Glossary of Terms
Glossary of Terms
The following terms are used by Aquinas in his Quodlibetal Questions.
Abbot The superior in an abbey to whom all the monks of the abbey owe obedience. See also Monastery.
Accident A thing whose nature it is to exist not in and of itself but, rather, in and of something else, which it qualifies or characterizes as such and such. Palenesss, for example, exists in and of Socrates, making him pale. See also Substance.
Accidental Form That in a substance which determines what it happens to be like, as opposed to what kind of thing it is by nature. See also Form and Accident.
Active Scandal Saying or doing something that is or appears to be evil and is liable to occasion another person’s sin—e.g., by inducing it, or encouraging it, or licensing it.
Actuality Any sort of real existence.
Aevum The Latin form of the Greek word for eternity (aiōn). The aevum is the measure of the duration of non-bodily creatures (i.e., angels), as time is the measure of the duration of bodily creatures.
Agent Intellect The intellect’s ability to abstract the formal, universal, intelligible content (e.g., catness) from a material, particular mental image of a sensible thing (e.g., this cat). This abstracted intelligible content is called an intelligible species, and is received by the possible intellect. See also Possible Intellect.
Allegorical One of the four senses Aquinas attributes to sacred scripture: literal, allegorical, tropological, and anagogical. The literal sense of scripture is the historical meaning of its words. The allegorical sense is the figurative use of things in the Old Testament to stand for things in the New Testament. The tropological or moral sense is the figurative use of things to teach us how to act rightly in the present life. The anagogical sense is the figurative use of things in the Old or New Testament to stand for things about the future state of the blessed.
Angel A wholly immaterial creature with intellect and will.
Archdeacon A senior cleric with many delegated rights and responsibilities of a bishop.
Archdeaconry The ecclesiastical jurisdiction of an archdeacon.
Benefice Income associated with an ecclesiastical office.
Canonical Hours See Divine Office.
Canon Regular A member of a community of priests (often based at a cathedral) bound to live according to a religious rule (normally the Rule of St. Augustine), as opposed to secular canons, who were not so bound.
Canon Law Ecclesiastical law as opposed to civil law.
Catechesis The process of teaching the Christian faith, especially to those preparing to receive the sacraments of baptism, confirmation, and Eucharist.
Chapter The group that governs a monastery, priory, cathedral, or collegiate church.
Church Militant The members of the Church still alive on earth, as opposed to the members of the Church already in heaven.
Church Triumphant The members of the Church already in heaven, as opposed to the members of the Church still alive on earth.
Cleric A member of the clergy—i.e., those who have made a commitment to live under special ecclesiastical jurisdiction in service of the Church—as opposed to the laity, who have not made such a commitment.
Combining and Dividing The intellect’s act of making judgments and forming propositions. “Combining” refers to the intellect’s act of joining things in affirmative propositions (e.g., “A polar bear is white”), whereas “dividing” refers to the intellect’s act of separating things in negative propositions (e.g., “A lump of coal is not white”).
Compaternity The relationship between a child’s godparents and parents, which was an impediment to marriage in the Church. For example, a child’s mother and godfather could not marry in the Church due to their compaternity.
Compline A religious service of psalms, readings, and prayers to be said at night before bed.
Concupiscence Disordered desire of the sense-appetites—e.g., the desire for the pleasures of food, drink, or sex beyond the bounds set by reason.
Counsel A recommendation, as opposed to a binding command, about how to live a holy life. Aquinas thought that in the gospel Christ had counseled poverty, chastity, and obedience.
Deacon A cleric ordained to the holy order immediately below that of the priesthood.
Divine Office Psalms, readings, and prayers which priests and religious are obliged to recite on a daily basis. The divine office is divided into canonical hours such as matins and vespers, which are typically said at certain times of day and night.
Efficient Cause An agent that makes a thing exist, whether absolutely (making it what it is by nature) or in a certain respect (making it what it happens to be like).
Empyrean Heaven Aquinas thought that the earth was surrounded by spheres called heavens. The empyrean heaven is the highest of these spheres (i.e., the one farthest from the earth), which Aquinas thought of as a place of splendor where the blessed will dwell forever.
Essence That in a thing which makes it to be what it is—i.e., this kind of thing rather than that kind of thing—as opposed to what it merely happens to be like. The essence of bodily substances is made up of both their substantial form and matter. See also Substantial Form and Matter.
External Senses Sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch, as opposed to internal senses such as imagination and memory.
Final Cause The end or goal for the sake of which anything acts.
First Tablet The Bible says that the Ten Commandments were written by God on two stone tablets (cf. Exodus 31:18). The commandments that state our obligations to God (e.g., You shall have no other gods before me, You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, etc.) were traditionally thought to have been written on the first tablet. The commandments that state our obligations to our neighbor (e.g., You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, etc.) were traditionally thought to have been written on the second tablet.
Form That in a thing which determines the character of its existence, whether substantially (determining what kind of thing it is by nature) or accidentally (determining what it happens to be like). See also Accidental Form and Substantial Form.
Form of a Part The substantial form of a bodily substance. The form of a part combines with matter to make up the essence or nature of a bodily substance, as the human soul, for example, combines with the body to make up humanity.
Form of the Whole The whole essence or nature of a thing. In the case of bodily substances, the form of the whole includes both their substantial form and matter, as humanity, for example, includes both soul and body.
Formal Cause That in a thing which determines the character of its existence. See also Form.
Genus A kind common to specifically different things, which can be predicated of them as what they are (as opposed to what they merely happen to be like), as being an animal can be predicated of both dogs and cats.
Grace of Adoption The grace that makes one an adopted child of God in Jesus Christ.
Grace of Union The grace uniting humanity to divinity in the person of Jesus Christ.
Heavenly Bodies Natural bodies outside the earth’s atmosphere.
Holy Saturday The day after the crucifixion of Jesus, which Christians observe each year on the last day of Lent.
Intelligible Species The formal, universal, intelligible content (e.g., catness) that the agent intellect abstracts from a material, particular mental image of a sensible thing (e.g., this cat). This abstracted intelligible content is received by the possible intellect. Intelligible species are not the objects of thought but, rather, the means by which the possible intellect forms concepts and thus thinks of things. See also Agent Intellect and Possible Intellect.
Keys (of the Church) The power given to the Church via the pope to forgive or refuse to forgive sin. Talk of “the Church’s keys” or “the power of the keys” refers to the sacrament of penance (i.e., confession and forgiveness of sin). Aquinas thought that Christ had given this power to the Church through St. Peter (cf. Matthew 16:19), whom he considered the first pope.
Know in the Flesh To have sexual intercourse.
Lent A period of solemn religious observance that Christians keep each year beginning on Ash Wednesday and ending approximately six weeks later on Easter Sunday.
Liberal Arts Grammar, rhetoric, dialectic, arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy.
Light of Glory The ability God bestows on a created intellect to see the divine essence.
Marriage Debt The mutual obligation between a husband and wife to engage in sexual relations open to the transmission of life.
Matter That in which the forms of bodily things are received and inhere, which gives them the potential to change by receiving new forms. Matter is the source of spatiotemporal extension in bodily things, making them exist here and now rather than then and there; it is also the source of their individuality, making each one of them this rather than that. See also Material Cause and Prime Matter.
Material Cause That out of which something is made to exist by receiving a new form. See also Matter and Prime Matter.
Matins A religious service of psalms, readings, and prayers to be recited early in the day.
Mechanical Arts Practical skills such as weaving, farming, building, hunting, cooking, navigating, trading, and so on.
Monastery A community of monks or nuns bound by vows of stability, obedience, and the monastic way of life, often according to the Rule of St. Benedict. See also Abbot.
Nature A thing’s essence considered as the source of its characteristic activities.
Our Lady The mother of Jesus Christ.
Possible Intellect The intellect’s ability to receive the formal, universal, intelligible content (e.g., catness) abstracted from a material, particular mental image of a sensible thing (e.g., this cat). This abstracted intelligible content is called an intelligible species. It is not the object of thought but, rather, the means by which the possible intellect forms concepts and thus thinks of things. See also Agent Intellect.
Potentiality Any sort of possible existence.
Prebend Income associated with membership in a chapter of a cathedral or collegiate church.
Prelate A senior ecclesiastical official, such as a pope, bishop, or abbot, with jurisdiction over other ecclesiastical offices.
Prescription A legal way of acquiring property by possessing or using it for a set period of time.
Prime Matter That out of which a bodily substance is made to exist by receiving a new substantial form, which inheres in it and makes it exist as the kind of thing it is. Prime matter is the underlying subject of substantial change—i.e., the change of one substance into another (e.g., of a cow into beef). As such, prime matter in itself is altogether devoid of form. See also Matter.
Principle A primary source or origin from which something flows or on which it depends. In the mind, a principle is a primary source of our knowledge of things. Such principles can be simple (i.e., basic concepts such as “existent,” “one,” “thing,” etc.) or compound (i.e., basic propositions such as “An existent cannot both exist and not exist at the same time and in the same respect”). Outside the mind, a principle is a primary source of the existence of things. Such principles can be external to things, such as the efficient cause of a thing’s existence, or internal to things, such as the formal cause of a thing’s existence.
Prior The superior in an abbey who ranks next after the abbot. The superior in a Dominican priory was also known as a prior.
Privation The lack of something in a thing naturally apt to have it, as blindness is the lack of sight in an animal naturally apt to see.
Purgatory A state after death in which the souls of the faithful departed are purified for the remission of sin prior to enjoying the blessedness of heaven.
Religious As a noun: someone, such as a monk, nun, or friar, who belongs to a religious order or community.
Sacrament An outward sign or rite instituted by Christ for the transmission of inward grace. There are seven sacraments: baptism, confirmation, Eucharist, penance (i.e., confession and forgiveness of sin), marriage, holy orders (i.e., ordination), and extreme unction (i.e., anointing of the sick).
Sacrament of the Altar The Eucharist—i.e., the body and blood of Christ existing under the outward appearances of bread and wine.
Satisfaction The making of due amends for a wrong done.
Second Tablet See First Tablet.
Secular As a noun: someone who is not a religious—i.e., does not belong to a religious order or community. See also Religious.
Sensible Species The likeness of sensible things such as color, sound, taste, etc., received by and existing in the senses (or in the medium of sensation). Such species are not the objects of sensation but, rather, the means by which external objects are sensed.
Separated Soul The soul of a human being after being separated from its body at death and before being reunited to its body at the resurrection of the dead.
Simony The sin of selling something sacred—e.g., a sacrament or an ecclesiastical office.
Simple Canon A member of the chapter of a cathedral or collegiate church.
Simplicity The lack of composition, whether of physical or metaphysical parts or components.
Soul The primary source or principle of life and its attendant activities in any living thing, whether plant, nonhuman animal, or human being. The vegetative soul is the source of activities characteristic of plants, the sensitive soul is the source of activities characteristic of nonhuman animals, and the intellective soul is the source of activities characteristic of human beings.
Species In things: a kind common to numerically different things, which can be predicated of them as what they are (as opposed to what they merely happen to be like), as being a man can be predicated of Socrates and Plato—i.e., two men. In cognition: the likeness of things existing in the senses or the intellect. See also Sensible Species and Intelligible Species.
Specific Difference What distinguishes one species from another within the same genus, as being rational distinguishes humans from nonhuman animals. See also Genus and Species.
Stipend Financial support given to a cleric while holding some office or performing some service in the Church.
Substance A thing whose nature it is to exist in and of itself, rather than in and of something else. Socrates, for example, exists in and of himself, whereas paleness exists in and of Socrates, making him pale. See also Accident.
Substantial Form That in a substance which determines its existence as the kind of thing it is by nature, as opposed to what it merely happens to be like. The substantial form of bodily substances is received by and inheres directly in prime matter. See also Form and Essence.
Suffrages Prayers or works offered to God for the benefit of the souls of the faithful departed.
Superior A bishop, priest, or religious with authority over those bound to obey them.
Ten Categories The ten most general kinds of things that Aquinas thought there are: substances, quantities, qualities, relations, places, times, positions, possessions, actions, and passions (i.e., ways of being affected). These were first enumerated in Aristotle’s Categories.
The Virgin The mother of Jesus Christ.
Tithes Payments made to support the Church (its rites, ministers, works, etc.).
Transubstantiation The miraculous conversion of bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ in the sacrament of the Eucharist.
Universal Something common to many things that can be predicated of all of them.
Vespers A religious service of psalms, readings, and prayers to be said in the early evening.
Vicar Someone appointed to fulfill the responsibilities of another person’s ecclesiastical office.
Vigils Periods of devotion or prayer during normal sleeping hours.
Vow A promise made to God, often in a solemn ecclesiastical context.
The Word The second person of the divine Trinity who became incarnate in Jesus Christ.