BONUS | The Trinity & Simplicity w/ Ryan Hurd
Summary
What is meant by ‘divine simplicity’ in Thomas Aquinas and those before him? How do we come to affirm the doctrine of divine simplicity? Why is that a different process than that by which we come to affirm the Trinity? How is the Trinity compatible with a doctrine of divine simplicity? Ryan Hurd joins us to tackle these questions and more from a Thomistic Perspective.
Guest Bio
Ryan Hurd is a systematic theologian whose area of expertise is doctrine of God, specifically the Trinity. His primary training is in the high medievals and early modern scholastics as well as the 20th century ressourcement movement. He has written a number of articles and regularly does translations of early modern theology sources; but his primary project is writing a robust systematics of the Trinity.
Topics
- What have you been working on since our last episode together?
- How do you think we should think about the doctrine of divine simplicity? What are some key ideas we need to know for this discussion?
- Why do we affirm simplicity and how does that differ from why we affirm the Trinity?
- Would you say simplicity is required for an orthodox understanding of the Trinity? And can you elaborate on this?
- Can you speak more about the issue of counting “one” and “three” and how simplicity is relevant to this? In what senses is God one and in what senses is He three?
- One objection to compatibility between simplicity and the Trinity deals with how Aquinas speaks of the Father being “identical to” the divine essence and the Son being “identical to” the divine essence. Analytic philosophers say any two things “identical to” the same thing must be identical to each other. That’s just how modern analytic philosophers understand the identity relation. Yet, on this understanding, St. Thomas is led to conclude that the Father is “identical to” the Son, which violates Trinitarian orthodoxy. So, they say, the Son and Father cannot really be “identical to” the divine essence in the way simplicity theorists claim. How might you resolve this tension?
Resources
Sign up here to Take Ryan Hurd’s Course (download the syllabus below)
The Lord is One: Reclaiming the Doctrine of Divine Simplicity (Davenant Retrievals)
The Trinitarian Theology of St. Thomas Aquinas by Fr. Gilles Emery OP
Canon Law on “Heresy” (see 751) – Ryan expressed that he concurs with my postinterview comments regarding this.
The Trinitarian Christology of St. Thomas Aquinas by Fr. Dominic Legge
Google doc with References and Select Citations from the Episode
Additional Resources
Divine Simplicity and the Holy Trinity by Fr. Thomas Joseph White O.P. (International Journal of Systematic Theology)
Nicene Orthodoxy and Trinitarian Simplicity by Fr. Thomas Joseph White O.P. (American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly)
Conciliar Trinitarianism, Divine Identity Claims, and Subordination by Dr. Timothy Pawl (Theologica)
A Trinitarian Trilemma for Deniers of Divine Simplicity (blog post) by Christopher Tomaszewski
Related Episodes
BONUS|An Introduction to St. Thomas on the Trinity w/ Ryan Hurd
BONUS|Domingo Banez & Divine Simplicity w/ Ryan Hurd
Ep. #101 – Does the Trinity entail Simplicity? w/ Tomaszewski
Ep. #100 – Divine Simplicity & the Holy Trinity w/ Fr. Thomas Joseph White
Ep. #30 – Understanding Church Authority with Jimmy Akin
Been really enjoying your episodes on divine simplicity, the attributes, and the triunity of God. However, in this episode you said you’d post in the show notes the detailed references that Ryan mentions. I can’t see them here – can you direct me?
Hi Michael,
Thanks for the comment. I apologize that I do not have those references at the moment. I meant to record them when publishing the episode and did not. I will try to get the main references up in a couple of days.
Peace,
John
Actually, Michael, I did post it in the Resources on this page. Try the link titled “Google doc” above. Hope this helps!
Fantastic. Thanks so much!