Analogia entis
We speak truly of God neither univocally nor by empty equivocation
If the word wise meant exactly the same mode of perfection in God and man, God would fall within a common genus and differ from creatures merely by degree. If the word had a wholly unrelated meaning, the sentence “God is wise” would convey nothing. Classical theology therefore uses analogy: the perfection signified is genuinely present, while the mode of possessing it differs infinitely.
The analogy begins in causality. An effect bears some likeness to its cause, although a universal cause can contain the perfection of the effect in a higher mode. The artist does not contain painted colour physically in his intellect, yet he contains its form intentionally. God does not possess creaturely wisdom as a quality added to a subject. He is the simple source in whom intellect, being, goodness and power are identical with the divine essence, while our concepts distinguish what in Him is one.
The way of causality attributes to God every pure perfection found in effects; the way of remotion denies creaturely limitation and composition; the way of eminence affirms the perfection in a higher mode. Thus God is living, not by organic metabolism; intelligent, not by receiving species from objects; powerful, not by activating a passive capacity. Negative theology does not end in silence but purifies positive predication.
Analogy also disciplines objections. Asking “What was God doing before creation?” treats eternity as endless time. Asking “Where is God?” treats immaterial presence as location. Asking “Who designed the designer?” treats the first cause as a complex artifact. The questions may express genuine perplexity, but their grammar imports a creaturely mode into the very reality whose transcendence is under examination.
Reader path: Summa Theologiae I, q. 13 · Fourth Lateran Council