ABSTRACT
In Question 13 of the Summa Thomas turns to the issue of the names of God. The nomina divina is a well-known topic in patristic and scholastic theology, as can be seen, for instance, from Pseudo-Dionysius’ De divinis nominibus, which is a major and highly esteemed source of Thomas’ views on this matter.1 From Dionysius, Thomas took as his guiding principle the idea that God – the primordial and transcendent cause of everything – manifests himself in the world through a diversity of perfections, such as ‘being’, ‘life’, ‘wisdom’ and so on, which fl ow from the divine source into the created effects. From these perfections, as participated by creatures, God can be named as their eminent source and principle. It thus appears that the analysis of divine names is closely linked with the doctrine of creation. The causality of creation, understood in the Neoplatonic sense of participation, provides the foundation of the possibility of naming God from his effects.
