Divine Perfection
“Now God is the first principle, not material, but in the order of efficient cause, which must be most perfect. For just as matter, as such, is merely potential, an agent, as such, is in the state of actuality. Hence, the first active principle must needs be most actual, and therefore most perfect; for a thing is perfect in proportion to its state of actuality, because we call that perfect which lacks nothing of the mode of its perfection” (ST I, q. 4, a. 1).
The triplex via is at work in the argumentation. As the primary cause, God is
- “The cause of all perfections in creatures: God’s perfection is the archetypal and efficient source of all creaturely perfections: the perfections of all creatures pre-exist in him.
- Negatively, God lacks any of the imperfections encountered in creatures that originate from their wellspring of potency, whether material or spiritual.
- Therefore, God is eminently perfect. His nature is perfectly actual and transcendent of the limitations that characterize creatures. He is the incomprehensible first origin of actuality behind every created actuality” (263).
Divine Goodness
In sum, Aquinas, in ST I, q. 5, a. 1, interprets goodness in terms of being.
- Goodness presents being under its aspect as desirable: “the good is that at which all things aim” can be read as “the good is that which all things desire.”
Moreover, goodness is related to desire in 2 ways:
- Referring to the tendencies inscribed in things so that they strive for the perfection of their own natures: All creatures tend toward various forms of perfection, from the physical beings of the cosmos that tend toward the expression of properties and laws, in a collective set of relationships; to the living world of plants and animals that tend toward growth and reproduction of their own diverse species; to human beings, who tend to perfection especially in their diverse expressions of knowledge and love, and, above all, in their return to God through knowledge and love of God, the First Cause.
- Insofar as a perfected nature can become a good for others.
God is the Supreme Good
- He is the Author of all that is good – as both (1) 1st cause of all creaturely goodness & (2) final end as we strive to return toward God in some way as their final end, imitating his goodness by tending to the full actuation of perfection for which he made them, which is an expression of his own wisdom.
- His “goodness” is utterly transcendent to our goodness. God is His goodness. The goodness of God is utterly distinct from that of any created reality.
- He is the incomprehensible author of all good realities.
- “Supreme” means that the goodness of all created things derives from God and is therefore actually dependent upon, indicative of, and wholly relative to his uncreated goodness.
- God must possess in himself the plenitude of goodness that surpasses all the finite expressions of the good found in his creatures. In this sense, one can say that God is the exemplary good that every creature imitates and desires, albeit each in its own way.
Prodigal Catholic 