Back to Aquinas Arguments

Divine attributes

God as Pure Act

God has no unrealized potency, and so is not changeable, composite, dependent, or perfectible.

Guiding question

What must the first source be like if it explains change without needing actualization?

Why it matters

Pure act gathers many divine attributes into one metaphysical claim: God does not receive being or perfection from another.

The argumentative movement

  1. 1Anything moved from potency to act needs an actualizing source.
  2. 2A first source of actuality cannot itself be waiting to be actualized.
  3. 3The first source is therefore pure act, without passive potency.