Is love the precipitate of goodness?

Our question here originates from the connection that God is goodness itself (because He is Existence Himself, and goodness and being are synonymous) and God is Love (Exodus 3:14, John 1:1-4; 1 John 4:8, 16).[1] Reflecting upon this and knowing the true definition of love, one recognizes that goodness is the thing willed by love.[2] Is the good that which is naturally given? It seems that goodness is self-diffusive, so love is the proper mode of existence.

God has made man in His own image (Genesis 1:26). Man, called "very good" compared to other creatures called "good," is both diffusive of himself and creative (a power angels lack) (Genesis 1:31). Man is the only animal capable of love because He is the only one capable of willing good's which are reasonable even if not concupiscible. The fact that God created anything at all, "being sufficient in Himself," demonstrates that it is God's nature—and therefore that of goodness—to be at least diffusive of itself, if not also creative.[3]

Does all that exists, which is called good, in some way give or diffuse itself? Insofar as things exist, they exhibit properties; even immaterial creatures like God and angels make themselves known to each other. This is how we know that God makes things oriented toward communion and evil, then sin, can be understood as contrary to this.[4] Thus, it makes sense that in our sin (corruption of our properties, divergence from Existence Itself, and divergence from communion generally), we lose sight of this proper ordination and misunderstand what it means to be good—i.e., made for communion. 

Love, in other words willing the good for others, is what creates communion—a dynamic of unity and harmony. Does this act of existence, i.e., diffusion of knowable properties, if not also the giving of self, makes something in some way desirable (even if for an end)?[5] It seems to me that if it exists at all, three things can be said: God has desired it, it serves God's will for our salvation, and therefore, it is in some way desirable for man, at least insofar as salvation is desirable for man. [6] More to our point, it appears that if all that exists is at the service of man and his salvation i.e. for the sake of communion, then it is the purpose of communion that makes it desirable to man. Man, in turn, is good in using it for that end and that end alone, irascibly or concupiscibly.

As George Orwell wrote in Animal Farm, "Man is the only creature that consumes without producing," which is true except for decay and the production of more humans. This points out both that all that exists is for the good of man and that man can fail at communion.[7] The act of existence, which, as mentioned above, is the diffusion of properties, is itself the act of love, so it seems that love is not merely the precipitate of goodness but the act of existence, which differs only in idea from goodness.

In conclusion, our exploration highlights that God's nature as Existence and Goodness itself inherently includes being self-diffusive, a characteristic that manifests in His good and creative acts for the end of communion. As beings made in God's image, humans share this attribute, being called to both diffuse goodness and create. This diffusion, rooted in love, aims toward communion, the ultimate purpose for which all creation exists. Sin, by contrast, represents a deviation from this divine ordinance, leading to a loss of true communion and a misunderstanding of goodness. By understanding love as the willing of good for others and recognizing that existence itself is an act of love, we see that all creation, in its proper use, serves God's salvific plan. As Orwell poignantly notes, humanity's unique potential to fail at communion underscores the need to align our actions with this divine purpose. Therefore, the act of existence, synonymous with the act of love, calls us to live in a way that fosters unity and harmony, fulfilling our created purpose. Truly, "...whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s"(Romans 14:8).[8]

Written by Carter Carruthers

FN:

1. Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution on the Divine Revelation Dei verbum (18 November 1965), §2.; Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution on the The Church Lumen gentium (21 November 1964), §2.;Thomas Aquinas, Summa theologiae, I, q. 6, a. 1, at New Advent, www.newadvent.org.; ST, I, q. 5, a. 1.; ST, I, q. 6, a. 3.; ST, I, q. 20, a. 1.; Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd ed. (Washington, DC: United States Catholic Conference, 2000), 213-214, 231, 257.
2. Carter Carruthers, "What is love?", Vivat Agnus Dei, March 27, 2022, https://vivatagnusdei.blogspot.com/2022/03/what-is-love.html.; Carter Carruthers, "What is love? Revisited with AI", Vivat Agnus Dei, June 23, 2024, https://vivatagnusdei.blogspot.com/2024/06/what-is-love-revisited-with-ai.html.; Carter Carruthers, "Love is not "Love"", Vivat Agnus Dei, May 12, 2024, https://vivatagnusdei.blogspot.com/2024/05/love-is-not-love.html.
3. CCC, 1.
4. Carter Carruthers, "Evil and nonbeing", Vivat Agnus Dei, May 23, 2021, https://vivatagnusdei.blogspot.com/2021/05/evil-and-nonbeing.html.; Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution on the The Church in the Modern World _Gaudium et spes_ (7 December 1965), §24.
5. Carter Carruthers, "Made for Communion", Vivat Agnus Dei, June 30, 2024, https://vivatagnusdei.blogspot.com/2024/06/made-for-communion.html.; Second Vatican Council, _Gaudium et spes_, §24.
6. ST, I, q. 5, a. 1.
7.  CCC, 356.
8. George Orwell, Animal Farm (New York: Harcourt, Brace & Company, 1946), 4.
9. Carter Carruthers, "...whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s", Vivat Agnus Dei, December 26, 2021, https://vivatagnusdei.blogspot.com/2021/12/whether-we-live-or-whether-we-die-we.html.