Natural Knowledge of God in the Philosophy of Saint Thomas Aquina

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relation of the oreature to its ezistenoe. 6 Still, there is betweeh these
relations a at.ilaritT, or, to speak more technioally, a proportionality.
Upon this proportionality are based our analogioal predioation. of the perf.otions
ot God as .anitestedbJ His ettects •
.
We have said, God is intelligent, all iD~ledge is Hia.
!be oonoept
ie analogioal. We have experience of huan knowledge, whioh denoted apprehension
ot the intelligible or, union of the ,ing knOWl'l and the knower.
Human knowledge is dependent on sensible data, it must ditfer elsentially
trom the knowledse predioated ot an ab.olutely .imple and t.mutable Being.
What i. BtOre, .... use the word knowledge analogically whenever we u.e it to
reter to sen.ation, it too 11 a union ot the thing known with the knower,
but bJ ... n. ot a .ensible speoies. !be difterence between sensation and
intellection is an e •• ential ditterenoel one require. a material, the other
an immaterial tacul ty • Still, both are oorreotly named knowledge, tor both
reter to union between a oogni tive taoul tJ and it. proper objeot, the re-.
• ul t ot whioh ie knowledge.
'!hie union or knowledge exists aleo in God, but
in a way that ditter. trom huan knowledge, by a. much a. God ditters fro.
6 st. !bemas, Contra Gent., I, ohap. xxxii, p. TT: I
Bow nothing is predioated in the .ame order ot God and other things,
but, acoording to priority and poeterioritJl sinoe all predioates of God
are e.sential tor He is oalled being beoau.e He il very e •• enoe, and good
because He is goodness itaelt. whereas predicate. are applied to others by
part1oipation ••• !heretore it is impossible tor any thing to be predioated
uni"oca1l7 ot God and other things.