As a follow-up to last book club discussion, this post shows the relationship between the beatific vision and the GTB. Quoting from Wikipedia:
“In the philosophy of Plato, the beatific vision is the vision of the Good. In Plato’s Allegory of the cave, which appears in the Republic Book 7 (514a – 520a), he writes (speaking, as he does in many of his works, through the character of Socrates):
‘My opinion is that in the world of knowledge the idea of good (the Good) appears last of all, and is seen only with an effort; and, when seen, is also inferred to be the universal author of all things beautiful and right, parent of light and of the lord of light in this visible world, and the immediate source of reason and truth in the intellectual.’ (517b,c)
“Thus, for Plato, the Good appears to correspond to God in Christian theology.
“St. Augustine expressed views similar to Plato’s on this subject, and was familiar with Plato’s ideas, most likely via Neoplatonist writings.”
Christianity
The entry goes on to include the verse from I Corinithians.
“In the 13th century, the philosopher-theologian Thomas Aquinas described the ultimate end of a human life as consisting in the intellectual Beatific Vision of God’s essence after death. see Summa Theologiae
“According to Aquinas, the Beatific Vision surpasses both faith and reason. Rational knowledge does not fully satisfy humankind’s innate desire to know God, since reason is primarily concerned with sensible objects, and thus can only infer its conclusions about God indirectly. Summa Theologiae
“The theological virtue of faith, too, is incomplete, since Aquinas thinks that it always implies some imperfection in the understanding. The believer does not wish to remain merely on the level of faith, but to understand what is believed. Summa Contra Gentiles
“Thus only the fullness of the Beatific Vision satisfies this fundamental desire of the human soul to know God. Quoting St Paul, Aquinas notes ‘We see now in a glass darkly, but then face to face’ (i Cor. 13:12). The Beatific Vision is the final reward for those saints elect by God to partake in and ‘enjoy the same happiness wherewith God is happy, seeing Him in the way which He sees Himself’ in the next life. Summa Contra Gentiles”