tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3891434218564545511.post8934938232120620816..comments2024-03-27T20:37:09.185-05:00Comments on Alexander Pruss's Blog: Aquinas on why the incarnation is fittingAlexander R Prusshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05989277655934827117noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3891434218564545511.post-13183830791202579252012-03-25T19:47:58.126-05:002012-03-25T19:47:58.126-05:00I take Aquinas's point in ST 3.1.3 to be not t...I take Aquinas's point in ST 3.1.3 to be not that the Incarnation would not have occurred had we not sinned, but that we have no way of knowing the truth of that claim unless it is divinely revealed, and, as it happens, it has not been -- all the definite information given by revelation links it with sin. So it's a point about epistemic modesty more than about the counterfactual itself -- it's better just to stick with the more modest claim, which is definitely there.<br /><br />The notion that the benefits of the Incarnation exceed all human ability to comprehend is also found, I think (I don't at present have time to look up the precise reference), in Athanasius's work On the Incarnation somewhere, and if I recall correctly is based on a reading of John 21:25.Brandonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06698839146562734910noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3891434218564545511.post-63542613422167513442012-03-25T16:50:37.768-05:002012-03-25T16:50:37.768-05:00This is interesting. I was not familiar with this...This is interesting. I was not familiar with this article.<br /><br />It gives me the following thought: in the article where he discusses why the Beatific Vision is our highest good, the reason (officially) is that it satisfies the intrinsic desire of our highest part, reason. All men by nature desire to know; to know is to know causes; God is the ultimate cause; therefore our highest good is to know God, the ultimate cause. This has always struck me as something only a philosopher would come up with. <br /><br />I think Aquinas has many other reasons under his belt, but it is noteworthy that his official conception of man's highest good is epistemic. And similarly for the Incarnation.Heath Whitehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13535886546816778688noreply@blogger.com