into a limitless number of objects. However, by virtue of it being wood and of it being material, it can only have one form at a time. The wood will not be both a bed and a table. Now you could use a bed as a table or vice-versa or maybe find some mix, but I’m using a bed as a bed properly understood and the same for a table.
God is uniquely infinite because of, and we should all know by now, his simplicity. His being is not received into anything else and it is subsisting being alone. Because of that, it cannot be contained by any form. As was said earlier, form can limit matter and vice-versa. There is a possible difference with angels as they could be relatively infinite, however, they are not their own being and have been determined to have the form that they have.
This is the problem with the objection as well. A thing cannot be its own being. It is a combination of being + existence and thus is in some way limited. If it is limited, it cannot be infinite. One important point to note here is that Aquinas says that God cannot do something contradictory, which would be making here something that is finite and infinite both. In fact, this is the answer Aquinas would give to the question of “Can God create a rock so big he can’t lift it?” There is nothing new under the sun.
God alone is infinite and he is infinite in all that he is. Of course, we haven’t got to all that he is yet, but as we go further through this study, we will come to appreciate why Aquinas goes through in the order that he does.
We shall continue this next time.
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