Chapter 164 — That God will be seen in his essence, and not through a likeness

The created intellect sees God in his essence, and not through any likeness of him. When a likeness of this sort is present in the intellect, the object understood may be at a distance; for example, a stone is present to the eye by its likeness, but is absent in substance. But, as was shown above, God’s very essence is in some way united to the created intellect, so that God may be seen through his essence. So, just as in that last end what was formerly believed about God will be seen, so also what was hoped for as distant will be closely embraced as present. This is called comprehension, according to the expression used by the Apostle in Philippians 3:12: I follow after, if I may by any means comprehend. This is not to be understood in the sense that comprehension implies all-inclusive knowledge, but in the sense that it denotes the presence and a certain possessing of what is said to be comprehended.