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State of the question. In God the word "Father" has
a twofold significance: first it is used essentially with
reference to creatures, as when we say in the Lord's
Prayer," ur Father"; secondly it is used personally
with reference to the only-begotten Son.
Reply. St. Thomas says: "In God the name
'Father' is used primarily in its personal meaning,
rather than essentially."
The name "Father" in God refers primarily to the
person because: 1. it is used personally from all
eternity and necessarily with relation to the
only-begotten Son, and essentially with relation to
creatures only in time, presupposing the free divine
decree, which could not have been; 2. the perfect
example of paternity and filiation is found in God the
Father and God the Son, whose nature is numerically
one. On the other hand, God is called essentially the
Father of intellectual creatures, not according to the
communication of His entire nature but according to the
participation of the divine nature, that is, in the
likeness of grace and glory. Thus adoptive filiation is
the image of eternal filiation by nature, and this
adoptive filiation is obviously much more imperfect. In a
still less perfect manner God is called the father of
irrational creatures, in which instead of His image only
a mere trace is found.
Reply to the first objection. Common absolute terms are
predicated prior to personal terms. But common terms
which relate to creatures, like creator, are predicated
after the personal names because they are predicated not
from eternity but in time. In other words, the Son
proceeds from the Father before creatures.
Hence, when we say in the Lord's Prayer, "Our
Father," "Father" is predicated essentially of the
three persons; so also "Thy kingdom come" refers not to
the First Person but to the three persons. But in St.
Paul's words to the Ephesians (3:15), "I bow my
knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom
all paternity in heaven and earth is named, " and in
Christ's words, "My Father," the name "Father"
refers personally to the Father, and therefore Christ
made the distinction, saying, "I ascend to My Father
and to your Father" (John 20:17).
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