Devising Divine Ideas

In a very stimulating presentation on “divine poetics” in Thomas, my colleague Jonathan McIntosh pointed to this very intriguing statement from Disputed Questions on Truth : “The one first form to which all things are reduced is the divine essence, considered in itself. Reflecting upon this essence, the divine intellect devises (advenit ) – if I may use such an expression—different ways in which it can be imitated. The plurality of ideas comes from these different ways.”