Hello everyone and welcome back to Deeper Waters where we are diving into the ocean of truth, particularly in our study of the doctrine of God. Our guide for this study has been the Summa Theologica of Thomas Aquinas. An online version of it can be found at newadvent.org. In our study, we are discussing goodness itself. Before we get to tonight’s question, I’d like to share my prayer requests. First off, I ask for prayers for my personal Christlikeness. I am becoming more aware of how fallen I am regularly. Second, I ask for prayers for my finances. Finally, I ask for prayers for a third related area in my life. For now, let’s get to the final topic in goodness itself.
When Aquinas asks if goodness is rightly divided, he wants to know if it’s rightly divided into the beneficial, the useful, and the pleasant. If the appetite is moved towards something that is meant to serve as a benefit to something else, then Aquinas says that that is what is called the useful. The thing that is sought after for its own sake and not for anything beyond itself is called the befitting. That which is sought after that ends in rest of the thing desired is called the pleasant. Naturally, with the last two, there can be some overlap.
I find this question interesting because just yesterday, I had someone asking me if goodness and pleasure were the same. I think an excellent read on that for a questioner is the Philebus of Plato. However, I hope that person comes to this blog tonight because we will naturally be looking at that question.
Let’s consider the category of the useful. An excellent example of this is money. Some people might like a lot of money as a status symbol, but generally, money is good for what it can do for you. It’s the reason we have things like cars. It’s good for what it can do. I’m thankful my apartment has heating this time of year because of the good that I can get from that.
The beneficial is that which is desired for its own sake. For Aristotle, this was happiness mainly. Everyone desires happiness for its own sake and not for anything beyond itself. When we get to the medieval thinkers, we find that they sum this up in the beatific vision. This would be when you died and you got to see God as he is. Once you see God, all your questions are answered.
Tomorrow, we shall begin covering the goodness of God.
The pleasant is that which we long to rest in. Romantic love is an excellent example of this. When someone loves someone of the opposite sex, they long to rest in the embrace of that person. One wishes to embrace the goodness simply to embrace it and not for any other reason. People work so they can play. They don’t play so they can work.
All of these are proper ways in which the good is understood. We as Christians should learn to seek these out and treat them rightly. For instance, we should be careful in that we don’t treat something good in itself as just something merely useful. Don’t treat the guy who checks you out at the grocery store as an object for instance. He’s a person as well.
Support Deeper Waters on Patreon!
