Dist. 16, Art. 2, Q. 2
Book II: On the Creation of Things · Distinction 16
Quaestio II. Utrum imago principalius sit in masculo quam in femina.
Secundo quaeritur, utrum principalius sit imago in masculo quam in femina. Et quod sic, videtur.
Ad oppositum. 1. Primae ad Corinthios undecimo1: Vir est imago et gloria Dei. Hoc autem, ut dicit Apostolus, separat virum a muliere: ergo aut mulier non est imago, aut si est imago, non est ita expressa, sicut vir.
2. Item, Glossa2 ibidem: «Ad imaginem Dei factus est vir, non mulier»; sed hoc non est dictum, quod mulier nullo modo sit ad imaginem facta: ergo dictum est, quia minus est ad imaginem quam vir.
3. Item, quia homo est ad imaginem, unibilis est naturae divinae; sed magis fuit unibilis in sexu masculino quam feminino: ergo magis est imago vir quam mulier.
4. Item, quia homo est imago Dei, omnibus est praelatus sive praepositus, secundum quod innuitur in textu, Genesis primo3: Faciamus hominem ad imaginem etc. Et subditur: Et praesit piscibus etc.: ergo si praesidere non convenit homini in sexu femineo, sed masculino, videtur, quod imago excellentiori modo sit in masculino sexu quam in feminino.
Contra: Fundamenta. 1. Genesis primo4: Creavit Deus hominem ad imaginem et similitudinem suam, masculum et feminam creavit illos: si igitur mulier creata est ad imaginem Dei et ad aequalitatem viri — sicut innuit formatio eius de latere, et ratio etiam, quare formata est, cum dicitur: Faciamus adiutorium simile sibi — videtur ergo, quod in viro et muliere aequaliter reperiatur ratio imaginis.
2. Item, imago attenditur in homine quantum ad supremum animae; sed in supremo animae non est distinctio aliqua secundum sexum: ergo sive homo sit mulier, sive vir, aequaliter est imago.
3. Item, sexus non variat speciem5: ergo vir et mulier sunt eiusdem speciei; sed imago consequitur hominem quantum ad formam speciei, non quantum ad formam individui: ergo aequaliter est in viro et muliere.
4. Item, imago creationis ordinatur ad imaginem recreationis sive gratificationis6; sed imago recreationis, quae consistit in gratia et virtutibus, ita excellenter potest esse in muliere, sicut in viro: ergo pari ratione et imago creationis, in qua conditus est homo.
Conclusio. Ratio imaginis non est magis in viro quam in muliere quoad primum esse, sed tantum quoad accidentalem proprietatem.
Respondeo: Ad praedictorum intelligentiam est notandum, quod, sicut ex praecedentibus7 patet, imago quantum ad suum esse principaliter consistit in anima et eius potentiis, et in his potissime, prout habent ad Deum converti; et quantum ad hoc non est distinctio masculi et feminae, servi et liberi8: ideo Conclusio 1. imago, quantum ad id quod est de complemento eius et de eius esse, non magis reperitur in viro quam in muliere. — Quantum autem ad bene esse sive ad clariorem expressionem, consistit magis9 in anima, secundum quod ad corpus habet ordinem et habitudinem. Et quoniam ex parte corporis est sexuum distinctio, et secundum sexuum distinctionem maior est repraesentatio sive quantum ad rationem praesidendi, sive quantum ad rationem principiandi, quia vir est caput mulieris, et vir est principium mulieris, et non vir propter mulierem, sed mulier propter virum10: Conclusio 2. quantum ad hunc utique modum excellentiori modo reperitur imago in sexu masculino quam feminino, non ratione eius quod est de esse ipsius imaginis, sed ratione ipsius quod adiacet. Et secundum hoc satis plane potest responderi ad obiecta.
Ad argg. Rationes enim ostendentes, quod non magis est imago vir quam mulier, procedunt de imagine quantum ad suum primum esse, sicut intuenti patet. Rationes vero ad oppositum procedunt de imagine quantum ad aliquam accidentalem proprietatem sive per relationem ad corpus.
Ad argg. 1, 2 ad oppositum. 1. 2. Ad illud autem quod dicit Apostolus et Glossa, quod vir est imago et gloria Dei; dicendum, quod vir accipitur metaphorice pro superiori parte rationis, et mulier pro inferiori, sicut exponit Augustinus duodecimo11 de Trinitate. Et si tu obiicias, quod Apostolus loquitur de viro et muliere ad litteram; dicendum, quod loquitur de eis non secundum se, sed secundum significationem. Vir enim, quia fortis est et praesidet mulieri, superiorem portionem rationis significat, mulier vero inferiorem. Unde etiam est in matrimonio, quod vir significat Deum, et mulier significat Ecclesiam12 sive animam. Hoc autem est ratione virilitatis ex parte una, et infirmitatis sive fragilitatis ex altera, quae non respiciunt imaginem secundum se, sed ratione corporis annexi, et ita non essentialiter, sed accidentaliter13.
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Question II. Whether the image is more principally in the male than in the female.
Secondly it is asked whether the image is more principally in the male than in the female. And that it is so, seems the case.
On the opposite side. 1. First to the Corinthians, chapter eleven1: The man is the image and glory of God. But this, as the Apostle says, separates the man from the woman: therefore either the woman is not the image, or if she is the image, she is not so expressly so as the man.
2. Likewise, the Gloss2 on the same passage: «To the image of God was the man made, not the woman»; but this is not said because the woman has in no way been made to the image: therefore it is said because she is less to the image than the man.
3. Likewise, because man is to the image, he is unitable to the divine nature; but he was more unitable in the male sex than in the female: therefore the man is more the image than the woman.
4. Likewise, because man is the image of God, he is set above and given charge over all things, as is intimated in the text, Genesis 13: Let us make man to our image etc. And it is added: And let him have dominion over the fishes etc.: therefore, if presiding does not belong to man in the female sex but in the male, it seems that the image is in the male sex in a more excellent way than in the female.
On the contrary: Foundations. 1. Genesis 14: God created man to his own image and likeness, male and female he created them: if therefore woman was created to the image of God and to the equality of the man — as the formation of her from the side intimates, and the reason also for which she was formed, when it is said: Let us make a helper like to him — it seems therefore that in the man and the woman alike the formal character of the image is found.
2. Likewise, the image is regarded in the human being with respect to the highest part of the soul; but in the highest part of the soul there is no distinction according to sex: therefore whether the human being be a woman or a man, he is equally the image.
3. Likewise, sex does not vary the species5: therefore man and woman are of the same species; but the image follows the human being according to the form of the species, not according to the form of the individual: therefore it is equally in the man and the woman.
4. Likewise, the image of creation is ordered to the image of re-creation or of gratification6; but the image of re-creation, which consists in grace and the virtues, can be just as excellently in the woman as in the man: therefore by parity of reason also the image of creation, in which the human being was constituted.
Conclusion. The formal character of the image is not more in the man than in the woman as regards the first being, but only as regards an accidental property.
I respond: For the understanding of what has been said, it must be noted that, as is plain from the preceding7, the image as regards its being principally consists in the soul and its powers, and most of all in these insofar as they are ordered to be turned to God; and as regards this there is no distinction of male and female, of slave and free8: therefore Conclusion 1. the image, as regards that which belongs to its completion and to its being, is not more found in the man than in the woman. — But as regards well-being or clearer expression, it consists more9 in the soul, according as the soul has order and disposition to the body. And since the distinction of sexes is on the side of the body, and according to the distinction of sexes there is a greater representation either with respect to the account of presiding or with respect to the account of originating, because the man is the head of the woman, and the man is the principle of the woman, and not the man is on account of the woman, but the woman on account of the man10: Conclusion 2. with respect to this mode then the image is found in a more excellent way in the male sex than in the female, not by reason of that which belongs to the being of the image itself, but by reason of that which lies adjacent to it. And according to this one can answer the objections plainly enough.
To the arguments. For the reasonings showing that the man is not more the image than the woman proceed from the image as regards its first being, as is plain to the one looking. But the reasonings on the opposite side proceed from the image as regards some accidental property or by way of relation to the body.
To arguments 1 and 2 on the opposite side. 1. 2. To that which the Apostle and the Gloss say, that the man is the image and glory of God; it must be said that "the man" is taken metaphorically for the superior part of reason, and "the woman" for the inferior, as Augustine expounds in the twelfth [book]11 of On the Trinity. And if you should object that the Apostle is speaking of the man and the woman according to the letter; it must be said that he is speaking of them not according to themselves but according to signification. For the man, because he is strong and presides over the woman, signifies the superior portion of reason, but the woman the inferior. Hence also it is the case in matrimony that the man signifies God, and the woman signifies the Church12 or the soul. But this is by reason of virility on the one side and of weakness or fragility on the other, which do not regard the image according to itself but by reason of the body adjoined; and so not essentially but accidentally13.
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- Vers. 7.Verse 7.
- De hac Glossa, quam refert Lyranus in hunc locum, cfr. August., XII. de Trin. c. 7. n. 10. et 12.On this Gloss, which Lyranus reports in this place, cf. Augustine, On the Trinity XII, c. 7, nn. 10 and 12.
- Vers. 26. — Cfr. August., III. de Gen. ad lit. c. 20. n. 30; Serm. 43. (alias de Verbis Apostoli, serm. 27.) c. 2. n. 3, ex quo supra pag. 398, nota 5. quaedam allegata sunt.Verse 26. — Cf. Augustine, On Genesis according to the Letter III, c. 20, n. 30; Sermon 43 (alias On the Words of the Apostle, serm. 27), c. 2, n. 3, from which certain things were cited above on p. 398, note 5.
- Vers. 27: Et creavit Deus hominem ad imaginem suam, ad imaginem Dei creavit illum, masculum et feminam creavit eos. — Seq. textus est Gen. 2, 18. Ibid. v. 21. seq. agitur de formatione mulieris de costa Adami.Verse 27: And God created man to his own image, to the image of God he created him, male and female he created them. — The following text is Gen. 2, 18. Ibid. v. 21 seq. treats of the formation of the woman from the rib of Adam.
- Aristot., X. Metaph. text. 25. (IX. c. 9.).Aristotle, Metaphysics X, text 25 (IX, c. 9).
- Cfr. August., XIV. de Trin. c. 16. n. 22, ubi exponit verbum Apostoli, Col. 3, 9: Exspoliantes vos veterem hominem etc. — Plures codd. cum edd. 2, 3, 4 non ordinatur; perperam.Cf. Augustine, On the Trinity XIV, c. 16, n. 22, where he expounds the word of the Apostle, Col. 3, 9: Stripping off the old man etc. — Many codices, with editions 2, 3, 4, read non ordinatur; incorrectly.
- Quaest. praeced. et supra a. 1. q. 1. — Cfr. I. Sent. d. 3. p. II. a. 1. q. 1. seq., ubi etiam diffusius ostenditur, quod imago consistit in his potentiis, prout ad Deum convertuntur.The preceding question, and above, a. 1, q. 1. — Cf. I Sent., d. 3, p. II, a. 1, q. 1 seq., where it is also shown more at length that the image consists in those powers insofar as they are turned to God.
- Gal. 3, 28: Non est Iudaeus, neque Graecus; non est servus, neque liber; non est masculus, neque femina.Galatians 3, 28: There is neither Jew nor Greek; there is neither bond nor free; there is neither male nor female.
- Vat. imago pro magis.The Vatican edition reads imago for magis.
- Epist. I. Cor. 11, 3: Caput autem mulieris vir. Ibid. v. 8. seq.: Non enim vir ex muliere est, sed mulier ex viro. Etenim non est creatus vir propter mulierem etc.1 Cor. 11, 3: And the head of the woman is the man. Ibid. v. 8 seq.: For the man is not of the woman, but the woman of the man. For the man was not created for the woman etc.
- Cap. 7. n. 10. et 12. Cfr. III. de Gen. ad lit. c. 22. n. 34. et XI. c. 42. n. 58. — Paulo inferius post loquitur in aliquibus codd. et ed. 1 additur ibi.On the Trinity XII, c. 7, nn. 10 and 12. Cf. On Genesis according to the Letter III, c. 22, n. 34, and XI, c. 42, n. 58. — A little below, after loquitur, in some codices and edition 1, ibi is added.
- Ephes. c. 5, 22. seqq.Ephesians 5, 22 seqq.
- Vide scholion ad praecedentem quaest.See the scholion to the preceding question. ---