LessonsDivine Attributes: Neither Identical to nor Separate from the EssenceQuiz

يشترط الاتحاد بحسب الوجود ليصح الحمل، والتغاير بحسب المفهوم ليفيد
Predication requires unity in what is referred to; informative predication also involves different meanings.

الإنسان كاتب — A human is a writer. “Human” and “writer” can refer to the same individual while conveying different notions.

الإنسان حجر — A human is a stone. Taken as ordinary literal predication, the required identity of the subject and predicate does not hold.

This helps explain divine predicates such as “knowing” and “powerful”: one subject and distinguishable meanings. But the reasoning must not be transferred carelessly from derivative predicates to the attributes themselves.

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Predication: unity of referent, difference of meaning

Divine Attributes: Neither Identical to nor Separate from the Essence

يشترط الاتحاد بحسب الوجود ليصح الحمل، والتغاير بحسب المفهوم ليفيد
Predication requires unity in what is referred to; informative predication also involves different meanings.

الإنسان كاتب — A human is a writer. “Human” and “writer” can refer to the same individual while conveying different notions.

الإنسان حجر — A human is a stone. Taken as ordinary literal predication, the required identity of the subject and predicate does not hold.

This helps explain divine predicates such as “knowing” and “powerful”: one subject and distinguishable meanings. But the reasoning must not be transferred carelessly from derivative predicates to the attributes themselves.