The Medieval Nun - St. Thomas Aquinas Made Simple

The Medieval Nun

St. Thomas Aquinas Made Simple

The Medieval Nun
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Round, The

ourth

Mediator: Welcome to the fourth round of the this debate. This round will focus on God’s infiniteness.
This round will have two questions.

I put before you the question: is God infinite?

Popular Party: No, God is not infinite. Firstly, according to Aristotle, all things infinite are imperfect
because they have parts and matter. Since God is perfect, He must not be infinite.

Secondly, Aristotle also says that “finite” and infinite” are quantities, and quantities measure something
physical. Since God is not quantifiable or physical, he cannot be finite.

Thirdly, something which is here, but not there, is finite in space (it has only one point of being). If
something is this, and not something else, it is finite in substance. God is God; God is not a piece of wood or
a stone. Therefore God is not infinite in substance; he is finite.

Aquinas: Firstly, the ancient philosophers had a different concept of infiniteness than we have today. The
ancients thought that all matter flower from one spot of infinite matter. That is why they thought that infinity
was something physical, something that involved matter. But all matter is finite, since it is limited by its
physical form. And that limitation makes it imperfect. But before matter takes a form, it is perfect and
infinite. Since God has no form, He must be perfect. He must also be infinite, since all things come from
Him. He is the formless and infinite from which all finite forms flow.

Secondly, quantities measure matter alone. You may have five goats, but you may not have five units of
love. Aristotle did not recognize an infinite non-being; he speaks only of infinite matter. Since God is not
matter, He cannot be quantifiable under Aristotle’s supposition, and therefore is infinite.

Thirdly, God is infinite precisely because He has no physical form. God would not be God if he were a rock
or a piece of wood.

End of Question One.

Question Two.

Mediator: I put before you the question: is anything other than God infinite?

Popular Party: Yes, something other than God may be infinite. Firstly, a being’s power is proportionate to
its form. Since it has been established that God is infinite, then His power must also be infinite. So, it is
within God’s power to created something else which is infinite.

Secondly, God is the original source of intellect. Being universal, but also being intelligent, He can
comprehend the singular. Being infinitely powerful, He can extend Himself into an infinitude of singulars.
Therefore, each intellectual thing is infinite because it comes from God.

Thirdly, primary matter—according to Aristotle, that from which all other matter flows—is infinite and,
according to the previous discourse, has been proven to be separate from God. Therefore something other
than God is infinite.

Aquinas: Actually, according to Aristotle, nothing which comes from something else may be infinite because
it has a beginning, and therefore does not go back infinitely through time. God is the only thing which does
not have a creator; everything else springs from Him. Therefore nothing but God may be infinite. Some
things may be infinite in one aspect—such as wood may have an infinite number of shapes—but nothing but
God is infinite in all aspects. Other things may be relatively infinite, but only God is absolutely infinite.

Firstly, God cannot create contradictions. If God created something which was absolutely infinite, He would
be creating Himself. And by His very nature, God has no creator and He also has no equal.

Secondly, intellect is not matter, therefore it can exist in an infinite number of singulars, without those
physical singulars themselves becoming infinite. Just because something spring from God does not mean that
it is also infinite (relatively or absolutely).

Thirdly, primary matter has no form, only the ability to assume any form. But, even if all matter comes from
it, it is still not absolutely infinite because only matter may come from it. It doesn’t produce abstracts, such
as love or souls. Therefore it cannot produce absolutely; only God can produce anything infinitely.

Question Two, complete. End of Round Four