Divine Production in Late Medieval Trinitarian Theology: Henry of Ghent, Duns Scotus, and William Ockham (Oxford Theological Monographs)

According to the doctrine of the Trinity, the Father, Son, and Spirit are supposed to be distinct from each other, and yet be one and the same God. As if that were not perplexing enough, there is also supposed to be an internal process of production that gives rise to the Son and Spirit: the Son is said to be 'begotten' by the Father, while the Spirit is said to 'proceed' either from the Father and the Son together, or from the Father, but through the Son. One might wonder, though, just how this sort of divine production is supposed to work. Does the Father, for instance, fashion the Son out of materials, or does he conjure up the Son out of nothing? Is there a middle ground one could take here, or is the whole idea of divine production simply unintelligible? In the late 13th and early 14th centuries, scholastic theologians subjected these questions to detailed philosophical analysis, and those discussions make up one of the most important, and one of the most neglected, aspects of late medieval trinitarian theology. This book examines the central ideas and arguments that defined this debate, namely those of Henry of Ghent, John Duns Scotus, and William Ockham. Their discussions are significant not only for the history of trinitarian theology, but also for the history of philosophy, especially regarding the notions of production and causal powers. Cover Contents Abbreviations 1. Introduction 1.1 Aristotle on production 1.2 Avicenna on production 1.3 Basic problems: creation and subordination 1.4 Points of agreement 1.5 Conclusion PART I : HOW A DIVINE PERSON IS PRODUCED 2. Change and Production 2.1 An Aristotelian model of change 2.2 Categorizing changes 2.3 Production 2.4 Divine production 3. Henry of Ghent 3.1 Solving the creation problem 3.2 Divine begetting and terrestrial begetting 3.3 The terminus of production 3.4 Disanalogies 3.5 Conclusion 4. Scotus against Henry 4.1 The terminus of change and production 4.2 Divine production is not a mere change in relationship 4.3 The subject of incompatible properties 4.4 Conclusion 5. Scotus on the Son’s Production 5.1 Begetting does not require any materials 5.2 The Son is not created from nothing 5.3 The Son is begotten from the Father’s substance 5.4 The constitution of the divine persons 5.5 Conclusion 6. Ockham against Scotus 6.1 The formal terminus of production 6.2 The terminus of divine production 7. Ockham against Henry 7.1 The divine essence is not a literal lump of matter 7.2 The divine essence is not like a lump of matter 7.3 Conclusion PART II: HOW A DIVINE PERSON IS A PRODUCER 8. Action and Producers 8.1 Action 8.2 Power 8.3 What is the source of divine production? 9. Henry of Ghent on Powers 9.1 Henry’s ontology of powers 9.2 Powers can exist in the Godhead 10. Henry of Ghent on Powers in the Godhead 10.1 The basis for divine activity and power 10.2 One basis for many divine activities and powers 10.3 The power to produce another divine person 11. Scotus against Henry 11.1 The divine essence does not need any determination 11.2 Relationships cannot determine powers 11.3 Relationships are required for divine production 12. Scotus on Power and Perfection 12.1 Subordinationism 12.2 The divine essence is a perfect power source 13. Ockham against Henry 13.1 Relationships cannot determine anything’s activity 13.2 Fatherhood is not the source of the Father’s reproductive activity 14. Ockham on the Source of Divine Production 14.1 The source of productive activity 14.2 The power source for the Father’s reproductive activity 14.3 Productive acts are not produced 14.4 Conclusion 15. Conclusion 15.1 How a divine person is produced 15.2 How a divine person is a producer 15.3 Solving the creation and subordination problems 15.4 Scholastic philosophy and theological orthodoxy Works Cited Index A B C D E F G H I K L M N O P Q R S T U V W According to the doctrine of the Trinity, the Father, Son, and Spirit are supposed to be distinct from each other, and yet be one and the same God. As if that were not perplexing enough, there is also supposed to be an internal process of production that gives rise to the Son and Spirit: the Son is said to be “begotten” by the Father, while the Spirit is said to “proceed” either from the Father and the Son together, or from the Father, but through the Son. One might wonder, though, just how this sort of divine production is supposed to work. Does the Father, for instance, fashion the Son out of materials, or does he conjure up the Son out of nothing? Is there a middle ground one could take here, or is the whole idea of divine production just flat out unintelligible? In the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries, scholastic theologians subjected these questions to detailed philosophical analysis, and those discussions make up one of the most important, and one of the most neglected, aspects of late medieval Trinitarian theology. This book examines the central ideas and arguments that defined this debate, namely those of Henry of Ghent, John Duns Scotus, and William Ockham. Their discussions are significant not only for the history of Trinitarian theology, but also for the history of philosophy, especially regarding the notions of production and causal powers This book examines the central ideas that defined the debate about divine production in the Trinity in the late 13th and early 14th centuries, namely those of Henry of Ghent, John Duns Scotus, and William Ockham. Their discussions are significant for the history of trinitarian theology and the history of philosophy.