Dist. 8, Part 1, Divisio Textus
Book I: On the Mystery of the Trinity · Distinction 8
## Commentarius in Distinctionem VIII
De proprietatibus et conditionibus essentialibus Trinitatis et Unitatis.
Pars I
De veritate et immutabilitate Dei.
«Nunc de veritate sive de proprietate et incommutabilitate» etc.
Divisio Textus
Terminatis superius duabus partibus istius partis principalis, quae est de Trinitate secundum quod intelligitur, in quibus ad probandam Trinitatem Magister adduxit rationes et removit dubitationes, in hac tertia parte determinat Magister ipsius1 Trinitatis et Unitatis proprietates et conditiones. Et quoniam quaedam sunt proprietates respicientes essentiam, ut veritas, quaedam personas, ut generatio, quaedam utrasque, ut aequalitas: ideo haec pars tres habet partes. In prima parte agit Magister de proprietatibus essentialibus; in secunda, de proprietatibus personalibus, infra distinctione nona: Nunc ad distinctionem personarum etc.; in tertia, de proprietatibus et conditionibus quodam modo essentialibus et quodam modo personalibus, sicut est aequalitas personarum in aeternitate, magnitudine et virtute2, infra distinctione decima nona: Nunc postquam coaeternitatem trium personarum etc.
Prima pars, quae continet praesentem distinctionem, tres habet partes secundum tres proprietates, quas assignat; et prima est de veritate; secunda de immutabilitate, et haec ponitur tertio capitulo3: Dei etiam solius essentia proprie incommutabilis dicitur; tertia de simplicitate, quae ponitur quarto capitulo: Eademque sola proprie ac vere simplex est etc.
Tractatio Quaestionum
In parte ista ad evidentiam duarum primarum proprietatum, quas Magister primo assignat, scilicet veritatis et incommutabilitatis, duo principaliter quaeruntur:
Primo quaeritur de ipsa veritate.
Secundo de immutabilitate.
De veritate iterum quaeruntur duo:
Primo, utrum veritas sit proprietas divini esse.
Secundo, utrum sit eius proprietas in summo, id est, adeo quod non possit cogitari non esse.
---
## Commentary on Distinction VIII
On the properties and essential conditions of the Trinity and of the Unity.
Part I
On the truth and unchangeableness of God.
"We must now treat of the truth — or property — and unchangeableness" etc.
Division of the Text
Now that the two previous parts of this principal part — which concerns the Trinity as it is understood, in which the Master adduced reasons for proving the Trinity and removed doubts — have been completed, in this third part the Master determines the properties and conditions of the1 Trinity and the Unity themselves. And since some properties regard the essence (as truth), some the persons (as generation), and some both (as equality), this part accordingly has three sub-parts. In the first sub-part, the Master treats of the essential properties; in the second, of the personal properties, below in distinction nine: "Now to the distinction of persons" etc.; in the third, of the properties and conditions that are in one mode essential and in another mode personal — such as the equality of the persons in eternity, magnitude, and power2 — below in distinction nineteen: "Now, since we have shown the co-eternity of the three persons" etc.
The first sub-part, which contains the present distinction, has three subdivisions according to the three properties it assigns: the first concerns truth; the second, unchangeableness — placed in the third chapter3: "The essence of God alone is properly called unchangeable"; the third, simplicity — placed in the fourth chapter: "And the same essence alone is properly and truly simple" etc.
Treatment of the Questions
In this part, for the understanding of the first two properties which the Master assigns first — namely truth and unchangeableness — two questions are principally asked:
First, concerning truth itself.
Second, concerning unchangeableness.
Regarding truth, two questions are again asked:
First, whether truth is a property of the divine being.
Second, whether it is His property in the highest degree — that is, to the point that He cannot be thought not to be.
---
- Cfr. supra d. 2, Divisio textus, et d. 3, p. I, Divisio textus, ubi divisio principalis Libri I in partes de Trinitate quoad fidem, Trinitate quoad intellectum, et Trinitate quoad proprietates et conditiones iam designata est. Haec d. 8 incipit tertiam partem principalem.Cf. above d. 2, Divisio textus, and d. 3, Pars I, Divisio textus, where the principal division of Book I into the parts On the Trinity as regards faith, On the Trinity as regards understanding, and On the Trinity as regards properties and conditions has already been marked. The present distinction 8 begins the third principal part.
- Cfr. I Sent. d. 19, Comm., ubi S. Bonav. fusius de aequalitate personarum in aeternitate, magnitudine et virtute tractat (a. unic., qq. 1–3).Cf. I Sent. d. 19, Commentary, where St. Bonaventure treats more fully of the equality of the persons in eternity, magnitude, and power (a. unic., qq. 1–3).
- Tertium capitulum Magistri hic refertur ad Cap. II litterae Magistri (supra: De incommutabilitate eiusdem), cum capitulum primum Distinctionis in hac editione Quaracchi pro capitulo procemiali habeatur. Vide bon-sent-I-d8-littera.md pro textu integro litterae.The Master's "third chapter" referred to here corresponds to Cap. II of the litterae Magistri (above: On His unchangeableness), since the first chapter of the Distinction is treated in this Quaracchi edition as a prooemial chapter. See bon-sent-I-d8-littera.md for the full text of the Master's littera.