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Whether relation is the same as person?
We know the Persons of God by their relations, just as the opposites of something identify what they are (for example, if you are in the country of Mexico then you can infer that you are not in the country of America - logically speaking through the principle of opposites we have just identified two separate nations, not one). With this premise in mind, we can say that The Father’s relation to the Holy Trinity is of paternity (not maternity, as some modernist heretics have proclaimed). This is how we identify who the Person of the Father is, although we cannot see Him, because He revealed Himself as a Father and not a mother - therefore His relation to the Holy Trinity is of paternity, as the Nicene Creed and Apostle’s Creed professes. The Son’s (Christ Jesus) relation to the Holy Trinity is of filiation (Sonship), as we can identify the opposite relations between Son to Father and Father to Son, therefore we can identify the person of the Son through the relation of filiation. As for the Holy Spirit, its relation to the Holy Trinity is procession, which means The Third Person of the Holy Trinity is identified by coming from both the Father and Son, as the scriptures proclaim (to which divine names every person on earth was commanded to be baptized into). As for the Father and Son’s relation to the Holy Spirit, this comes by way of spiration, which comes from both of them, thus there are the four relations in God pertaining to the Holy Trinity - paternity, filiation, spiration, and procession. Therefore, we see the relation of the person which leads us to identify the person. If the relation and principle of opposites were incorrect or of something else, then these Three Divine Persons of God (Three Persons in ONE ESSENCE) would not be distinguishable. Yet they most clearly are by way of the scriptures, the Prophets, the Saints, and what the Church professes by way of the Holy Spirit as divinely revealed by God throughout the age. All things considered, we must say that the relation of God is in God as its essence and they are real relations not notional or metaphorical ones. Figuratively speaking, we can mention properties of God (such as human descriptions and ideas about him), but this is only for our own understanding of Him, as the essence is the same as The Person.
I am blessed to be a Third Order Lay Dominican. However, the ideas expressed in this post are my own and do not represent the endorsement of or position of the Order of Preachers as a whole.
Commentary regarding Saint Thomas Aquinas’ Summa Theologiae derived from: ST part (I), Q. 27-49 from newadvent.org with permission. Scripture texts in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C. and are used by permission of the copyright owner. All Rights Reserved. No part of the New American Bible may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
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