The Triune God: Systematics (Collected Works of Bernard Lonergan)

423 Pages·2009·22.82 MB·English

by  Bernard Lonergan

COLLECTED WORKS
OF BERNARD
LONERGAN
THE TRIUNE GOD:
SYSTEMATICS
trans lated from
De Deo Trino: Pars systematica (1964)
by Michael G. Shields
edited by
Robert M. Doran and H Daniel Monsour
Theologian Bernard Lonergan in the Mystery of the Hofy Trinity
Icon © Father William Hart McNichols, 202
Published for Lonergan Research Institute
of Regis Colleg~, Toronto
by University of Toronto Press
Toronto Buffalo London
·ernard Lonergan Estate 2007 Contents
"rinted in Canada
'BN 978-0-8020-9,68-0 (cloth)
iBN 978-0-8020-9433-9 (paper)
)rinted on acid~free paper
tequests for permission to quote from the Collected Works of Bernard L~nergan
;hould_be addressed to University of Toronto Press.
LI'brary and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
General Editors' Preface, ROBERT M. DORAN / xvii
lergan, Bernard J-F. (Bernard Joseph Francis), 1904-1984.
Collected works of Bernard Lonergan.
Translator's Foreword, MICHAEL G. SHIELDS / xxiii
Contents; v. 12. The triune God; Systematics / edited by Robert M. Doran
and H. Daniel Monsour. ENGLISH TRANSLATION
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8020-9168-0 (v. 12 : bound). ISBN 978-0-8020-9433-9 (v. 12 : pbk.) Preface! 3
I. Theology - 20th century. 2. Catholic Church. I. Lonergan Research
I The Goal, the Order, and the Manner of Speaking! 7
Institute. II. Title
I The Goal! 7
Bx89I.L595 1988 c88-093328-3 rev 2 The Act Whereby the Goal Is Attained! II
3 The Question or Problem! 21
4 The Truth of Theological Understanding! 31
5 The Twofold Movement toward the Goal! 59
The Lonergan Research Institute gratefully acknowledges the generous contribution of
6 Comparison of the Dogmatic Way and the Systematic Way! 67
THE ,:,MALLINER CHARITABLE FOUNDATION, which has made possible the production
7 A Consideration of the Historical Movement / 77
of this entire series.
8 A Further Consideration of the Historical Movement /87
The Lonergan Research Institute gratefully acknowledges the contribution of PHILIP 9 The Object of Theology ! 101
POCOCK toward publication of this volume. University of Toronto Press acknowledges 10 The Purpose of This Work! 117
the financial assistance to its publishing program of the Canada Council for the Arts and
the Ontario Arts Council. An Analogical Conception of the Divine Processions / 125
2
The Problem! 127
University of Toronto Press acknowledges the financial support for its publishing activities
of the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Opinions ! 131
Program (BPIDP). Intellectual Emanation / 135
Contents Vll Contents
Assertion I: The divine processions, which are processions_ according to Question 8: Is it by a major or a minor conceptual distinction that the divine
the mode of a processio operati, are understood in some measure on the substance is distinguished from the divine relations and, conversely, that
basis of a likeness to intellectual emanation; and there does not seem the divine relations are distinguished from the divine substance? / 295
to be another analogy for forming a systematic conception of a divine 'Question 9: Besides a real distinction and a conceptual distinction, is there
procession. / 145 a third intermediate distinction, calted a 'formal distinction on the side
Assertion 2: Two and only two divine processions.can be conceived through of the reality?' / 299
the likeness of intellectual emanation, namely, the procession of the
Word from the Speaker, and the procession of Love from both the 4 The Divine Persons Considered in Thexnselves / 307
Speaker and the Word. / 181 SECTION I / 307
Assertion 3: Generation in the strict sense of the term is implied by the di Question 10: VVhat should be understood by the word 'person'? / 309
vine emanation of the Word, but not by the divine emanation of Love. Assertion 8: The real, subsistent divine relations, really distinct from one
/ 189 another, are properly called and are persons. / 325
Question I: Is our act of understanding different from our [inner] word? Question II: In what sense is God a person? / 329
/ 203 Question 12: How many are there that subsiSt in God? / 331
Question 2: Can the existence of a Word in God be demonstrated by the Question 13: What does the w9rd 'person'. mean in regard to God? / 333
natural light of reason? / 207 Question 14: What do numbers signify in God? / 335
Question 3: Does the Word proceed from the understanding of creatures? Question 15: Is 'person' predicated analogously of God and of creatures?
/ 213 /337
Question 4: Is the 'beloved in the lover' constituted by love or produced by _Question 16: What is the meaning of person as divine? / 339
love? / 219 Question 17: How is person related to incommunicability and to
interpersonal communication? / 345
I The Real Divine Relations / 231 SECTION 2 / 351
Opinions / 233 Assertion 9: The attributes of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are
Theological Notes / 233 divided into common, proper, and appropriated. / 351
Assertion 4: Four real relations follow upon the divine processions: Assertion 10: The real divine relations constitute the divine persons
paternity, filiation, active spiration, and passive spiration. / 235 and distinguish the persons constituted, and therefore are p~rsonal
Assertion 5: These four relations are subsistent. / 239 properties. / 363
Assertion 6: Three real relations in God are really distinct from one Assertion I I: The notional acts are natural, conscious, intellectual, rational,
another, on the basis of mutual opposition. / 247 necessary, autohomous, eternal, the foundation of order in God, but
Assertion 7: The real divine relations are conceptually distinct from the not voluntary except in a diminished sense. / 369
divine essence but really identical with it. / 257 Question 1'8: Are the personal properties understood as prior to the notional
Four Notes / 261 acts? / 373
Question 5: Can a relation be really identical with a substance? / 267
Question 6: Is it possible for the real divine relations to be really distinct 5 The Divine Persons in Relation to One Another / 377
from one another and really identical with one and the same divine Assertion 12: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit through one real consciousness
substance? / 279 are three subjects conscious both of themselves and of each of the others,
Question 7: What is the value of the distinction between ~being in' and as well as of their own act both notional and essential. / 377
'being to'? / 289 Question 19: Are the Father, the Son, and the Spirit more appropriately
called modes of being (Seinsweisen) than persons? / 391
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Vlll Contents IX Contents
Question 20: Do the diVine persons say to ~ne another 'I' and 'You'? / 397 Question 32: Is it by way oflove that the divine persons are in the just and
Question 21: What is the analogy between the temporal' and the eternal dwell in them? / 501
Assertion 18: Although the indwelling of the divine persons exists more in
subject? / 399
Assertion 13: The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit dwell within one, acts and is better known in acts, still it is constituted through the .state
another both ontologically and psychologically. / 413 of grace. / 513
Assertion 14: Perfection has two formalities. The first is grounded upon act,
while the second "is derived from the unity of order. The first perfection Epilogue / 523
is infinite as found in the divine substance. The second is verified in the
divine relations taken together as so great that no greater perfection can Appendices / 527
be thought of. Although the two concepts of perfection are conceptually
distinct, in God they refer to one undivided real perfection. / 421 Appendix I: lnunanent Operation I 531
I The Words .< Action' and 'Operation' / 535
6 The Divine Missions / 437 2 The Two Proportions between Act and Potency / 535
3 Act of What Is Complete and Act of What Is Incomplete I 537
Assertion 15: What is truly predicated contingently of the divine persons
is constitUted by the divine perfection itself, but it has a consequent 4 Nature / 539
condition in an appropriate external term. / 439 5 Active and Passive Potency / 539
Assertion 16: Whatever is truly predicated contingently of the divine 6 To Receive, Passion / 541
persons as regards divine cognitive, volitional, and productive operation 7 Action (poiisis,jactio) /543
is constituted by the divine perfection common to the three persons as 8,Vital Act / 547
both the principle-by-which and the principle-which, and therefore is 9 Application to the Act of Understanding / 553
attributed distinctly and equally to each divine person. / 443
Question 22: Did God the Father sent his Son to redeem the human race? Appendix 2' The Act of Understanding I 559
/447 I The Notion of Object / 561
449 2 The Object of the Intellect as End and Term / 563
Question 23: Do the Father and the Son send the Holy Spirit? I
Question 24: Is a divine person sent by the one or by' those from .whom he 3 The Object That Moves the Intellect I 567
4 Passages in St Thomas on the Object as Mover / 569
proceeds? / 451
Question 25: Is it by appropriation that the Father and the Son are said to 5 Quiddity / 577
6 Various Meanings of 'Species' / 587
send the Holy Spirit? / 453
Assertion 17: The mission of a divine person is constituted by a divine 7 The Necessity for the Word / 597
, relation of origin in such a way that it still demands an appropriate
external term as a consequent' condition. / 455 Appendix 2A I 603
17 The Act of Understanding and the Uttering of an Inner Word I 603
Question 26: In what way is an appropriate external term consequent upon
18 Intellectual Emanation / 609
a constituted .mission? / 467
Question 27= Is the Holy Spirit sent as notional love? / 473 19 Spiration / 615
Question 28:' Are the divine missions ordered to each other? / 479 20 The Proc~ssion of Love / 62 I
Question 29: What is the formality of divine mission? / 483
Question 30: Is it appropriate that the divine persons be sent, the Son Appendix 2B, FrolU the wage to the Ete;"'al ExeDlplar I 627
21 The Analogy ofIntellect / 627
visibly and the Spirit invisibly? / 491
22 Implications of the Analogy with Respect to God / 631
Question 31: Is the Son also sent invisibly and the Holy Spirit visibly? / 499
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Contents XJ Contents
23 Implications of the Analogy with Respect to Man / 637 7 One of the Arguments in Assertion 7, That the Divine Essence and a Real
24 Excursus: The Natural Desire of the Intellect / 645 - Divine Relation Are Really the Same / 787
25 The Analogy of the Word / 659 8 Response to the Scotist Position on Formal Distinction on the Side of the
26 The Analogy of Proceeding Love / 671 Reality / 789
27 The Trinitarian Analogy / 681
Index / 793
\ppendix 3: Relations / 687
Question 33: Are there internal relations? / 687
Question 34: Does an external relation add another reality intrinsic to the LA,TIN TEXT
subject besides the reality of the internal relation? / 699
Question 35: Do there exist in creation (a) a simply absolute reality, (2) a Prooenllwn. / '2
simply relative reality, (3) a reality that is absolute in a qualified sense,
(4) a reality that is relative in a qualified sense? / 713 Caput Prinl1u:n: De Fine, Ordine, Modo Dicendi / 6
Question 36: Is the division of relations into predicamental and transce~­ Sectio Prima: De Fine / 6
dental appropriate? / 719 Sectio Secunda: De Actu Quo Finis Attingitur / 10
Question 37: Are real created relations appropriately divided into Sectio Tertia: De Quaestione seu Problemate / 20
internal and external as regards essence, and into beings-which and Sectio Quarta: De Veritate Intelligentiae ! 30
beings-by-which as regards existence? / 729 Sectio Quinta: De Duplici Motu in Finem / 58
Question 38: Can several real relations be internal to one and the same Sectio Sexta: Comparantur Via Dogmatica et Via Systematica / 66
absolute? Are they really distinct from the absolute? Are they really Sectio Septima: Motus Historici Additur Consideratio / 76
distinct from one another? / 733 Sectio Octava: Motus Historici Consideratio Ulterior / 86
A Brief Question: Is the relation of identity transitive? / 737 Sectio Nona: De Obiecto Theologiae / 100
Sectio Decima: Opusculi'Intentio / 116
Appendix 3A: Letter to FrGerard Smith, s·l. / 739
Caput SecundUIIl: De Divinis Processionibus Analogice
Appendix 4: Passages froxn Divinarutn Personarutn / 743 Concipiendis / 124
1 Chapter I, Sections 3 and 4 / 743 Problema / 126
Section 3:-Further Observations Concerning the Same Act / 743 Sententiae / 130
Section 4: The Threefold Movement to the Goal / 755 De Emanatione Intelligibili / 134
2 Chapter 2, from the Definition of Emanatio Intelligibilis through Assertion 1 Assertum I: Processiones divinae) quae sunt per modum operati, aliquatenus
/761 intelliguntur secundum similitudinem emanationis intelligibilis; neque
Assertion I: The divine processions are to be conceived through their alia esse videtur anaiogia ad systematicam conceptionem divinae
likeness to intellectual emanation / 765 processionis efformandam. / I44
3 Chapter 2, the Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Paragraphs of Question 1 / 781 Assertum II: Per similitudinem emanationis intelligibilis duae et tan~
4 Chapter 2, Question 4 / 783 tummodo duae processiones divinae concipi possunt, nempe, verbi a
5 Corresponding to the Section The Council if RIuims, AD. [[48, in Chapter dicente, et amons ab utroque. / 180
3/785 Assertum III: Divinam Verbi emanationem, non autem emanationem
6 Assertion 6, Preliminary ObservatWns, § 2 / 787 Amoris, consequitur ratio generationis proprie dictae. / 188
Quaestio I: Utrum aliud in nobis sit intelllgere et aliud verbum / 202
The Robert Mollet Collection Collected Works of Bernard Lonergan
:ii Contents Xlll Contents
Quaestio II: Utrum naturali rationis lumine demonstrari possit in Deo esse Quaestio XVI: Quaenam sit ratio personae qua divinae / 338
verbum / 206 Quaestio XVIT: Quemadmodum persona se habeat ad incommunicabili
Quaestio III: Utrum Verbum procedat ex intelligentia creaturarum / 212 tatem et ad communicationem interpersonalem / 344
Quaestio IV: Utrum 'amatum in amante' constituatur an producatur per SECTIO SECUNDA / 350
amOrem / 218 Assertum IX: Dividuntur attributa Patris, Filii, et Spiritus Sancti in
communia, propria, et appropriata. / 350
Oaput Tertium: De Relationibus Divinis Realibus / 230 Assertum X: Relationes divinae reales personas divinas constituunt et
Sententiael 232 constitutas distinguunt, et ideo sunt proprietates personales. / 362
N otae Theologicae I 232 ~sertum XI: Actus notionales sunt naturales, conscii, intellectuales,
Assertum IV: Ad processiones divinas sequuntur relationes reales quattuor, rationales, necessarii, autonomi, aeterni, fundamentum ordinis in
nempe, paternitas, filiatio, spiratio activa, et spiratio passiva. / 234 divinis, sed non voluntarii nisi sensu diminuto. / 368
Assertum V: Quae quattuor relationes sunt subsistentes. / '238 Quaestio XVIII: Utrum proprietates personales actibus notionalibus
Assertum VI: Tres relationes reales in Deo secundum mutuam opposi praeintelligantur I 372
tionem realiter inter se distinguuntur. / 246
Assertum VII: Relationes divinae' reales ratione a divina essentia Caput Quintwn. De Divinis Personis Inter Se COInparatis I 376
distinguuntur et realiter cum ea identificantur. / 256 Assertum XII: Pater, Filius, et Spiritus Sanctus per unam conscientiam
Notae Quattuor I 260 realem sunt tria subiecta conscia tum sui tum cuiusque alterius tum
Quaestio V: Utrum relatio possit esse idem realiter quod substantia / 266 actus sui tam notionalis quam essentialis. / 376
Quaestio VI: Utrum fieri possit ut relationes divinae reales et realiter Quaestio XIX: Utrum Pater, Filius, et Spiritus convementius modi essendi
inter se distinguantur et realiter cum una eademque substantia divina (Seinsweisen) quam personae nominarentur / 390
identificentur I 278 Quaestio XX: Utrum personae di~nae ad intra dicant, Ego, Tu / 396
Quaestio VII: Quid valeat distinctio inter 'esse in' et 'esse ad' / 288 Quaestio XXI: Quaenam sit analogia subiecti temporalis et subiecti aeterni
Quaestio VIII: Utrum maior an minor sit rationis c;listinctio qua divimi 1398
substantia a divinis relationibus et vicissim divinae relationes a divina Assertum XIII: Pater, Filius, et Spiritus Sanctus tam psychologice quam
substantia distinguantur I 294 ontologice circumincedunt. / 412
Quaestio IX: Utrum praeter distinctionem realem et distinctionem rati6nis Assertum XIV: Duae sunt perfectionis rationes, quarum prima ex actu
admittenda sit tertia intermedia distinctio quae dicatur fonnalis a parte desumitur, altera autem ex unitate ordinis repetitur. Et prima quidem
rei I 298 perfectio in divina substantia invenitur infinita; altera autem in divinis
relationibus simul sumptis tanta verificatur quanta maior cogitari ne-quit.
Caput QuartUDl. De Divinis Personis In Se Consideratis I 306 At quamvis duo perfectionis conceptus ratione i~ter se distinguantur, in'
SECTIO PRIMA / 306 Deo tamen unam indivisamque perfectionem realem dicunt. / 420
Quaestio X: Quid sub nomine personae intelligendum esse videatur /308
Assertum VIII: ReIationes divinae reales, subsistentes, et inter se realiter Caput Sextwru De Divinis Missionibus I 436
distinctae proprie dicuntur et sunt personae. / 324 Assertum XV: Quae contingenter de divinis personis vere dicuntur ita
Quaestio XI: Quo sensu Deus sit persona I 328 per ipsam divinam perfectionem constituuntur ut conditio eorum
Quaestio XII: Quot sint in divinis quae subsistant I 330 consequens sit conveniens terminus ad extra. / 438
Quaestio XIII: Qp.id nomen personae significet in divinis / 332 Assertum XVI: Quae contingenter de divinis personis secundum
Quaestio XIV: Quid in divinis significent numeri /334 operationem divinam cognoscitivam, volitivam, productivam vere
Quaestio XV: Quod analogice dicitur persona de divinis et de·creatis I 336 dic~mtur per communem divinam perfectionem tamquam per
The R6bert Mollot Collection Collected Works of Bernard Lonergan
XIV Contents xv Contents
principium et quo et quod eonstituuntur, ,et ideo tribus pariter personis Appendix II: De Aetu Intelligendl / 558
distincte attribuuntur. / 442 I Obiectum / 560
Quaestio XXII:. Utrum Deus Pater Filium suum ad genus humanum 2 De obiecto intellectus ut fine et termino / 562
redimendum miserit / 44~ 3 De obiecto quod intellectum movet / 566
Quaestio XXIII: Utrum Pater et Filius Spiritum sanctum mittant /448 4 Testimonia S. Thomae circa obiectum movens / 568
Quaestio XXN: Utrum mittatur persona divina ab eo a quo procedat 5 De quidditate / 576
/450 6 Quotuplex sit species / 586
Quaestio XXV: Utrum per appropriationem Pater et Filius Spiritum 7 De necessitate verbi / 596
sanctum mittere dicantur / 452
Assertum. XVII: Divinae petsonae missio ita per divinam relationem Appendix II-A / 602
originis constituitur ut tamen per moclum conditionis consequentis 17 Intelligere et dicere / 602
eonvenientem ad extra terrninum exigat. / 454 18 Emanatio intelligibilis / 608
Quaestio XXVI: Quemadmodum terminus ad extra conveniens missionem 19 De spiratione /614
constitutam consequatur / 466 20 De processione amoris / 620
Quaestio XXVII: Utrum missio Spkitus sancti sit secundum dileetionem
notionalem / 472 Appendix II-B: Ex bnagine Ad Exelllplar Aeternwn / 626
Quaestio XXVIII: Utrum divinae missiones inter Se ordinentur / 478 21 Analogia intellectus / 626
Quaestio XXIX: Quaenam sit ratio missionis divinae / 482 22 Analogiae consectaria quae Deum respiciant / 630
Quaestio XXX: Utrum eonvenienter divinae personae mittantur, et Filius 23 Analogiae consectaria quae hominem respiciant / 636
quidem visibiliter) invisibiliter autem Spiritus sane'tus / 490 24 Appendix: De naturali desiderio intellectus / 644
Quaestio XXXI: Utrum Filius etiam invisibiliter et Spiritus sanctus 25 Analogia verbi / 658
visibiliter mittanturJ 498 26 Analogia amoris procedentis / 670
Quaestio XXXII: Utrwn secundum caritatem divinae personae iustis 27 De ipsa analogia trinitaria /' 680
insint. atque inhabitent / 500 .
Assertum XVIII: Divinarum personarum inhabitatio, q uamvis in actibus Appendix m: De Relationibus / 686
magis sit atque cognoseatur, per statum tamen gratiae constituitur. / 512 QuaestiQ XXXIII: Utrum sint relationes internae / 686
Quaestio XXXIV: Utrum relatio externa aliam realitatem subiecto
Epilogus / 522 irttrinsecam addat super realitatem relationis intemae / 698
Quaestio XXXV: Utrum in rebus creatis existant (I) realitas simpliciter
Appendix· I: De Operatione Irnmanente / 530 absoluta, (2) realitas simpliciter relativa, (3) realitas absoluta secundum
I De vocibus 'actio,' 'operatio' /534 quid, (4) realitas relativa secundum quid / 712
2 De duplici proportione inter actum et potentiam / 534 Quaestio XXXVI: Utrum relationes convenienter in praedicamentales et
3 Actus perfecti et actus irnperfecti / 536 transcendentales dividantur / 718
4 Natura / 538 Quaestio XXXVII: Utrum relationes reales creatae convenienter
5 Potentia activa et 'passiva / 538 dividantur, secundum essentiam in internaS et extemas, et secundum
6 Pati, passio / 540 esse in entium-quae et entium-quibus / 728
7 Actio (paresis, foctW) / 542
8 Actus vitalis / 546
9 Applicatio ad actum intelligendi / 552
Thp Rnh,::orf Mollnt r.nllF!dinn Collected Works of Bernard Lonergan
XVI Contents
Quaestio XXXVIII: Utrum plures relationes' reales uni eidemque absoluto General Editors' Preface
internae esse possint; utrum realiter ab absoluto distinguantur; utrum I,'
realiter inter se distinguantur 1 732
Quaestiuncula: Utrum relatio iaentitatis sit transitiva 1 736
Appendix IV: Divinarum Personarum 1.742
1 Chapter I, Sections 3 and 4 / 742
Seetio Tertia: Ulteriora quaedam de eodem aetu / 742
Seetio Quarta:, De triplici motu quo ad finem proceditur / 754
2 Chapter 2, from the Definition of EmanatW Intelligibilis through Assertion
11760
Assertum I: Processiones divinae sunt concipiendae per similitudinem
emanationis intelligibilis / 764 Y.
3 Chapter 2, the Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Paragraphs of Question 1 / 780
4 Chapter 2, Question 4 / 782
5 Corresponding to the Section 7he Council of Rheims, A.D. 1148, in Chapter Before he began teaching at the Gregorian University in Rome in 1953, Bernard
3/784 Lonergan taught a course entitled 'De Deo Trino' in 1945-46 at College de
6 Assertion 6, Preliminary Observations, §2-/ 786 l'Immaculee Conception in Montreal, and another course entitled 'De Triniw
7 One of the Arguments in Assertion 7, Relationes divinae reales ratione a tate' at Regis College (then College of Christ the King) in Toronto in 1949-50.
divina essentia distinguuntur et realiter cum ea identificatur 1 786 His first course in Rome on 'De Deo Trino' was offered in the spring semester of
8 Response to the Scotist Position on Formal Distinction on the Side of 1955 to second- and thirdwyear theology students. The texts used for the course
the Reality / 788 were questions 27 to 43 of the first part of the Summa theologiae of Thon:as Aquinas
and a text written by Charles Boyer, s.]., of the Gregorian faculty, 0Jnopsis prae
lectionum de SS. Trinitate. Lonergan produced his own notes for this course, a set
of fifty pages issued to the students on 7 Marc;h (in those days the feast day of St
Thomas Aquinas in the Catholic Church's litl.lrgical calendar). These notes con
sisted of three articles, of which the first and part of the second survived in the
later texts that Lonergan composed on the Trinity and are published here as ap
pendices 1 and 2.
The first of Lonergan's own texts on the Trinity was Divinarum personarum con
w
ceptWnem analogicam evolvi! Bernardus Lonergan, S.1., which was published ad usum
auditorum (for the use of his students) by Gregorian University Press, Rome, in
1957. Lonergan taught the same course in the spring semester of that year and
again in the fall semester of 1958, and we may presume that his own text supw
plemented the other readings that he had used earlier. He-reissued the text with
, very slight modifications in 1959, and this version was used in his course 'De Deo
,
, Trino' in the fall semester of 1960.
"
The three articles ofl955 and then the lengthy text ofl957 and 1959 were all part
of that portion of trinitarian theology that was considered systematic, synthetic,
The Robert Mollot Collection Collected Works of Bernard Lonergan
xviii General Editors' Preface XIX General Editors' Preface
speculative, as contrasted with the analytic, dogmatic treatment of the develop There are two main differences in Aquinas's presentation as compared with
ment of the church's trinitarian doctrine. This portion of trinitarian theology was Augustine. Augustine presents the analogy psychologically, by an appeal to word
treated by Lonergan in a text published in 196I, De Deo Trino: Pars anafytica, and and love as they proceed in human consciousness. Aquinas presents it both psy
both this text and Divi:narum personarum were used in his course 'De Deo Trino' chologically and metaphysically, and in fact more metaphysically than psychologi
offered in the fall semester Of1962. The year 1964 saw the publication of the mas cally, though the psychology is clearly second nature to him. Moreover, Augustine
sive book De Deo Trino in two parts. The first part, now called pars dogmatica, was proceeds throughout in the via inventionis, the way of discovery, and reaches the'
a revised version of the earlier pars anafytica, and the second part, pars systematica, analogy in steps through the process of inquiry, whereas Aquinas follows a dis
a revised version of Diuinarnm personarum. tinct ordering of questions that he calls the ordo discipHnae or the ordo doctnnae, the
The present text is based on the pars systematica of the 1964 De Deo T rino. That way of learning and teaching. By the time of the Summa theologiae Aquinas is doing
is to say, the preface, the six chapters, the epilogue, and appendices I, 2, and theology in 'that order. It is the order proper to the systematic ordering of ideas.
3 of the present text consist of that work in its original Latin and in English In the way of discovery, one begins with what is most clearly known to us and
translation on facing pages. What here are called appendices 2A and 2B consist proceeds by way of analysis to the discovery of causes, reasons, explanation. In
of material from the 1955 notes' that Lonergan chose not to publish in Divinarum the way oflearning and teaching, one begins vvith the causes, reasons, explana
personarum and in De Deo T rino, Pars systematica, and appendix 4 of the present book tion reached in the way of discovery and composes synthetically the realities thus
consists of the material from Divinarum personarum that was either omitted from explained.
the 1964 text or revised for inclusion in the later text. Thus, we may reasonably Lonergan not only stands in this particular tradition; he also advances it, and
claim that we have assembled here the total output of Bernard Lonergan in the quite considerably. His psychological penetration especially of the procession of
systematics of the Trinity d~~ to 196+ Appendix 3A is the result of an editorial inner word from act of understanding is more detailed and more differentiated
decision to include here a letter that Lonergan wrote to Rev. Gerard Smith, s.]., in terms of interiority than was that of either Augustine or Thomas. He brings to
of Marquette University, who had written Lonergan vvith some questions on the the work the vast riches of his explorations of human cognitional and deliberative
theory of relations. process in the mammoth work Insight; and while many of the seeds of that work
In his later work Lonergan would suggest developments in the speculative por are potential, and a few of th.em actual, in the work ofA quinas, clearly Lonergan is
tion of trinitarian theology, but these are only sketched in his work and left to standing on his own two feet as he works out the theory of intentional consciousness
others to complete. Those suggestions will be found in their appropriate places that he brings to bear on the psychological analogy. And his later suggestion 'from
in other volumes of the Collected Works. Volume II of the Collected Works, 7he above' embarks on an entirely new line of thought that he has left to others to
Triune God: Doctrines, will do for the pars anafytica or pars dogmatica of De Deo Trino develop.
what we have attempted to do here for the pars systematica. The systematic part of De Deo T rino,·like every work in systematic theology, has
Lonergan's systematics of the Trinity stands in a tradition of theological re as its principal objective an understanding of a doctrine or set of doctrines that are
flection on this central mystery of the Christian faith, a tradition whose principal already proposed by the church and/ or accepted within a particular theological
previous figures are St Augustine and St Thomas Aquinas. That is to say, Loner tradition. In the pars dogmatica of De Deo Trino, which will constitute volume II in
gan is firmly in the tradition that employs what has come to be called a psycho the Collected Works, Lonergan presents five such affirmations. (I) God the Father
logical analogy for understanding the divine processions. This analogy was first neither made his own and only Son from some preexisting material nor created
worked out by Augustine in his De T rinitate and furthered by Aquinas in both the the Son from nothing, but from eternity out of his own substance generated the
Summa contra Gentiles and the Summa theologiae, prima pars, questions 27 to 43. Lon Son as consubstantial to the Father. (2) The Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of
ergan's work develops that analogy. It represents the third and fourth moments life, proceeding from the Father, who spoke through the prophets, is to be adored
in the development of that analogy: the third moment in De Deo T rino: Pars .rys and glorified toget.her with the Father and the Son. (3) Therefore, one is the
tematica, offered here in English translation, and the fourth in the later suggestion divinity, power, and substance of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
already alluded to, where the analogy proceeds 'from above downwards' in con Spirit, but three are the persons or hypostases distinguished from one another by
sciousness. their proper characteristics, which are all in the order of relation; hence in God
The Robert Mollot Collection Collected Works of Bernard Lonergan
xx General Editors' Preface 'txi General Editors' Preface
everything is one except where the opposition of relation dictates otherwise. (4) The 'May this Collected Works edition of the systematic volume of Lonergan's trini
Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son as from one principle and by tarian theology do something to reverse the trend or at least to even the score. It
or
OTIe spiration. (5) The dogma the Trinity, which is a mystery properly so called, will not be an easy task for theologians to assume. Consciousness itself must first
cannot by principles natural to us either be understood in i.tself or be demonstrated gain a place of honor in philosophy and theology, and then intelligible emana
from its effects; this remains true even after revelation, when, however, reason tion will be poised for the breakthrough now denied it.
illumined by faith can proceed, with God's help, to an analogical and imperfect 'When the theologians of intelligible emanation compete on a levd playing
understanding of this mystery. That analogical and imperfect understanding is field with those of interpersonal relations, I anticipate that what may start as
precisely the objective of the present volume. competition will become collaboration, with the greatly increased riches that will
I asked my colleague and.fellow General Editor, Frederick E. Crowe, who is accompany th;t development. This translation will, I believe, expedite the desired
well known not only for his general expertise in Lonergan's work but also for the change and release a flood of studies authored by those for whom Latin is sadly
notes he wrote and the classes he taught in trinitarian theology and for his own a closed book.'
contribution to an understanding of Aquinas's position on love, jf he would con
I
tribute a few paragraphs to this General Editors' Preface. Here is what he wrote: We turn now to a few minutiae of editing.
'Lonergan taught the Trinity for the first time in the fall semester of [the aca As with the earlier volume 7, The Ontological and PljIchological Constitution rif Christ,
demic year] 1949-1950 at Regis College in Toronto. I attended those lectures in we follow the policy of confining to the Latin text the Gregorian University Press
my fourth year of theology under his tutelage. They ended with a sweeping view distribution into paragraphs of larger and smaller print, but with the reminder
of lire and thought, exploitiD:g the potentialities of the trinitarian categories of in that this distribution was of some importance to Lonergan.
telligence, word, and love. It was an exhilarating experience for me, and not only As in other volumes, the Oyord American Dictionary and the Chicago Manual rif
that: as well it became an anchor through several years of change in a changing Sf:yle have been relied upon, not slavishly but with a predisposition in their favor.
world conceived in the categories of a changing theology. In addition to using DB and DS in reference to Denzinger's Enchiridion, we have
'The potentialities of the psychological triad had one drawback: they kept me added in the English text NO, referring to equivalent numbers, where available, in
from attending sufficiently to the riches of interpersonal relations. These I found a Joseph Neuner and Jacques Dupqis, TIe Christian Faith, 7th ed. (New York: Alba
few years later in chapters 5 and 6 of Divinarum personarum. I do not say those riches House, 2001). We continue to use the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible.
were only potential in the lectures of 1949-1950; we receive what we are ready to We also continue our practice of putting brackets around editorial footnotes and
receive, and whether or not Lonergan presented the ideas that were to become comments.
chapters 5 and 6, I was not ready to receive them. Even after those chapters came The General Editors wish to thank Michael Shields for his very careful and
out in print and I was teaching them, I was still for some years a particular fan of dedicated attention to the work of translation. It is probably no exaggeration to
the emanatio intelligibilis. say that decades, and we hope centuries, of readers will be grateful to him. We
'What have I to say now almost fifty years after Lonergan's Divinarum personarum? wish also to thank Daniel Monsour, who brings to the work of editing a text
I think chiefly that I am grateful to have focused first on intelligible emanation like this not only a depth of philosophical and theological penetration but also a
and to have come later to an appreciation of interpersonal relations. Watching facility for painstaking research that seems second nature to him. Professors Neil
theological education now somewhat from a distance, I have the impression that Ormerod and Charles C. Hefling offered very helpful suggestions after reading
intelligible emanation is being shortchanged: interpersonal relations have seized the penultimate text.
the theological imagination, and intelligible emanation, along with the study of We cannot issue this text to the public without mentioning the tremendous
consciousness in general, is relegated to an interesting footno·te. assistance that an earlier translation has brought to Lonergan students. This earlier
translation, available in typescript at many Lonergan Centers, was done by John
1 See Frederick E. Crowe, 'Complacency and Concern in the Thought of St. Brezovec. It was consulted by the editors on numerOus occasions, as was the work
Thomas,' now available in Crowe, Three Thomist Studies, ed. Michael Vertin (Boston: on this volume done by Quentin Quesnell and the translation of the first chapter
Lonergan Workshop, 2000) 71-203. of Divinarum personarum done by Francis Greaney.
The Robert Mollot Collection Collected Works of Bernard Lonergan