The Trinitarian Theology of Saint Thomas Aquinas - El Camino ...

394 Missions
The experiential knowledge in question in this passage refers to the grasp of
the Son and Holy Spirit within their sending. And such a knowledge is bound
to the conformation within which the just are assimilated to the Son and to
the Holy Spirit. Only a graced knowledge, in charity, opens the door to the
divine persons. This is one reason why the missions of Son and Holy Spirit are
inseparable: genuine wisdom is inseparable from love, which is what makes it
bring about the ‘union with God’. In articulating this knowledge of the
persons, Thomas speaks of an ‘experiential knowledge’. Coming from his
pen, this expression is not infrequent in this context: one often encounters
it, as much in the Sentence commentary as in the Summa, and elsewhere, and
always in reference to the love which perfects our knowing.160
What does this experience-shaped knowledge consist in? It does not come
down to some sort of aVective colouring of our knowledge of God. It is much
rather the grasp of the divine person in his presence and action, for the gifts of
wisdom and love assimilate us to the divine persons and allow for an
authentic ‘enjoyment’ of the persons. It is precisely this fruition that the
idea of ‘experiential knowledge’ articulates: it is not just a ‘speculative’ or
conceptual kind of knowledge,161 but the fact of experiencing the divine
person, and testing out an objective oneness with him. This experience is
given to those who receive the missions of the divine persons, for ‘experiential
knowledge is requisite to a mission’.162 The love bound to this knowledge
must thus occupy a key position, for it is this which unites us most deeply to
God. This does not mean that we can have an absolute certainty either of the
supernatural authenticity of the acts we perform, or of the dispositions in
which we live (that is, certitude of being in a state of grace), because experiential
knowledge of the sent persons is not of the same order as reXexive
consciousness of our acts and habits.163
Along with the idea of ‘sealing’, the theology of missions, the ‘possession’
and ‘fruition’ of the persons is set forth as an invitation to experience it. How
can one fail to imagine that it was this which St Thomas experienced in
December 1273, when he ceased to write, leaving the Summa unWnished?
160 I Sent. d. 14, q. 2, a. 2, ad 3; d. 15, q. 2, a. 1, ad 5; d. 15, exp. text.; d. 16, q. 1, a. 2; ST I, q. 43,
a. 5, ad 2. On this notion, see in particular, A. Patfoort, ‘Cognitio ista est quasi experimentalis
(I Sent. d. 14, q. 2, a. 2, ad 3m)’, Angelicum 63 (1986), 3–13; id., ‘Missions divines et expérience
des Personnes divines selon St Thomas’, Angelicum 63 (1986), 545–559; J.-P. Torrell, Thomas
Aquinas: Spiritual Master, pp. 94–98.
161 Cf. I Sent. d. 15, exp. text: ‘The divine person is sent to someone when he is known by
him. This cannot be comprised of speculative knowledge alone, but must contain a knowledge
which is, in a certain way, experiential.’
162 I Sent. d. 15, q. 2, a. 1, ad 5. Cf. Albert, I Sent. d. 15, a. 17.
163 Cf. I Sent. d. 15, q. 4, a. 1, ad 1 (knowledge ‘through certain hypothetical signs’); cf. ST I-
II, q. 112, a. 5.