5 Divine simplicity and the triune identity

It is a contemporary trend by many theologians and philosophers to view the Doctrine of Divine Simplicity (from hereon, DDS) as an unnecessary, illogical, and problematic addendum of scholasticism to theology proper. However, upon further investigation, this doctrine is found to be prevalent and implied in biblically orthodox ontology. Furthermore, it may be shown that the DDS bears potentially broad ramifications to how we understand the Trinity (given that it proceeds from simplicity in logical priority) and, subsequently, how we understand the initial, sustained, and perfected work of God in salvation through grace. Therefore, contrary to current theological trends, it may be stated that the DDS is, in fact, a centrifugal, practical, and even indispensablepart of the Christian understanding of how we know God.

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The Doctrine of Divine Simplicity

CHRIST AND THE COSMOS ◽

10.1017/cbo9781316282731.004 ◽

2015 ◽

pp. 11-17

Author(s):

Keith Ward

Keyword(s):

Divine Simplicity

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Duns Scotus and William of Ockham

The Oxford Handbook of the Reception of Aquinas ◽

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198798026.013.4 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 52-67

Author(s):

Richard Cross

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Theory ◽

Religious Language ◽

William Of Ockham ◽

Divine Simplicity ◽

Beatific Vision ◽

Duns Scotus ◽

Dialectical Process ◽

The Trinity ◽

Do So

Duns Scotus and William of Ockham engage with Aquinas’ thought in fundamentally negative ways. They never make distinctively Thomist positions their own, and when they use Aquinas’ thought, they do so merely as a way of sharpening their own theologies through the dialectical process of rejecting an opponent’s view. This chapter first considers the role of Aquinas’ thought in Scotus’ teaching on religious language and univocity, divine simplicity and omnipresence, the Trinity, cognitive theory, the question of the first object of cognition, angelic individuation, the beatific vision, the plurality of substantial forms, free will, and normative ethics. A second section discusses Aquinas’ place in Ockham’s teaching on common natures, intuitive cognition, divine ideas, and the nature of grace.

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