Sunday, July 30, 2006

Q32 A3: Whether there are five notions?

Yes. There are five notions in God ("innascibility," "paternity," "filiation," "common spiration" and "procession") because a notion is the proper idea whereby we know a divine Person.

The divine persons are multiplied by reason of their origin: and origin includes the idea of someone from whom another comes, and of someone that comes from another, and by these two modes a person can be known.

Therefore the Person of the Father cannot be known by the fact that He is from another; but by the fact that He is from no one; and thus the notion that belongs to Him is called "innascibility" (innascibilitas).

As the source of another, He can be known in two ways, because as the Son is from Him, the Father is known by the notion of "paternity" (paternitas); and as the Holy Ghost is from Him, He is known by the notion of "common spiration" (communis spiratio).

The Son can be known as begotten by another, and thus He is known by "filiation" (filiatio); and also by another person proceeding from Him, the Holy Ghost, and thus He is known in the same way as the Father is known, by "common spiration."

The Holy Ghost can be known by the fact that He is from another, or from others; thus He is known by "procession" (processio); but not by the fact that another is from Him, as no divine person proceeds from Him.

Therefore, there are Five notions in God: "innascibility," "paternity," "filiation," "common spiration" and "procession." Of these only four are relations (Q28 A4), for "innascibility" is not a relation, except by reduction, as will appear later (Q33, A4, ad 3).

Four only are properties. For "common spiration" is not a property; because it belongs to two persons.

Three are personal notions--i.e. constituting persons, "paternity," "filiation," and "procession."

"Common spiration" and "innascibility" are called notions of Persons, but not personal notions (dicuntur notiones personarum non autem personales), as we shall explain further on (Q40, A1, ad 1).

The divine essence is signified as a reality; and likewise the persons are signified as realities; whereas the notions are signified as ideas notifying the persons. Therefore, although God is one by unity of essence, and trine by trinity of persons, nevertheless He is not quinary by the five notions.