Whether the Knowledge of God Is Discursive?
Objection 1: It seems that the knowledge of God is discursive. For the
knowledge of God is not habitual knowledge, but actual knowledge. Now
the Philosopher says (Topic. ii): "The habit of knowledge may regard
many things at once; but actual understanding regards only one thing
at a time." Therefore as God knows many things, Himself and others, as
shown above (AA. 2, 5), it seems that He does not understand all at
once, but discourses from one to another.
Obj. 2: Further, discursive knowledge is to know the effect through
its cause. But God knows things through Himself; as an effect (is
known) through its cause. Therefore His knowledge is discursive.
Obj. 3: Further, God knows each creature more perfectly than we know
it. But we know the effects in their created causes; and thus we go
discursively from causes to things caused. Therefore it seems that
the same applies to God.
_On the contrary,_ Augustine says (De Trin. xv), "God does not see all
things in their particularity or separately, as if He saw alternately
here and there; but He sees all things together at once."
_I answer that,_ In the divine knowledge there is no discursion; the
proof of which is as follows. In our knowledge there is a twofold
discursion: one is according to succession only, as when we have
actually understood anything, we turn ourselves to understand
something else; while the other mode of discursion is according to
causality, as when through principles we arrive at the knowledge of
conclusions. The first kind of discursion cannot belong to God. For
many things, which we understand in succession if each is considered
in itself, we understand simultaneously if we see them in some one
thing; if, for instance, we understand the parts in the whole, or see
different things in a mirror. Now God sees all things in one (thing),
which is Himself. Therefore God sees all things together, and not
successively. Likewise the second mode of discursion cannot be
applied to God. First, because this second mode of discursion
presupposes the first mode; for whosoever proceeds from principles to
conclusions does not consider both at once; secondly, because to
discourse thus is to proceed from the known to the unknown. Hence it
is manifest that when the first is known, the second is still
unknown; and thus the second is known not in the first, but from the
first. Now the term of discursive reasoning is attained when the
second is seen in the first, by resolving the effects into their
causes; and then the discursion ceases. Hence as God sees His effects
in Himself as their cause, His knowledge is not discursive.
Reply Obj. 1: Although there is only one act of understanding in
itself, nevertheless many things may be understood in one (medium),
as shown above.
Reply Obj. 2: God does not know by their cause, known, as it were
previously, effects unknown; but He knows the effects in the cause;
and hence His knowledge is not discursive, as was shown above.
Reply Obj. 3: God sees the effects of created causes in the causes
themselves, much better than we can; but still not in such a manner
that the knowledge of the effects is caused in Him by the knowledge
of the created causes, as is the case with us; and hence His
knowledge is not discursive.
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