Disputatio IV: De Veritate Theologiae Duplex

On the Twofold Truth of Theology

Quaeritur

Utrum veritas theologiae duplicem habeat formam: internam, quae consistit in felicitate Spiritu data intra linguam fidei T, et externam, quae consistit in adaequatione huius linguae ad esse divinitus constitutum; et utrum hae duae veritates, distinctae sed ordinatae, in Christo, qui est simul Verbum et Res, suam unitatem reperiant.

Whether the truth of theology possesses a twofold form: an internal truth, consisting in Spirit-given felicity within the language of faith T, and an external truth, consisting in the adequation of that language to the reality constituted by God; and whether these two forms of truth, distinct yet ordered, find their unity in Christ, who is both Word and Reality.

Thesis

Theology bears a double truth—internal, arising from the Spirit-authorized felicity of its language, and external, arising from the correspondence of that language to divine reality—yet these two modes of truth converge without confusion in Christ, the unity of Word and being.

Locus classicus

1. John 14:6

Ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ ὁδὸς καὶ ἡ ἀλήθεια καὶ ἡ ζωή.

"I am the way, and the truth, and the life."

Christ does not possess truth but is truth; in Him the form of saying and the form of being coincide.

2. 1 Corinthians 11:23

Ἐγὼ γὰρ ἐλάβον παρὰ Κυρίου ὃ καὶ παρέδωκα ὑμῖν.

"For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you."

The pattern of theological speech is reception and handing-on; its internal form mirrors divine giving.

3. Clement of Alexandria, Stromata V.14

Λόγος ἐστιν ἐνδιάθετος καὶ προφορικός.

"The Word exists inwardly and outwardly."

The distinction between conceived and uttered word anticipates theology’s twofold truth.

4. Augustine, De Trinitate XV.11

Forma sermonis, sicut et forma rerum, a Verbo Dei derivatur.

"The form of speech, like the form of things, derives from the Word of God."

Truth in language and truth in being share a single archetype.

5. Thomas Aquinas, Super Ioannem 1.1

Per Verbum Dei fit omnis creatura.

"By the Word of God every creature comes to be."

The Word who orders speech also orders being; the twofold truth flows from one act.

Explicatio

The previous disputations distinguished theology as a language T, authorized by the Spirit (veritas interna), and interpreted within models that relate its expressions to being (veritas externa). Yet theology’s full truth requires seeing how these two dimensions mutually inform one another.

Internal truth is the truth of felicity: speech consonant with Scripture, confession, and Spirit-guided practice. Symbolically this is FT, the felicity conditions of T. These guarantee that theology speaks rightly, though not yet that what it says obtains.

External truth arises when these authorized expressions are interpreted within being M, producing TC, the truth conditions through which God’s Word is fulfilled in reality.

Neither dimension alone suffices. Internal truth without external fulfillment is coherence without ontology; external truth without internal authorization is speculation without confession. Theology is true when FT and TC converge—when the Spirit who authorizes speech also mediates its correspondence to divine reality.

This duplex truth is not two truths but one truth in two modes, unified in Christ, the Logos who is both Order of speech and Fulfillment of being.

Objectiones

Ob I. Aquinas defines truth as adaequatio intellectus et rei; theology must therefore have a single truth grounded in God, not a duplex truth divided into internal and external.

Ob II. Nominalism holds that theological truth is the expression of divine will in language; there is no ontological adequation beyond God’s decree. A second truth adds unnecessary metaphysics.

Ob III. Kant restricts truth to the conditions of possible experience. Theology may speak morally but cannot claim objective correspondence to divine being; the distinction between internal and external truth confuses the bounds of cognition.

Ob IV. Lindbeck and cultural-linguistic theology insist that truth is intralinguistic coherence within a community’s grammar; any appeal to ontological truth reintroduces representationalism.

Ob V. Constructivist views claim that truth is a linguistic production. To posit a duplex truth merely multiplies fictions and masks theology’s constructed nature.

Responsiones

Ad I. Aquinas’s realism is upheld, not denied. Internal truth concerns the ordered form of theological knowing; external truth concerns its ordered relation to being. The Spirit unites these: He renders theology’s intellect true in form and true in conformity.

Ad II. Nominalism preserves divine freedom but dissolves divine intelligibility. The duplex truth expresses two modes of one divine will: will communicated in speech and will enacted in being. The Spirit bridges both without compromising God’s sovereignty.

Ad III. Kant’s limits pertain to speculative cognition, yet revelation exceeds speculation by divine initiative. The duplex truth preserves the integrity of human cognition (internal) while affirming the Spirit’s capacity to join language to reality (external) without collapsing phenomena and noumena.

Ad IV. Post-liberal grammar is necessary but insufficient. Theology is indeed a rule-governed language, but a sacramental one: its grammar mediates what it signifies. The duplex truth formalizes this sacramentality.

Ad V. Constructivism rightly notes the historicity of speech but errs in denying the priority of divine speech. The duplex truth affirms that theology is indeed constructed (internal) but constructed in participation with a reality not of its own making (external).

Nota

The twofold truth may be pictured as a circuit rather than a division.

• Internal truth (FT): the Spirit orders language so that it may be spoken in faith.

• External truth (TC): the Spirit orders reality so that what is spoken in faith corresponds to what God has done.

Theological statements are therefore true twice: in the Spirit’s ordering of speech, and in the Spirit’s ordering of being. Christ unites both by being simultaneously Verbum and Res: the eternal Word and the fulfillment of what the Word says.

Determinatio

1. Theology has an internal truth grounded in Spirit-given felicity.

2. Theology has an external truth grounded in correspondence to divine reality.

3. These two truths are ordered modes of one truth, not two competing truths.

4. Christ, the Logos, is the unity of verbum and res.

5. The Spirit mediates the conjunction of internal and external truth, ensuring both form and fulfillment.

Transitus ad Disputationem V: De Relatione inter Veritatem et Felicitatem Theologicam

Having established the duplex nature of theological truth, we now face the deeper question of their relation. For if internal truth arises in the Spirit’s felicity and external truth in the adequation of language to divine reality, then truth and blessedness cannot be separated. The same Spirit who renders speech felicitous also grants joy in truth, and the believer’s delight becomes the living confirmation of what theology teaches.

Yet dangers remain. A theology concerned only with external correspondence risks aridity; one concerned only with internal felicity risks collapsing truth into experience. Only where veracity and beatitude meet does theology attain its proper fullness: a truth that is confessed, enacted, and enjoyed.

Thus we proceed to Disputatio V: De Relatione inter Veritatem et Felicitatem Theologicam, wherein we inquire how truth and felicity stand as form and act, how blessedness perfects truth, and how the Spirit unites the clarity of doctrine with the joy of divine participation.