Thesis.
SECTION VII: ON THE INFINITY OF GOD
Thesis.
§ 162. God is truly infinite. We take infinity to mean the sort of property that God can be limited by no time nor place nor anything else but that He is infinite in His own nature and essence, actually, simply, of Himself, and absolutely. We do not understand it (1) as an infinity of corporeal quantity or extension but of essence and perfection. Nor (2) as a privative infinity, but rather negative. Something privatively nonfinite is that which has not yet attained its ultimate perfection, such as a fetus in the womb. Something negatively nonfinite is that which lacks terminus and limitation in such a way that it cannot and should not be bound and limited. Again, that is said to be privatively infinite which, though it does not now have an end in actuality, nevertheless can have one, like quantity. [That is said to be] negatively [infinite] which simply has no end. (3) Although the etymology of “infinite” has to do only with the “end” [finis], nevertheless we understand that there is [also] a beginning limit [that is negated in the term “infinite”], so that God is and is said to be infinite because He has neither beginning nor end. (4) To the philosophers something infinite is threefold according to its substance, quantity (namely, continuous and discrete), and quality. In created things, there is nothing infinite in actuality neither according to substance (because every created substance is a compound) nor according to quantity nor according to quality because quantity and quality cannot be infinite in a finite substance. God alone is infinite, not according to quantity or quality but according to substance.
§ 163. This infinity of God is proved by: (I) Holy Scripture and, in fact, in three ways: (1) By affirmation. Ps. 145:3: “Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised.” Baruch 3:[25]: “He is great and has no limits; He is high and without measure.” (2) By negation. Ps. 145:3: “There is no 
investigation to the foundation (end) of His greatness.” (3) By comparison. Job 11:[7–9]: “Will you discover God by searching? Will you discover Him at the perfection of Shaddai? What will you do in the heights of heaven? Will you learn that He is deeper than hell? His measure is longer than the earth and His breadth, than the sea.” Isa. 40:12, 15, 17: “Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, and who has measured the heavens with His palm? Who has hung the mass of the earth with three fingers? Who has weighed the mountains on scales and the hills on a balance? … Behold, the nations are like a drop in a bucket before Him and are considered like dust on the scales. Behold, He takes up the islands like fine dust…. All the nations are as nothing before Him. He considers them less than nothing and emptiness.” Wisdom 11:23, etc., Dan. 4:[35]: “All the inhabitants of the earth are counted as nothing.”
§ 164. (II) Reason: (1) From the nature and condition of the infinite. Something is called “infinite” because it is not finite. Now, each form considered in itself is common to many things and in this respect is said to be infinite, that is, in potential. But when it is taken into matter, it becomes the determinate form of this thing and thus is said to be limited, that is, in actuality. Therefore because God is sheer and pure actuality and His being is not taken into anything but subsists of itself, it is obvious that God is not finite but is especially formal40 and infinite. (See Savonarola, De verit. fid., bk. 1, c. 8.) (However, if God were to keep form separate from all matter, it still would be finite and limited. Therefore it is more correct to say that form is limited by the very finity of [its] essence than by its reception into matter.)
(2) From God’s perfection. Whatever has neither end nor limit to its perfection and might is truly and absolutely infinite. For as that which has an end or limit to its perfection and might is finite in its perfection and might, so conversely that which has no limit in its perfection and might is infinite. But now God has no limits to His might and perfection, otherwise He would not be absolutely perfect and supreme. Therefore.
(3) By removing from God the things that make creatures finite. Creatures are finite because they lack some perfection or level of perfection in the category of being. In this way the elements are finite because they lack the level of perfection that is in living creatures, namely, life. Plants are finite because they lack that level of perfection that is in sentient beings, namely, sense and movement. Brute animals are finite because they lack that level of perfection that is in intelligent creatures—angels and humans—namely, intelligence. Angels and humans are finite because they lack that level of perfection that is in God, who is the uncreated, independent being, the cause of all things. But God lacks neither perfection nor level of perfection in the entire spectrum [latitudo] of being, but Himself contains in actuality all the perfections possible in the category of being.
Furthermore, the essences of things are bound and limited in many ways: (a) By knowledge. (b) By duration. (c) By place. (d) By production of result, namely, when something is limited by some one of these in such a way that it cannot extend itself further. (e) By receiving its own being from something else. For since every effect is contained within the potential and effectiveness of its own cause, it happens consequently that because it receives its being from its cause, it is contained and limited by the power and effectiveness of its cause. But God is limited in none of these ways. Not by the first, because He is known by the finite intellect in such a way that He still is not comprehended. Therefore He is infinite according to knowledge. Not by the second, because He is eternal in duration and has neither beginning nor end. Therefore He is infinite according to duration. Not by the third, because He is neither circumscribed nor defined by place. Therefore He is infinite according to negated inclusion in a certain place. Not by the fourth, because He is not thus limited in the production of any effect so that He could not act further. Therefore He is infinite according to power. Not by the fifth, because He receives His being from no one nor does He depend on any thing to be there or to be preserved. Rather, what He is, is of Himself. Therefore He is infinite according to essence. This infinity is essential and is, as it were, the root of the prior modes of infinity.
§ 165. (III) The judgments of the fathers. Irenaeus, Adv. haeres., bk. 1, c. 12, p. 58: “The Father holds all things; He is without limit [or, without beginning].”
Ambrose, commentary on Ephesians 3: “Consider a sphere. It has as much longitude as latitude, as much height as depth. It is the same with God: All things are equal with respect to the immeasurableness of His infinity. For a sphere is enclosed in a finite way, but God not only fills all things but also even exceeds all things. He is not enclosed but has all things within Himself, so that He alone may be considered ineffable and infinite.”
John of Damascus calls God “unlimited, infinite, without shape, uncircumscribed” (Orth. fid., bk. 1, c. 4). And later: “The Deity is unlimited and incomprehensible. The only comprehension we have of Him is His unlimitedness and incomprehensibility.”
Antithesis.
§ 166. These thimgs must be set against: (I) Vorstius, who undermines the infinity of God in many ways. He writes (De Deo et attrib. div., p. 234): “In actuality, God is not simply infinite in being nor in operation, though with respect to us He is said to be infinite in both ways.” p. 235: “God is indeed pure actuality, but this does not keep Him from being finite in Himself at the same time.” p. 237: “In all nature, nothing can be infinite in actuality; therefore neither can God. God’s substance is seen by the angel; therefore it is not completely and simply infinite.” p. 235: “He is indeed infinite in His long duration [diuturnitas] because the order and necessity of nature demand this. But He is not, for this reason, of immense [unmeasurable] essence, because nature is quite averse to this.” p. 238: “The power of God is not completely infinite; therefore the essence of God is not infinite, for as infinite power requires infinite essence, so finite power requires finite essence.” Ibid.: “Holy Writ indeed calls God great, lofty, elevated, but never does it call Him absolutely infinite nor simply immense. We do not deny that He can be called infinite in some respect and comparatively, in the way that the number of the stars and the sands of the sea are infinite with respect to us.” The Apolog. exeg., c. 16, charged him with this atheism, and he tries to excuse himself with three different tricks and distinctions. However, these cannot endure the light of the truth and merely throw dust in the eyes of the ignorant while he continues to retain the muscle of his error. On p. 90 he writes: “We must always take with some pious caution an infinity no less of power than of essence.” p. 91: “To a certain extent the omnipotence of God has its own limits and cannot in any way nor in an unlimited sense be called infinite. Rather, in view of us and with special respect to its objects, it is called infinite most correctly and in such a way that the infinity both of divine power and of essence always desires some pious restriction and limitation.” On p. 96, intending to respond to the statement “that he had ascribed a sort of finite quality to God, he affirms that in the case of God it is not bad for Him to be able to be called finite in Himself or definite by His nature. And he denies that God’s essence is completely unlimited or completely indefinite, indistinct, and infinite in any way.” On p. 94 he writes that he “calls God finite not verbally or participially but only nominally as something definite, certain, distinct, and proper” (as if the question were about the words rather than about the thing itself, as if something could be called finite nominally that is not finite verbally). On p. 95 he concludes that “we can say harmlessly that God is in Himself a finite being or is limited with respect to His own nature.” p. 97: “I think that it is more reasonable and much safer simply to attribute to God some essential finitude than to admit paradoxes” (which are paradoxes in Vorstius’s brain). In c. 19 he writes: “Scripture in part assigns to God a real size and quantity.” p. 99: “Holy Writ ascribes to God true size, a true place and dwelling,” etc.
It is not clear to anyone at first glance where these arguments are headed, but they are actually directed to the destruction of the mystery of the Trinity and of the incarnation. For if God’s essence is finite, it cannot subsist whole and indivisible in three distinct persons, for in every finite essence there are as many essences as persons. If there are three essences in God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—they will not be consubstantial [
]. Also, if the divine essence of the Word is finite, surely He will not be on earth but only in heaven according to His essence; and consequently the assumed human nature will not be united personally with the Word, obviously because according to His essence He would not be in heaven but on earth.
§ 167. The arguments with which he tries to prove the finity of the divine essence have an easy explanation. (1) From the negation of effective proof: “Scripture does not declare that God is infinite. Therefore.” However, we recently showed the opposite.
(2) From the vision of God. “The angels and the blessed see the essence of God; therefore it is not infinite. (Matt. 18:10; 1 Cor. 13:12; 1 John 3:2.)” We respond. One must distinguish between seeing and comprehending. God is seen by the angels and the blessed, but they do not comprehend Him. If you should say: “There is no proportion between the finite and the infinite; therefore the created intellect as finite will not be able to see God who is simply and absolutely infinite.” We respond. We must distinguish between a proportion of quantity—which does not exist between the finite and the infinite (thus however often a number is multiplied by two, it never equals an infinite number)—and a proportion of relation [habitudo] that exists between the knowing power and a knowable object. There is such a proportion between the finite intellect and God, who is in the number of things to be known by the intellect. However, we must add that the finite intellect knows God beatifically, not through its natural powers but through the supernatural illumination of the Holy Spirit and the benefit of grace.
(3) From an absurd consequence. “If God were infinite, His creatures would be infinite too.” We respond. We invert the argument, as can be seen from the preceeding. God is called infinite in such a way that He alone is infinite. Thus He is thereby exempt from the reckoning of all things when we claim that He is infinite. All creatures are from God and have been given finite limits of their power and essence. As God alone is of and through Himself, so His essence and power are indeterminate and infinite. Furthermore, it is as absurd to say that God is not infinite because His creatures are not infinite in actuality as it is absurd to want to say that God is not uncreated and omnipotent because His creatures are not uncreated and omnipotent.
(4) From a limitation of divine power. “The power of God does not reach to impossible things; therefore it is not infinite. But if the power of God is not infinite, then neither is His essence.” We respond. We shall speak about this matter later. Here we say briefly that with God nothing is impossible except that which He does not will, that is, what is opposed to His will.
(5) From the definition of God. “Whatever is defined and is a ‘this’ is not infinite. God is defined and is a ‘this.’ Therefore He is not infinite.” We respond. It is one thing to be defined by the word of essence, it is another to be limited and circumscribed by the limits of a boundary. In some way God can be defined and described, namely, with an imperfect definition, but He is not limited and circumscribed with a limit of essence. Next, God formally is a “this,” but eminently He is all things, for He contains within Himself all the perfections possible in the category of being.
§ 168. (II) Some Calvinists, who deny the essential omnipresence of God, as we shall see in the next chapter. By such reasoning they undermine the infinity of God.
(III) The Photinians, who deny the infinity of divine essence, power, and knowledge. (See our De glor. Dei, disput. 10, § 8.) Socinus, Defens. animadv., p. 46: “Our adversaries argue that in finite essences three persons cannot exist in one undivided essence, but they can in God’s essence, which is infinite. In this response they are begging the question not in just one way, and they are saying these things that in part are obviously false and at the same time ridiculous.”
Questions about the infinity of God.
§ 169. (I) The question arises: Is God alone infinite? We respond. God alone is infinite in actuality and essence because He alone is from Himself, is through Himself, and is His own being. The other things that are called infinite are so called in potential and in a certain respect. Thomas proves that there cannot be an actual infinity in things according to size or number, much less, then, according to essence ([ST,] part 1, q. 7, art. 3–4).
(II) The question arises: Is infinity purely a negative attribute? We respond. Infinity, formally and as far as the word is concerned, indicates only the denial of an end and limit. But fundamentally and as far as the matter itself is concerned, it includes something affirmative: the supreme perfection that God is a being, existing from Himself and through Himself, completely independent of another, hence not at all finite in the property of His essence.
(III) The question arises: Is God infinite completely and in every way? We respond. Yes, for He is completely devoid of every limitation, boundary, and limit. He is infinite toward what is inferior because all things are less than and inferior to God; therefore they are an infinite distance away from Him. He is infinite toward what is superior because He takes His being from nothing and acknowledges nothing superior to Himself. He is infinite toward what is before because He is not from an efficient cause. Isa. 43:10: “Before Him nothing was formed.” He is infinite toward what is after because nothing will be formed after Him. He is infinite toward what is outside because nothing outside of Him is superior to Him. He is infinite toward what is within because He is His own being, subsisting of Himself and through Himself.
Practical use.
§ 170. Exhorting. God is infinite, His essence is infinite, His power is infinite. We wretched little humans are like grasshoppers before Him (Isa. 40:22). We are, in fact, “accounted by Him as less than nothing and emptiness” (v. 17). Therefore let us humble ourselves before God and acknowledge our nothingness. Let us say with Abraham, the father of all true believers: “I have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord, though I am but dust and ashes” (Gen. 18:27). Even the seraphim who sing “Holy, holy, holy!” veil their faces from the infinite and incomprehensible majesty of God (Isa. 6:2). What are we poor little people to do, we who are shadows, dreams, who live for a day, and, in fact, are momentary? Compared to the infinite God, the entire universe and the vast mass of heaven and earth are like a dot, and the comparison between God’s infinite essence and the entire system of heaven and earth is less than that between a great ocean and a tiny drop of water. Let us be astounded, then, as we meditate on this infinity, and let us say from the depths of our heart: “O Infinite Good, what is man, this momentary creature, that You are mindful of him?” (Ps. 8:[4]). The same infinity of the divine essence should restrain the rashness of our own imagination, lest we measure Him with our senses and with the yardstick of our intelligence. For God is the supreme longitude because of His eternity, the supreme altitude because of His majesty, the supreme latitude because of His mercy, the supreme depth because of His incomprehensible wisdom. Let us, then, be careful not to circumscribe the power, wisdom, and essence of the infinite God with our finite reason.