Ch. 29 "God's Intelligence Not Potential or Habitual But Actual" from "The Compendium of Theology" by St. Thomas Aquinas
CHAPTER 29 GOD’S INTELLIGENCE NOT POTENTIAL OR HABITUAL BUT ACTUAL
Cum autem in Deo non sit aliquid in potentia, sed in actu tantum, ut ostensum est, oportet quod Deus non sit intelligens neque in potentia neque in habitu, sed actu tantum: ex quo patet quod nullam in intelligendo patitur successionem. Cum enim aliquis intellectus successive multa intelligit, oportet quod dum unum intelligit actu, alterum intelligat in potentia. Inter ea enim quae simul sunt, non est aliqua successio. Si igitur Deus nihil intelligit in potentia, absque omni successione est eius intelligentia: unde sequitur quod omnia quaecumque intelligit, simul intelligat; et iterum, quod nihil de novo intelligat. Intellectus enim de novo aliquid intelligens, prius fuit intelligens in potentia.
Since in God nothing is in potency but all is in act, as has been shown. God cannot be intelligent either potentially or habitually but only actually. An evident consequence of this is that He undergoes no succession in understanding. The intellect that understands a number of things successively is able, while actually understanding one thing, to understand another only potentially. But there is no succession among things that exist simultaneously. So, if God understands nothing in potency, His understanding is free from all succession. Accordingly, whatever He understands, He understands simultaneously. Furthermore, He does not begin to understand anything. For the intellect that begins to understand something, was previously in potency to understanding.
Inde etiam oportet quod intellectus eius non discursive intelligat, ut ex uno in cognitionem alterius deveniat, sicut intellectus noster ratiocinando patitur. Discursus enim talis in intellectu est, dum ex noto pervenimus in cognitionem ignoti, vel eius quod prius actu non considerabamus: quae in intellectu divino accidere non possunt.
Cum autem in Deo non sit aliquid in potentia, sed in actu tantum, ut ostensum est, oportet quod Deus non sit intelligens neque in potentia neque in habitu, sed actu tantum: ex quo patet quod nullam in intelligendo patitur successionem. Cum enim aliquis intellectus successive multa intelligit, oportet quod dum unum intelligit actu, alterum intelligat in potentia. Inter ea enim quae simul sunt, non est aliqua successio. Si igitur Deus nihil intelligit in potentia, absque omni successione est eius intelligentia: unde sequitur quod omnia quaecumque intelligit, simul intelligat; et iterum, quod nihil de novo intelligat. Intellectus enim de novo aliquid intelligens, prius fuit intelligens in potentia.
Since in God nothing is in potency but all is in act, as has been shown. God cannot be intelligent either potentially or habitually but only actually. An evident consequence of this is that He undergoes no succession in understanding. The intellect that understands a number of things successively is able, while actually understanding one thing, to understand another only potentially. But there is no succession among things that exist simultaneously. So, if God understands nothing in potency, His understanding is free from all succession. Accordingly, whatever He understands, He understands simultaneously. Furthermore, He does not begin to understand anything. For the intellect that begins to understand something, was previously in potency to understanding.
Inde etiam oportet quod intellectus eius non discursive intelligat, ut ex uno in cognitionem alterius deveniat, sicut intellectus noster ratiocinando patitur. Discursus enim talis in intellectu est, dum ex noto pervenimus in cognitionem ignoti, vel eius quod prius actu non considerabamus: quae in intellectu divino accidere non possunt.
It is likewise evident that God’s intellect does not understand in discursive fashion, proceeding from one truth to a knowledge of another, as is the case with our intellect in reasoning. A discursive process of this sort takes place in our intellect when we advance from the known to a knowledge of the unknown, or to that which previously we had not actually thought of. Such processes cannot occur in the divine intellect.
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