(B)
How do we know there are three persons in God?
We know this by faith.
Could reason, without the help of faith, know that there are three persons in God?
No (XXXII. 1).
When faith tells us there are three persons in God, can reason understand this?
No. Even though faith tell us this, reason fails to understand (XXXII. 1, Obj. 2).
What are these truths called that are beyond reason's grasp and are known by faith only?
They are called mysteries.
Is the doctrine of the three Divine Persons a mystery?
Yes; and it is the most inscrutable of all mysteries.
What is this mystery of the three Divine Persons called?
It is called the mystery of the Holy Trinity (XXXI. 1).
Shall we ever come to know the Holy Trinity in itself?
Yes, some day we shall know the Holy Trinity in itself, for this knowledge will constitute our eternal happiness in heaven.
Is it possible on earth to get a glimpse of the beauties of this mystery of the Holy Trinity by a consideration of those actions which are proper to intellectual beings?
Yes, for these actions imply in an intellectual being the twofold relation of principle and term whether the action be one of thought or of love; for faith teaches us that in God in the act which is thought, the Father has the nature of the principle that expresses and the Word the nature of the term expressed; and in the act which is loving, the Father and the Son are co-principles of love in relation to the Holy Ghost who has the nature of the one loved.
What then is the ultimate reason of the mystery of the Holy Trinity in God?
It is the infinite richness or fecundity of the divine nature which demands the existence of these mysterious processions, which are called processions of origin (XXVII. 1).
Pegues OP, R P Thomas. Catechism of the "Summa Theologica" of Saint Thomas Aquinas for the Use of the Faithful (pp. 39-41). Veritatis Splendor Publications. Kindle Edition.
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