Trinity in Aquinas: Psychological Analogy as Social Analogy with Michael J. Higgins

In this episode of the Spe Salvi Institute podcast, Andrew Petiprin and Bobby Mixa welcome Dr. Michael Joseph Higgins, Professor of Humanities at St. Jerome Institute and author of the groundbreaking new book Giving One’s Word: Psychological Analogy as Social Analogy in Aquinas's Trinitarian Theology (Catholic University of America Press, 2025). Contemporary Trinitarian theology often emphasizes that to believe in the Trinity is to believe God is Love: three divine Persons who eternally know, love, and give themselves to one another in perfect communion. Yet St. Thomas Aquinas—whose theology centers on the immanent processions of Word and Love within the divine essence—is rarely seen as a champion of this "social" vision. Many assume his famous "psychological analogy" (drawn from human acts of knowing and loving) prioritizes divine unity over personal distinction, self-knowledge over interpersonal knowledge, and self-love over mutual self-giving—making it seemingly incompatible with, or at least in need of supplementation by, a more relational or social framework.

Dr. Higgins challenges these assumptions head-on. Drawing from a close, creative reading of Aquinas's texts, he demonstrates that the psychological analogy is inherently interpersonal and social at its core. Far from shutting out the reality of mutual love and self-donation among the Persons, Aquinas's framework ensures that perfect self-knowledge and self-love in God are inseparable from interpersonal knowledge, interpersonal love, and radical self-giving. The distinction of Persons is as fundamental as unity, and the "Word" generation and spiration of Love reveal a Trinity of interpersonal communion—no external social analogy required.

Enjoy the conversation!