Dist. 45, Divisio Textus
Book I: On the Mystery of the Trinity · Distinction 45
## Commentarius in Distinctionem XLV.
De voluntate secundum suam quidditatem.
Iam de voluntate Dei aliquid pro sensus nostri imbecillitate etc.
Divisio textus.
The numbered footnotes below correspond to markers in both the Latin body above and the English translation that follows. Each note is given first in Latin (`La.`), then in literal English (`En.`).
Supra1 egit Magister de scientia et potentia, hic iam tertio agit de voluntate. Et habet haec pars tres partes. In prima agit de voluntate secundum suam quidditatem. In secunda secundum eius impletionem respectu operis, qualiter scilicet impleatur, infra distinctione quadragesima sexta: Hic oritur quaestio: dictum est enim. In tertia determinat, qualiter voluntas nostra divinae conformetur, et hoc distinctione quadragesima octava: Sciendum quoque est, quod aliquando mala est voluntas.
Prima pars habet tres partes. In prima ostendit, quod voluntas Dei est ipsa divina essentia; in secunda, quod ipsa est omnium causa, ibi: Haec itaque summa boni voluntas causa est; in tertia ostendit, quod ipsa voluntas Dei est multipliciter dicta, ibi: Hic non est praetermittendum nobis etc.
Prima pars habet duas. In prima ostendit, quod velle est in Deo esse, et voluntas est essentia. In secunda solvit dubitationem, ibi: Et licet idem sit Deo velle quod esse.
Secunda pars similiter habet duas. In prima ostendit, quod divina voluntas est causa prima. In secunda ostendit, quod est causa generalissima, ibi: Voluntas igitur Dei, ut ait Augustinus.
Hic non est praetermittendum etc. Haec est tertia pars, in qua agit de istius nominis multiplicitate, et licet non sit multiplicitas aequivocationis, sed analogiae; et sunt in hac parte tres particulae. In prima ponit modum principalem accipiendi circa hoc nomen, quod est voluntas, quia scilicet accipiunt2 pro voluntate beneplaciti. In secunda ponit modos non principales, scilicet tropologicos, secundum quod accipitur pro signo voluntatis, et hoc facit ibi: Hipponoia vero secundum quamdam dicendi figuram etc. In tertia breviter epilogat praedeterminata, ibi: Quinque ergo supra posita sunt, quae dicuntur etc.
Tractatio quaestionum.
Ad intelligentiam praesentis distinctionis tria principaliter quaeruntur.
Primo quaeritur de voluntate divina quantum ad quidditatem.
Secundo quantum ad causalitatem.
Tertio quantum ad rationem significandi.
Quantum ad primum duo quaeruntur.
Primo quaeritur, utrum sit in Deo ponere voluntatem.
Secundo, utrum ipsum sit dicere omnivolentem, sicut dicitur omnipotens.
---
## Commentary on Distinction XLV.
On the will [of God] according to its quiddity.
"Now concerning the will of God [let us say] something, according to the feebleness of our understanding," etc.
Division of the text.
Above1 the Master treated of knowledge and power; here now, in the third place, he treats of [the divine] will. And this part has three parts. In the first he treats of the will according to its quiddity. In the second [he treats of it] according to its fulfillment with respect to its work — namely, how it is fulfilled — below in the forty-sixth distinction: "Here a question arises: for it has been said," etc. In the third he determines how our will is conformed to the divine [will], and this in the forty-eighth distinction: "It must also be known that sometimes the will is evil."
The first part has three [parts]. In the first he shows that God's will is the divine essence itself; in the second, that it is the cause of all things, there: "This will therefore of the highest good is the cause"; in the third he shows that God's will itself is said in many ways, there: "Here it must not be passed over by us," etc.
The first part has two [parts]. In the first he shows that to will in God is to be, and the will is the essence. In the second he resolves a doubt, there: "And although for God it is the same to will as to be."
The second part likewise has two [parts]. In the first he shows that the divine will is the first cause. In the second he shows that it is the most general cause, there: "The will therefore of God, as Augustine says."
"Here it must not be passed over," etc. — this is the third part, in which he treats of the multiplicity of this name; and although it is not a multiplicity of equivocation but of analogy, there are in this part three particles. In the first he sets forth the principal mode of taking this name which is will, namely insofar as they take it2 for the will of [God's] good pleasure. In the second he sets forth the non-principal modes — namely, the tropological [modes] — according as it is taken for a sign of will; and this he does there: "But hypponoia, according to a certain figure of speaking," etc. In the third he briefly epilogizes what has been predetermined, there: "The five things therefore set forth above, which are called," etc.
Treatment of the questions.
For the understanding of the present distinction, three [questions] are principally asked.
First, it is asked concerning the divine will as to its quiddity.
Second, as to its causality.
Third, as to its mode of signifying.
As to the first, two [questions] are asked.
First, it is asked whether the will is to be posited in God.
Second, whether it [is right] to call him "all-willing" [omnivolens], just as he is called "all-powerful" [omnipotens].
---
- Dist. XXXV–XLI. de scientia, XLII. seqq. de potentia.Distinctions XXXV–XLI [were] on knowledge, XLII and following on power.
- Pro accipiunt Vat. cum ed. 1 et nonnullis mss. sed.In place of accipiunt the Vatican edition, with ed. 1 and several manuscripts, [reads] sed. ---