LessonsDivine Will: Eternity, Specification of Possibilities and Free AgencyQuiz

The maxim that an attribute subsists in the subject qualified by it treats a genuine property as belonging to its bearer, not as an independently roaming object.

Saying divine will subsists in the divine essence is not a statement of bodily indwelling or spatial contact. It denies that the attribute belongs to another subject or is an originated quality without any subject.

Three accounts must therefore be distinguished: an eternal attribute subsisting in God, an originated attribute arising in God, and an originated will without a locus. These are different claims.

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The subject of an attribute

Divine Will: Eternity, Specification of Possibilities and Free Agency

The maxim that an attribute subsists in the subject qualified by it treats a genuine property as belonging to its bearer, not as an independently roaming object.

Saying divine will subsists in the divine essence is not a statement of bodily indwelling or spatial contact. It denies that the attribute belongs to another subject or is an originated quality without any subject.

Three accounts must therefore be distinguished: an eternal attribute subsisting in God, an originated attribute arising in God, and an originated will without a locus. These are different claims.