Alcala 1958

know led geby ne ga tio n, 37 as, for examp le, wh en we know tha t the y are imm ate ria l. An d the mo re neg ati on s we kno w abo ut them, the less con fus ed is our knowled ge of the m; for thr ough sub sequen tnegatio ns the firs t ne ga tio nis con trac ted an d deter­ mi ned,as a remote genus is con tra ctedand det erm inedby dif feren ces .Fur thermor e,in pla ce of ac cid en tswe ha ve their rela tion ­ sh ips to sen sib lesub stance s,eith er acco rd­ in g to the rel ati on of caus e to eff ec t, or a rela tion of em ine nc e. Conse que ntly , it can be said that in div ine sci en ce"wha t we know God is not " takes the pla ce of a kno wle dgeof what He is ; for just as one thi ng can be dis tin gu ish ed from oth ers by wh at it is, so als o it can be dis tin gu ish edby what it is no t. 38 In con clu sio n,it ma y be use ful to con­ sid er an ex ample drawn from the art s. All the cra ftsm en wor king on a house have the ir pro per ends, as for examp le,the brick ­ layer to ma ke the wa lls. Ye t the y have a commo n ult imate en d, wh ich is the build ­ ing of the ho us e. To thi s end the y are dir ected by the arc hit ect . Th ere is a par alle l in the spe cul ati ve or de r: each sc ien cehas its prop er en d, yet all the sc ience sult imate ly are ord ere d to the end of me tap hysic s. Th is end is not me rel y the con sid era tionof the sub ject of me tap hys ics , be ing in gen era l, but prin­ cip ally a stu dy of the cau ses of its sub jec t, the separa tedsub sta nc es. 39 Thus it is that eve n all nat ura lknow led geha s for its ulti­ ma te end the kn owled geof God . ledge tion, 37 le, t rial. tions , f sed le ge ; g t n ns tion ted - , cted ined ces. F t ore, e ts i - i le t nces, - tio e t, ti i nce. Consequently, it can be said that in i e ce t know God is not" t e l dge ; e thing guished from oth tinguished by what t. In conclusion, it may be useful to con- ple drawn from the arts. All the craft men working on a house have le, - l l . common ultimate end, which is the build- a e. itect. l l culative r : ce , e sciences ately d t hysics. is ly eration j hy ic , l, but - ll s s j t, ted t nce . 39 l le ge h - l ge . n

sion of the eff ect from its caus e— inthi s way we know God 's rela tion shi p to crea ­ ture s, vi z., that He is the cau se of all th ing s; (2 ) ina smuchas we know that ev er yage nt produc es som eth ing lik e to itsel f in some wa y, so tha t there must be a cer tain con­ sequen tsim ilit udeof the eff ec tto its ca us e; and (3 ) by see ing the fail ure on the part of the eff ec t to atta in to an adequa telike ness of its cause. For God dif fer s fromcrea tures in tha t He is in no wa y par t of them and He sup erse desthem al l. 34 Th us it is that our nat ura l knowled geof God and the oth er separa ted sub sta nces is negativ e as to wha t the y arein thems elv es. 35 For our kno wle dge of suc h be ings can not be thr ough the con cep t of an y genus, bec ause God is in no genu s; and the oth er sep ara ted sub stan ces,alt houghin a cer tain genus, are not in the same genus as sen sib le thi ngs, exc ept log ica lly . 36 Al so, God has no acc ide ntsof any kind, and wh ate ver acc i­ den ts the other separa ted sub sta nce sha ve are unk nown tous as to thei r prope r natu re. He nce , wit h resp ect to the se substan ces , in pla ce of kno wle dgeof the gen us, we have 34 /6i d.,q. 1, a. 2, c. ; la , q. 12, a. 12, c. 35 " . . . Cum de divinis poss imus scir e quid non sin t, et non quid sint ." (In de Tr in itale, q. 2, a. 1, ad 4) 36 "Et quam vis logi ce cons idera ndo (sub stan tiae sepa rata e) conv eniant cum isti s sen sibi libu sin gen ere remoto, quod est subs tan tia, natural iter tame n loque ndo non conv eniu nt in eodem gen ere . . . Logi cus enim cons iderat absol ute inte ntio nes, secu ndum quas nih il prohib et con- veni re mat erialia immater ialib us . . . Sed natu ralis et philo soph us primus consi deran t esse ntia s secun dum quod hab ent ess e in rebus , et ideo ubi inven iunt diversum modum pote ntia e et actu s, et per hoc diversum modum esse ndi, dicu nt ess e diversa gene re." (I n de Tr ini tate, q. 6, a. 3, c.) — In II Po st. Ana l., lec t. 6, n. 4. -in 's ti ship - s, , that He is the s i s; ) c e ing , i - t de t e; ) t L i te s from e s des hem all. l le ge ted substances is e as to what re el es.n l dge beings cannot t of o geniis; and the other te ces, gh i s, genus as sensible , i lly. Also, God has nts i- te bstances have n to s to their proper nature. , el ces, l dge o s, H Ib d., , 3' " .•• r sint, et non qu i itate, 36 t vi ndo tiae t e) t li s tia, n iter t .. ti nes, i l t iali us n li u rant i s r , e , r i, \' . U i itate, - st. l., .

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37 In X Me tap h., lec t. 4, n. 1990. 38 In deTr in ita te, q. 2, a. 2, ad 2. 39 In VII Me tap h., lec t. 2, n. 1300 ff. 37 38 i itate, . h., t. ct

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Cre di t wi th Go d Wh en one comesclo se to dea th, the ex agge rat ion s of lif e see mso sil ly. So , eve rybo dy knows yo u. So, ev er yb od yrec ogniz esyou. So , when you go int o a resta uran t, you get a tab le. Youmi ght even ge t cred it in a bank. But wha t of cre dit with God?— Ge or geSo ko lsk y. es , rations l . , rybody s . ody r nizes y . , t, l . u re it -George kolsky. o

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