FIGURE X.
The Propositions of X.
X. is a figure made of sixteen opposite terms with three propositions
each, and as three times sixteen gives forty-eight, there are forty-eight
propositions in X. Let us now deal with the terms beginning with the first,
namely Predestination, followed by the others in sequence.
Predestination B.
1. Predestination is the loftiest degree reached by the intellect
in its knowing of God.
2. The opposition between predestination and free will is merely
rational.
3. Any affirmation of predestination made without affirming justice
implies a false denial of free will.
Being C.
1. On account of divine being, all beings seek to be and hate not
to be.
2. Except for divine being, all being is meant for an end just as
its essence is meant for the beginning.
3. The being of nature is a universal subject of universal principles
from which particulars descend.
Perfection D.
1. The greatness of Perfection exists in the One that perfects,
the One that is perfected and the One act of perfecting.
2. If the intellect were truly perfection itself, it would perfect
things as soon as it understands them.
3. Any part through which the whole can be known, is perfect.
Merit E.
1. Divine greatness cannot oppose the greatness of merit.
2. Merit is a creature whose function is to be great in the sight
of God.
3. Since God nullifies guilt and merit is a creature, merit can
grow more greatly than guilt.
Supposition F.
1. Supposition is meant to end in either faith or demonstration.
2. Supposition is the beginning and the light of demonstration.
3. If there is no demonstration, supposition becomes necessary.
Immediate G.
1. Except for God, there is no being that exists immediately and
solely per se.
2. On account of the intrinsic passive goodness in God, He can be
loved directly.
3. Opposition is specified into mediated and immediate opposition.
Reality H.
1. Every being is greater in reality than in the rational mind's
concept of it.
2. Every particular reality exists within universal reality.
3. Just as no particular reality can exist in nature without universal
reality, so there is no being without an essence.
Potential I.
1. The potentials or powers of the soul exist for the purpose of
assuming objects in order to produce likenesses of themselves and likenesses
of God.
2. Just as potentiality exists in natural things in order to produce
being, so does the intellect exist in the soul in order to produce likenesses
of itself.
3. A potential or power sooner produces likenesses from its own
species than from any foreign species.
Free Will K.
1. God freely empowers with power just as He loves with free will.
2. Since God's intrinsic freedom exists throughout immensity, eternity,
power etc., it lacks nothing at all.
3. The power of freedom does not constrain its likeness, nor is
it constrained by anything.
Privation L.
1. All privation exists somewhere between being and non being.
2. Privation is never anything in itself, but it is something in
other things.
3. Once any privation has occurred, it exists now and forever.
Imperfection M.
1. Imperfection is always greater in contrariety than in concordance.
2. Imperfection acts by inclining being toward non being.
3. Nothingness begins with imperfection.
Guilt N.
1. There is no being that can oppose God without guilt.
2. Since guilt is not universally real but merely exists in the
rational mind, it amounts to naught in itself and in other things.
3. Any opposition between merit and guilt exists merely in the rational
mind.
Demonstration O.
1. Since the acts of the divine dignities relate to each other in
equality, the most powerful demonstration is made through equality, and
it is more powerful than any causal demonstration.
2. Demonstration is never repugnant to truth.
3. Through demonstration, the intellect transmits the influence
of its light to the will's acceptance or refusal.
Mediate P.
1. A medium acts by connecting diverse acts to their likenesses.
2. The end cannot be understood without the middle.
3. All concordance between beginning and end stands in the middle.
Reason Q.
1. Reason is a light for knowing what things really are.
2. Without reason there is no supposition.
3. Since reason is different from reality, universality conceived
in the rational mind is not the same as the real universality of nature.
Object R.
1. Any object can be assumed by willing or not willing, and this
is because God is good and not evil.
2. Every power of the soul can ennoble or defile its acts in accordance
with the nobility of the objects it assumes.
3. Objects are sought and desired because the powers draw their
likenesses from them.
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