Dist. 9, Art. 1, Q. 6
Book II: On the Creation of Things · Distinction 9
Quaestio VI. Utrum praelatio Angelorum evacuetur post iudicium.
Sexto quaeritur de ordinibus Angelorum quantum ad praelationis evacuationem; et est quaestio, utrum praelatio, quae est in ordine respectu ordinis, evacuetur post iudicium. Et quod sic, videtur.
1. Fundamenta. Primae ad Corinthios decimo quinto: Cum evacuaverit omnem Principatum et Potestatem et Virtutem1: ergo in die iudicii Principatus et Potestates et Virtutes evacuabuntur.
2. Item, supra, distinctione sexta, capitulo2: Et sicut inter bonos: «Quamdiu durat mundus, Angeli Angelis, daemones daemonibus, homines hominibus praesunt; sed in futuro evacuabitur omnis praelatio».
3. Item, nomina ordinum accipiuntur penes officia ministrandi, ut in pluribus, maxime in his qui subiiciuntur: ergo cum cessabit ministerium, cessabit subiectio, ergo et cessabit praelatio.
4. Item, praelatio ordinis ad ordinem est secundum actum illuminandi et purgandi et perficiendi; sed post iudicium erit status in completione scientiae et gratiae: ergo non erit ultra illuminatio, purgatio et perfectio: ergo nec aliqua in ordinibus praelatio.
Ad oppositum: Ad oppositum. 1. Praecellentia ordinis ad ordinem est secundum maioritatem et minoritatem naturae et gratiae3: ergo si quantitas gratiae in angelicis spiritibus non mutatur, praecellentia ordinis ad ordinem non tollitur nec evacuatur.
2. Item, Angeli statim ut confirmati sunt, beati effecti sunt beatitudine perfecta, ergo nihil remansit in eis quod esset ex parte; et praelatio ordinis ad ordinem fuit in eis: ergo non fuit ex parte. Sed nihil evacuatur, nisi quod ex parte est4: ergo etc.
3. Item, pulcritudo consistit in ordine5, et ordo in praecellentia unius ad alterum, et praecellentia ponit praelationem ordinis ad ordinem: ergo si ab angelicis spiritibus tolletur praelatio, tolletur et pulcritudo.
4. Item, sicut summus ordo denominatur ab eo quod est sibi inseparabile, sic et medii et infimi; sed Seraphim nunquam desinit esse Seraphim: ergo nec Principatus desinit esse Principatus, ergo nunquam desinet principari: ergo non cessabit ibi praelationis ordo.
Conclusio
Angelorum praelatio post iudicium evacuabitur, non ratione excessus in donis, sed ratione praesidentiae in influendo et imperando.
Respondeo: Ad praedictorum intelligentiam est notandum, Aliquid praefertur tripliciter. quod tripliciter dicitur aliquid praeferri alteri: aut per modum excedentis solum, sicut praefertur aurum argento; aut per modum excedentis et influentis, sicut praefertur caelestis natura elemento; aut per modum imperantis, sicut praefertur dominus ministro. — Tria in praelatione. Ad rationem autem perfectae praelationis ista tria concurrunt, ut qui praefertur natus sit eum cui praefertur excedere et in ipsum aliquo modo influere et eidem praesidere. — Hoc modo est nunc in praelatione, quae attenditur inter ordinem et ordinem in hierarchiis angelicis, et etiam in hierarchia ecclesiastica. In Angelis enim ordo, qui ordini praefertur, excedit in naturalibus et gratuitis, et quodam modo influit purgando, illuminando et perficiendo, et etiam ministeria complenda iniungit.
Cum ergo quaeritur, utrum cesset praelatio ordinis ad ordinem; dicendum, quod si intelligatur de praelatione quantum ad primam conditionem, Conclusio 1. scilicet ratione excessus, non evacuabitur, sed manebit, quia ordo excedet ordinem tam in gratuitis quam in naturalibus, ita post iudicium, sicut et nunc. Si autem intelligatur ratione duorum sequentium, scilicet ratione praesidentiae in influendo et Conclusio 2. imperando, sic cessabit et evacuabitur; quia illuminatio, quam dicitur recipere Angelus ab Angelo, et imperium, si quod est ibi, attenditur per comparationem ad nos, quibus ministrant, non per comparationem ad Deum, in quo quiescunt et beatitudinis completione perfecte illuminantur. — Et secundum hanc viam procedunt rationes et auctoritates ostendentes, quod post iudicium cessabit praelatio ordinis ad ordinem. Ad fundamenta 1, 2. Sic enim dicit Magister et Apostolus6, quod Deus evacuabit praelationem, evacuando Potestatem et Principatum. Dum enim tolletur ministerium, tolletur subiectio et imperium.
Solutio oppositorum. 1. Ad illud ergo quod obiicitur, quod praelatio ordinis ad ordinem attenditur in praecellentia naturalium et gratuitorum; dicendum, quod haec non est tota causa; ideo, si ex hoc arguat, ab insufficienti arguit.
2. Ad illud quod obiicitur, quod Angeli beatificati sunt perfecte; dicendum, quod licet ex parte virtutis contemplativae perfectam sint beatitudinem assecuti, et ex illa parte nihil sit in eis ex parte, sunt tamen adhuc viatores ratione ministerii. Nam quantum ad illam vim, ut supra7 dictum fuit, sunt in statu merendi; et ideo adhuc aliquid habent, quod evacuabitur post diem iudicii.
3. Ad illud quod obiicitur, quod pulcritudo consistit in ordine; dicendum, quod verum est; nam sicut ab Angelis non tolletur pulcritudo, ita etiam nec tolletur ordo. Sed ex hoc non sequitur, quod non tollatur praelatio; quia praelatio non tantummodo includit in se praecellentiam, sed etiam praesidentiam, quae plus aspicit indigentiam viae quam pulcritudinem et perfectionem patriae; et ideo, cum tollitur, pulcritudo non minuitur.
4. Ad illud quod obiicitur, quod ita est inseparabile ab ordine Angelorum, quod est esse Principatum, sicut esse Seraphim; dicendum, quod Principatus, secundum quod nominat ordinem, non dicit praesidentiam actualem, sed donum gratiae vel datum, secundum quod Angelus natus est aliis praesidere; et hoc manere potest, ablata actuali praelatione. Et ideo non sequitur: desinit principari, ergo desinit esse Principatus, quia principatus non dicit actum, sed habitum vel statum.
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Question VI. Whether the prelacy of the Angels is done away with after the judgment.
Sixthly it is asked concerning the orders of the Angels as to the doing-away of prelacy; and the question is whether the prelacy which is in one order with respect to another order is done away with after the judgment. And that it is so, [thus] it seems.
1. The fundamenta. In the First [Epistle] to the Corinthians, chapter fifteen: When he shall have done away with all Principality and Power and Virtue1: therefore on the day of judgment the Principalities and the Powers and the Virtues will be done away with.
2. Likewise, above, in distinction six, in the chapter2: And just as among the good: «As long as the world lasts, Angels are set over Angels, demons over demons, men over men; but in the future all prelacy will be done away with».
3. Likewise, the names of the orders are taken from the offices of ministering, as for the most part, especially in those who are subjected: therefore when the ministry shall cease, subjection will cease, therefore prelacy too will cease.
4. Likewise, the prelacy of one order over another order is according to the act of illuminating and of purging and of perfecting; but after the judgment there will be a state in the completion of knowledge and of grace: therefore there will no longer be illumination, purgation, and perfection: therefore neither will there be any prelacy among the orders.
To the opposite: To the opposite. 1. The precellence of one order over another order is according to the greaterness and the lesserness of nature and of grace3: therefore if the quantity of grace in the angelic spirits is not changed, the precellence of one order over another order is not removed nor done away with.
2. Likewise, the Angels, as soon as they were confirmed, were made blessed with a perfect beatitude, therefore nothing remained in them which was in part; and the prelacy of one order over another order was in them: therefore it was not in part. But nothing is done away with except what is in part4: therefore etc.
3. Likewise, beauty consists in order5, and order in the precellence of one over another, and precellence posits the prelacy of one order over another order: therefore if prelacy is taken away from the angelic spirits, beauty too is taken away.
4. Likewise, just as the highest order is named from that which is inseparable from it, so also the middle and the lowest [orders]; but a Seraph never ceases to be a Seraph: therefore neither does a Principality cease to be a Principality, therefore it will never cease to have principality: therefore the order of prelacy will not cease there.
Conclusion
The prelacy of the Angels will be done away with after the judgment, not by reason of the excess in gifts, but by reason of the presiding in influencing and commanding.
I respond: For the understanding of the foregoing it must be noted, A thing is preferred in three ways. that a thing is said to be preferred to another in three ways: either by the manner of one exceeding alone, as gold is preferred to silver; or by the manner of one exceeding and influencing, as the heavenly nature is preferred to an element; or by the manner of one commanding, as a master is preferred to a servant. — Three things in prelacy. But for the formal account of a perfect prelacy these three things concur: that the one who is preferred should be born to exceed the one to whom he is preferred, and to influence him in some manner, and to preside over him. — In this manner there is now prelacy, which is regarded between one order and another order in the angelic hierarchies, and also in the ecclesiastical hierarchy. For among the Angels the order which is preferred to [another] order exceeds it in natural and in gratuitous [endowments], and in a certain manner influences it by purging, illuminating, and perfecting, and also enjoins the ministries that are to be completed.
When therefore it is asked whether the prelacy of one order over another order ceases; it must be said that, if it is understood of prelacy as to the first condition — First conclusion. namely by reason of excess — it will not be done away with, but will remain, because one order will exceed another order both in gratuitous and in natural [endowments], thus after the judgment, just as also now. But if it is understood by reason of the two following [conditions] — namely by reason of presiding in influencing and Second conclusion. commanding — then it will cease and be done away with; because the illumination which an Angel is said to receive from an Angel, and the command, if there is any there, is regarded by comparison to us, to whom they minister, not by comparison to God, in whom they rest and are perfectly illumined in the completion of beatitude. — And along this path proceed the arguments and the authorities which show that after the judgment the prelacy of one order over another order will cease. To fundamenta 1 and 2. For thus the Master and the Apostle say6 that God will do away with prelacy by doing away with Power and Principality. For when the ministry shall be removed, subjection and command will be removed.
Solution of the opposing [arguments]. 1. To that, then, which is objected — that the prelacy of one order over another order is regarded in the precellence of natural and of gratuitous [endowments] — it must be said that this is not the whole cause; and so, if one argues from this, he argues from an insufficient [ground].
2. To that which is objected — that the Angels were perfectly beatified — it must be said that, although as to the part of the contemplative power they have attained a perfect beatitude, and from that part there is nothing in them which is in part, they are nevertheless still wayfarers by reason of ministry. For as to that power, as was said above7, they are in a state of meriting; and therefore they still have something which will be done away with after the day of judgment.
3. To that which is objected — that beauty consists in order — it must be said that this is true; for just as beauty will not be taken away from the Angels, so also order will not be taken away. But from this it does not follow that prelacy is not taken away; because prelacy not only includes in itself precellence, but also presidence, which regards more the indigence of the way than the beauty and perfection of the fatherland; and therefore, when it is taken away, beauty is not diminished.
4. To that which is objected — that to be a Principality is just as inseparable from the order of Angels as to be a Seraph — it must be said that a Principality, insofar as it names an order, does not denote an actual presiding, but a gift of grace or [something] given, according to which an Angel is born to preside over others; and this can remain when the actual prelacy has been removed. And therefore it does not follow: it ceases to have principality, therefore it ceases to be a Principality, because principality does not denote an act, but a habit or a state.
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- Vers. 24.[1 Cor. 15,] verse 24.
- Cap. 4. — In Vat. post bonos additur dicit Magister.Chapter 4. — In the Vatican edition, after bonos (the good) is added dicit Magister (the Master says).
- Ita cod. cc et ed. I, qui tamen post minoritatem etiam addunt secundum excellentiam; in Vat. aliisque edd. et codd. omittitur naturae et; minus bene, ut patet ex ipsa solutione obiect. et supra ex q. 2.So codex cc and edition I, which however after minoritatem (lesserness) also add secundum excellentiam (according to excellence); in the Vatican edition and the other editions and codices naturae et (of nature and) is omitted; less well, as is clear from the very solution of the objection and above from q. 2.
- Epist. I. Cor. 13, 10: Cum autem venerit quod perfectum est, evacuabitur quod ex parte est.First Epistle [to the] Cor[inthians] 13:10: But when that which is perfect shall have come, that which is in part shall be done away with.
- August., de Vera Relig. c. 41. n. 77: Nihil enim est ordinatum, quod non sit pulcrum.Augustine, On True Religion c. 41, n. 77: For nothing is ordered which is not beautiful.
- Hic in fundam. 1. et 2. cit.Cited here in fundamenta 1 and 2.
- Codd. T bb hoc. — Cfr. hic ad 3.Codices T [and] bb [read] hoc (this). — Cf. here [the reply] to [argument] 3. ---