Does God will His own existence?

[Layp3rs0n]

Can I get some Thomastic Theologians in the house?

I thought I read this somewhere in the Summa Theolicae but now I cannot find it.

Most importantly:

Does God will himself to be or does he exist out of because he can’t not exist? I.e. Is He self sustaining or is He a product of necessity that MUST exist accidentally?

Also: If the Father and Son’s will (love) towards each other is the Third Person, and the Holy Spirit is not a creation but an eternal spiration and yet again, is Will, it would seem that He is contingent on their desire for Him to be. But God is eternal, all Person’s in the Trinity are eternal. It would seem that the First Two could not will otherwise and and that seems to remove God’s free will. That can’t be right. If they Did not have will towards Each Other the Holy Spirit would not exist and the Trinity would cease to be. So it seems as God has no choice. Could God will not to love? If He cannot not will to love where is His free will?

I am not denying God’s free will. Just need some clarification.

I am very novice so layman’s terms if possible. Thank you all in advance for your help.

 

[ProdglArchitect]

God is that which must exist by necessity. He does not will His own existence because it is in his very nature to exist. There is nothing accidental about it.

 

[Usagi]

Likewise, God is completely free in that nothing outside Him constrains His will, but He does have an intrinsic nature He cannot not love, nor can He do evil, because love and goodness are His nature.

 

[AndrewW94]

I’m pretty sure that Aquinas thinks God exists necessarily and that He necessarily wills His existence.

God exists necessarily. (dhspriory.org/thomas/Compendium.htm#6)

God’s will is His intellect. God’s will is His willing. God wills good. (dhspriory.org/thomas/Compendium.htm#33)
(dhspriory.org/thomas/Compendium.htm#34)

God is good, so God wills Himself.

So I think the answer is that God is necessary and that God wills Himself.

Willing here does not imply causing. Also, when speaking of God these terms are analogous to our experience but don’t have exact correspondents in what we see.

 

[inocente]

Most importantly:

Does God will himself to be or does he exist out of because he can’t not exist?

Thomas says

“I answer that, God wills not only Himself, but other things apart from Himself.”

newadvent.org/summa/1019.htm#article2

I’m no theologian or expert but notice what he says in the Reply to Objection 1 - “The divine will is God’s own existence essentially”.

 

[fisherman_carl]

First off God is a mystery. The existence of God explains our existence. But, it doesn’t explain God’s existence. But, the more I think about it the more I understand the need for the classical theistic position of divine simplicity. If God merely possessed existence like us then he would simply be in the same class of beings who possessed existence. But, this would mean that existence is something that exists apart from God. Similarly if God merely possessed certain properties like love, power, intelligence then one can ask do these properties exist apart from and alongside God? And how do we explain how God attained these properties if they exist apart from him.

However, if God is existence, love, power, intelligence, etc., then he does not merely possess these things. Rather, they are his very essence.

 

[kdbueno]

God’s existence is actuality.

 

[Sacred_Heart_1]

Can I get some Thomastic Theologians in the house?

I thought I read this somewhere in the Summa Theolicae but now I cannot find it.

Most importantly:

Does God will himself to be or does he exist out of because he can’t not exist? I.e. Is He self sustaining or is He a product of necessity that MUST exist accidentally?

Also: If the Father and Son’s will (love) towards each other is the Third Person, and the Holy Spirit is not a creation but an eternal spiration and yet again, is Will, it would seem that He is contingent on their desire for Him to be. But God is eternal, all Person’s in the Trinity are eternal. It would seem that the First Two could not will otherwise and and that seems to remove God’s free will. That can’t be right. If they Did not have will towards Each Other the Holy Spirit would not exist and the Trinity would cease to be. So it seems as God has no choice. Could God will not to love? If He cannot not will to love where is His free will?

I am not denying God’s free will. Just need some clarification.

I am very novice so layman’s terms if possible. Thank you all in advance for your help.

God manifests himself out of the Light that He is. Nothing can extinguish that light. In the gospel it says that the light came into the world (earth) and the darkness has not been able to extinguish it. God’s permanence is through the Holy Spirit. He cannot will anything that goes against the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is God’s will and it is impossible for God not to exist. He doesn’t sustain himself through will. He sustains himself through inconceivable, immutable, ineffable, purpose–which is permanence.

 

[Bahman]

Does God will himself to be or does he exist out of because he can’t not exist? I.e. Is He self sustaining or is He a product of necessity that MUST exist accidentally?

That is not possible since it requires that God exist and exist not at Eternal now.

 

[fisherman_carl]

That is not possible since it requires that God exist and exist not at Eternal now.

I think that what you are saying is that God must exist first in order to will anything. You can’t will something if you don’t exist.

I like the classical theism which says that God simply is existence.

 

[Bahman]

I think that what you are saying is that God must exist first in order to will anything. You can’t will something if you don’t exist.

I like the classical theism which says that God simply is existence.

What I am saying is different. God exist in eternal now which there is no before and after. Hence he cannot exist and doesn’t exist at the same time. This is logically impossible.

 

[ynotzap]

Can I get some Thomastic Theologians in the house?

I thought I read this somewhere in the Summa Theolicae but now I cannot find it.

Most importantly:

Does God will himself to be or does he exist out of because he can’t not exist? I.e. Is He self sustaining or is He a product of necessity that MUST exist accidentally?

Also: If the Father and Son’s will (love) towards each other is the Third Person, and the Holy Spirit is not a creation but an eternal spiration and yet again, is Will, it would seem that He is contingent on their desire for Him to be. But God is eternal, all Person’s in the Trinity are eternal. It would seem that the First Two could not will otherwise and and that seems to remove God’s free will. That can’t be right. If they Did not have will towards Each Other the Holy Spirit would not exist and the Trinity would cease to be. So it seems as God has no choice. Could God will not to love? If He cannot not will to love where is His free will?

I am not denying God’s free will. Just need some clarification.

I am very novice so layman’s terms if possible. Thank you all in advance for your help.

God could not will Himself to exist, because that assumes He doesn’t exist prior, it is a contradiction of thought. He is the I Am Who Am, IOW, I am existence, His essence is Existence. As for the Trinity, it can be expressed in these terms. God, absolutely, one in nature, and relatively three in persons., distinct from each other. The only thing that is proper and exclusive are the opposite relations, paternity (Father),filiation(Son), and Active Spiration, and Passive Spiration (Holy Spirit) These stem from two immanent processions. Namely the Son from the Father by way of intellection ( spiritual generation) and the Holy Spirit from the Father and the Son by way of volition and love. This is a Divine Mystery not fully known God could not will not to love simply because Love is one of His Attributes, and God is one with His attributes, iow, God is Love God is self-sustaining, subsistent